This recent French survey indicating that texting isn’t a threat for orthograph is a blessing.
Despite being widely popular, texting has been considered dangerous for our kids since 160 characters ask for tricks to tell the most in the tiniest space (remember when we were billed one text at the time?). Even if this deal has been evolving with smartphones, texting was a ideal target for tech sceptics, as for others scapegoats such as video games or e-cigarettes.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that new technologies cannot harm anything. iTunes killed music majors and Amazon killed books majors. But from a consumer perspective, people still crave listening to new bands and reading books. Because new players fight for empty spots, they offer alternatives, new forms show up, new grammar flourish.
For the music it was streaming, downloading, socializing, scrobbling, co-creating, playlisting, datamoshing, lib dubbing, youtubing… For reading it was e-books, e-comics, texting, tweeting, abbreviating, OMGing, LOLing, second screening TV shows…
We shouldn’t fear novelty, it’s always bringing something fresh and engaging.
So I’m still nervous when brands mock people using smartphones. It’s the same as fearing texting. Even if the iPhone came out 7 years ago, lots of brands try to get people to unplug.
Are they stupid? Besides showing everybody that ad men don’t get us and fear the change, it’s just pissing consumers off.
Brands shouldn’t be reactionary, especially when they all whine for lacking innovation and momentum. So sorry to be abrupt but these kind of stunts are stupid (even the UNICEF one):
Une potentielle solution à l’absence d’eau potable dans le tiers-monde : cette 
