Crazy frog mania

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-06-29 05:01pm

I couldn't find anything about this in this forum, so here comes the most annoying thing in the world.

The videoclip is a hit on MCM music channel.

EDIT: I've changed the initial link, so that there is only the video and no more ring-tone advertising. New link kindly provided by Faram.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2005-06-29 05:49pm

The Frog needs to die and the asshole who created him deserves a damned flogging.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2005-06-29 09:13pm

I hate each and every phone ringtone advert there is, that frog makes me fucking seethe.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2005-06-29 09:35pm

Aren't ringtone 'services' basically just credit card/phone number-harvesting fraud operations anyway?

EDIT: And why is this in the Art Forum? The thread subject has no artistic value whatsoever, but still can be the subject of a nice discussion. OT, anyone?

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2005-06-29 10:37pm

I want to be repaid for both the time I lost watching that and the IQ points that it sucked from my disbelieving head.

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-06-30 12:35am

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:Aren't ringtone 'services' basically just credit card/phone number-harvesting fraud operations anyway?

EDIT: And why is this in the Art Forum? The thread subject has no artistic value whatsoever, but still can be the subject of a nice discussion. OT, anyone?

I placed it here because of the CGI movie and the mix on the "Axel F" song. I was not especially thinking about entertaining a ringtone service.

And for me that videoclip is funny.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2005-06-30 01:15am

I agree; the video was at least stupidly amusing in a charming sort of way.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-06-30 03:53am

Didnt even found it funny when I first saw it a few years ago, just well made.

I'm sick off the commercials, ringtones and even sucky songs

Grand Admiral Mango · Post by **Grand Admiral Mango** » 2005-06-30 06:50am

I hate that frog.

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2005-06-30 08:22am

Why is that sound-clip not dead yet?! I didn't find it funny the first time I heard it back in... well, way fucking back! The video is relatively well made, though...

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2005-06-30 10:16am

This is the first time I've seen it and I think it's cute. I love that frog

*wonders if she can that ringtone for her cellphone*

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2005-06-30 10:29am

Mrs Kendall wrote:This is the first time I've seen it and I think it's cute. I love that frog

*wonders if she can that ringtone for her cellphone*

Yea it is all over the web, easy to get.

Watch the video

Post by **Dalton** » 2005-06-30 11:06am

Mrs Kendall wrote:This is the first time I've seen it and I think it's cute. I love that frog

*wonders if she can that ringtone for her cellphone*

You know, I never really understood just how much annoyance a mother could put up with.

Now I do.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2005-06-30 12:54pm

Mrs Kendall wrote:This is the first time I've seen it and I think it's cute. I love that frog :D

*wonders if she can that ringtone for her cellphone*

No, you don't.

Auntie Beeb wrote: 'Crazy Frog doubled my phone bill'
By Hannah Bayman
BBC News

Crazy Frog's Axel F became the first ringtone to reach number one
When I ordered the Crazy Frog Axel F ringtone, in an ironic mood, I expected a bit of derision from friends.

What I did not expect was to be hit with a hugely-inflated mobile bill after being sent a slew of junk texts.

After texting a number on a television advert to get the tone, I was bombarded with messages from Jamster inviting me to download more tones.

It wasn't until my next bill arrived from Orange that I discovered each junk text from Jamster had cost me £3.

When I called Orange, the call centre operator told me I was one of hundreds of people he had spoken to with the same complaint.

Instead of ordering Crazy Frog's Axel F as a one-off tone, we had unwittingly subscribed to an expensive ringtone account, with Jamster sending premium rate reverse-charge texts every few days.

Darker side

The new version of Axel F, the theme to the Beverly Hills Cop films, became the first ringtone to make it into the UK singles charts - hanging on to the top spot until last week.

It is the biggest success story so far in a booming ringtone market in the UK, valued at £1.6bn in 2003 and predicted to rise to £2.5bn by 2008.

But there may be a darker side to the Crazy Frog phenomenon.

While ringtone-maker Jamster and its telephone service provider mBlox made an estimated £10m from the craze by January alone, thousands of customers may have lost out.

Watchdog inquiry

Icstis, the watchdog for premium rate services, is investigating mBlox after receiving 110 complaints from the public about the Jamster Crazy Frog service.

