Stoned

After having a week to digest it, critics are ready to weigh in on the new Sharon Stone AOL ad. And as Simon Dumenco says in his New York magazine piece, "in a nutshell, is the message of AOL’s new $35 million ad campaign: SHARON STONE IS NOT GETTING LAID." Other points he raises:
We must assume that the take-away here, beyond the fact that Stone is so hard up that she has to hook up with a C-list cartoon character (even Pokémon wouldn’t return her calls) is:
(a) Sharon’s husband, San Francisco Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein, is working late—again!
(b) The dipshits at America Online—having just now realized that everyone wants broadband (as opposed to AOL’s standard pokey, dial-up service)—think the cutting-edge way to market their own high-speed service is with this hot hot hot new phenomenon called “cybersex.”
(c) The best way the dipshits at AOL could think to market this hot new “cybersex” thing was by hinting that it’s way better with broadband (think of how much more porn you can download!).
(d) Just like AOL’s dial-up service, AOL Broadband will suddenly and inexplicably depart, leaving you with connectus interruptus.

The ad reminded me more of The Muse, Sharon's 1999 film, where she wears really great flowy clothes and cute barrettes in her short hair. In other words, I noticed how good she looked but forgot about the rest of the ad.

Adweek's Barbara Lippert critiques the spot. One zinger: "To paraphrase the best-known fake-orgasm scene onscreen: I don't want what she's having."

Slate's Rob Walker felt the ad was "off key"