Modernista! is a tricky name. No matter what the news is, you have to add that exclamation point and then it seems like you're excited about whatever is going on. Anyway, this is their Palm Pre spot "Flow"), which was shot in China and debuted on Facebook.

As a consumer, I understand the feeling this ad is going for but have to say that from a "how does this thing work" standpoint, the spot falls flat.

In the ad, a woman sits on a rock in a nice looking field with mountains in the background. Around her, people in orange garb dance in concentric circles, reacting when she pushes buttons on the phone. The vibe is very bhuddist/yoga class with a thundering drum and ohm-y vocals supporting the woman's VO. Spashed in are bits of how the phone works — a finger slide here, a button push there. Nothing impressive.

It's a setup ad for the phone's June 6th launch, and from what I can tell it hoped to move me in some small way so that the next time I see a Pre I'll get that ooey gooey ahh feeling. But after so many nifty iPhone spots showing me the wonders of the device, I don't want a philosophy lesson on why smart phones are good and how this one connects me to the many people in my life (if there indeed are). That's just the problem though — I don't know what I want from a smart phone commercial, and Pre sorta lost their chance to tell me.

Let's see what the next one has to offer, shall we?

Update: I misspelled Modernista! in the headline and if I fix it we'll lose all of your lovely comments. So for now, it remains incorrect. Also, this is from ECD Gary Koepke.

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