Writing about AT&T this morning, I poked around online to find the best links to use. First, I came across an egregious special-purpose web site for the Blackberry 8300, aka “The Curve”. First, make sure you have your computer sound on so you get the full animated Blackberry/obnoxious music experience. Now go here. Someone spent a lot of good money on this.
Contrast that with here, where you can get the info you need in a nice clean presentation. I’m all for rich media online, but only when it actually buys you something. There’s way too many of these “fancy for the sake of being fancy” sites out there. AT&T is by no means the only villain.
On the Dot 
This is a great set of examples of what happens when marketing people lose touch with an end-users requirement for information. The flash animation was in fact, pretty cool, but I needed to wait over a minute for everything to load up (on a DSL line), where as the ATT example was alomst an instant download. For a product-centric website flash seems superfluous, when I’m looking for product information I’m in a hurry. Waste my time and your competitors are one click away.
I completely agree with your overall premise that there are too many companies (or should I just limit this to larger corporations) creating these spots that only aggravate. My problem with the first example was it was flashy with no substance. All sizzle, no steak. I do believe that there can be a compromise between the two because my problem with the second spot was it was overwhelming. All steak, no sizzle.
Yes, if I was interested in buying the product, going to that page would tell me everything I would need to know, but if not committed to the purchase yet, I don’t think it would entice me to buy.
I don’t think it is the flashiness that is the problem, but rather the lack of information it imparts. Flashiness is good for the right reason.
I could not agree more. I do web design–when I am strong enough to handle the hand holding necessary to complete the task–and I am always amazed at the amount of people who want that high end, flashy website that does not address the users needs. Rule #1: Consider your customer!
Diana
Marketing Goddess