While ‘Video Phone’ had no plot and showcased the beauty of Beyonce; ‘Telephone’ featured a campy plot with winks to ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘Kill Bill’; among others.

With song lyrics and use of color Lady G’s sense of fun and popular art dominatied the video.

Loved the fact that Lady Gaga has not forgotten that she is in the music business and was able to use Virgin Mobile/Miracle Whip in a video (which is an ad to buy her album) and get them to pay her for it!!!

No matter how “edgy” one is; they will still need (wonder) bread for their sandwich….don’t spend ALL your money on the art Lady Gaga!!!!

That the work is processed, manufactured and tested as thoroughly as a jar of Miracle Whip, suggests that the video and its stars have more in common with Miracle Whip than anyone would like to admit. As for Virgin’s involvement, it shows that today, a brand can be reduced to content and the real medium is Gaga. What may be the woman’s real contribution to marketing is her understanding that she’s not a performer, or at least, a particularly interesting or original performer, but a medium through which brands may move. (Madonna in relation was a primitive and thought of brands as sponsors and herself an artist worth sponsoring.)

Three minutes into the video I was bored but felt, as a professional, I had to watch it to its end. The piece owes almost every image to earlier works, from Jail House Rock and Women in Cages to more recent films, where the wicked lesbian partners in crime ride off into the sunset. What disappointed me was that its producers, in spite of having a budget and cast and talent to produce a good Independent film, say something on the level of Reservoir Dogs, instead produced a video that lacked any sincerity and so emotional honesty. Will it sell rings tones and phones? Perhaps for the next two weeks. What was interesting is that the video was so nakedly a commercial. Yes, we all know that today’s audiences know they’re being “targeted,” and that they would be disappointed by any display of quality or purpose other than to sell. Gaga’s smart enough to know that she’s the primary product to be consumed followed by paid and unpaid sponsors

Gaga is an excellent student of popular culture but not an interesting artist. Beyonce’s involvement simply extends the audience, while elevating Gaga to another level. (Why Beyonce would consent to be tossed in mix is a real marketing riddle?) As for the piece as a whole, as statement about our culture, it brought to mind a line from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: “They glory in their shame”. Which makes the cameo appearances of formerly great brands such as Polaroid, particularly sad, and this particular brand so desperate, perhaps it ought to be put out of its misery.

One of the things I’ve taken from the video is that Wonder Bread + Miracle Whip is gonna clog your arteries, faster than you can say “GaGa”. Not products I’m longing to buy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/mar/12/internet-lady-gaga-provocative-video-telephone

Also, the polaroid one actually makes sense… Lady Gaga is actually a part of the polaroids comeback now, she’s employed by them.