The first cell phone ad (1989)

I would be curious to see the first MTC commercial…

[YouTube]

via kottke


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9 comments, add your own...


  1. Holla says:

    this ad is fucking awesome in so many ways. soooo 80′s it hurts, but it hurts good baby don’t stop.

  2. Mark says:

    its like the guy gets lost so he calls his wife who keeps giving him wrong directions until he ends up at like a dead end.

  3. moayad says:

    There were a good documentary film about the MTC and the history of communication in Kuwait directed by Waleed Al Awadhi (who also directed ‘Sedra’, the only cinematic short film about Kuwait under the Iraqi invasion). The film was called ‘Call from Kuwait’ or something like that (هاتف من الكويت). It was a really good documentary, unfortunately I couldn’t find much information about it online. It was produced by the MTC.. obviously :)

  4. lfc-q8 says:

    this looks like an ad for jeep not for a cellphone

  5. Khaos says:

    Those “brick” phones never fail to amuse me.

    BTW, Centel (the com network that the add is for) was acquired by Sprint.

  6. Angelo says:

    I wonder how much did it cost back then?

  7. Craig says:

    I remember those big ass phones. As I recall, we called them car phones, not cell phones. People used to put big ass antennas on their cars so that they’d work. And permanently installed chargers in their car as well. Plug the f%^@% into the car mount over night, kind of thing.

    Angelo, they cost a lot. And the rates for service cost a lot too. Used to be a “big shot” or wanna be big shot toy, only.

  8. holla says:

    Angelo i saw in a JCPenny 80′s catalogue they used to cost like $1000-2000 just for the phone.

  9. nice, the perfect family. I like it.
    I have a Kuwaiti friend who once told me that his father still have the same cell phone number since the late 80s. I wonder if it can be true????


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