By humorously calling out Apple’s outdated messaging technology, the brand prompted a commitment to better communication standards.
Each year, the International Andy Awards, in collaboration with the Advertising Club of New York, present the Brave Brands awards, recognizing companies that have pursued risk-taking initiatives in marketing. This year, Android’s ‘iPager’ campaign was honored with a Brave Brands award for its bold approach to flipping the narrative around messaging issues between Android and Apple.
For years, Android users have been subject to the “green bubble stigma,” where messages sent to iPhones default to SMS, creating a subpar texting experience with pixelated images, lack of encryption and limited features. Despite Android adopting the modern Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard that is used by every other operating system, Apple continued using outdated SMS technology for cross-device communication, pinning the blame on Android through the green text bubbles. The iPager campaign aimed to educate …