London-based mBlox could have its lines closed down and be fined a maximum of £100,000 if it is found to have breached regulations.

In April, mBlox was formally reprimanded and fined £2,000 for another promotion involving unsolicited text messages.

Catherine Bell, Icstis spokeswoman, told the BBC News website: "We are investigating the promotion and content of the Crazy Frog service, run by mBlox for Jamster.

"We are looking at whether people are aware they are signing up for a chargeable subscription service and if they know how much they will be paying and how often."

Mobile phone sending text message
Operators can be fined up to £100,000 for breaching guidelines

Ms Bell said the watchdog was also investigating whether Crazy Frog products had been inappropriately aimed at children, particularly because of their use of dancing cartoon characters.

Tones from the Crazy Frog character have been heavily promoted in prime-time television adverts, like the one to which I responded.

I did not spot the impossibly small print whizzing by on the bottom of the screen while a larger-than-a life Crazy Frog gyrated to his latest tones.

Close examination

If I had, it would apparently have informed me that by ordering the ringtone I had also signed up to a subscription.

The watchdog's 2004 code says pricing information must be spoken on television adverts if maximum call costs can exceed £2.

The code also states that "textual pricing information must be easily legible, prominent... presented in a way that does not require close examination".

When I visited the Jamster site to find out why I was receiving junk texts, I found nothing in their terms and conditions that mentioned either charges or subscription.

Similarly, an email to Jamster customer service to ask if I was being charged got an automated response, again with no word of charges or subscription.

It wasn't until I called Orange, after receiving my mobile bill, that I found out that I had a subscription and how to cancel it.

Andrew Bud, mBlox's executive chairman, said: "At mBlox, we look after the transmission and settlement of messages for many well-known brands, and we impress on all our clients the obligations and standards they must adhere to under Icstis' and operators' codes of practice."

Tinny tones

Jamster were unavailable for comment.

A panel of members from the Icstis committee is to rule on the case next month.

Unfortunately it is too late for me and many other mobile users.

Maybe I was in a minority to enjoy the Crazy Frog's tinny tones. I certainly find them annoying now I've been made to pay more than £40 for the privilege.

To stop reverse-charge texts to your mobile, text STOP or STOP ALL to the five-figure number they are being sent from. The number should start with an 8.

These ringtone services are enormous scams. As always, caveat emptor.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2005-06-30 02:09pm

My niece got hit with that Jamster scam. I'd gave her an old phone of mine and bought her a Pay As You Go Simm card for it. When the crazy frog first came out she sent the text and recieved the tone. All of a sudden she was bombarded with spam SMS. She ran through £20 of credit in a single night because of them. Every time she topped up her phone it was gone before she could even leave the shop. So she came to me and I went to Jamsters site and got the deactivation code, she got a message confirming that she was off their list. However every so often she'd still get messages and lose £1.50 a time. Eventually I had to get her another Simm Card and bin the other one. Jamster and the like are worse scum bags than spam emailers, atleast you can block and ignore the emails, the SMS scams cost people a lot of money. In short the owners of Jamster deserve to be sodomised with a rusty chainsaw.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2005-06-30 03:00pm

It probably helps I've never had to see or hear anything concerning that frog here in the states untill that page in the OP. those ringtones/realtones would get annoying real quick if I hear cellphones go off with them every so often.

The CG animation is still very well-done, although I don't get why the frog has to have a penis...

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-06-30 03:46pm

I first got that clip into a swf file that I've salvaged on my disk from the IE temporary files. While silly, I do enjoy to see it from time to time, as I find it kind of relaxing.

And I've changed the link in the OP with the one Faram provided, so that there is no more advertising of ringtone services.

Mad · Post by **Mad** » 2005-06-30 03:46pm

Utsanomiko wrote:The CG animation is still very well-done, although I don't get why the frog has to have a penis...

Because it is, after all, the most annoying thing in the world...

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-06-30 04:07pm

Mad wrote:
Utsanomiko wrote:The CG animation is still very well-done, although I don't get why the frog has to have a penis...
Because it is, after all, the most annoying thing in the world...

I've seen a version of the clip with the frog's penis blured. Although I hardly find it offensive, but it seems like others do not share the same opinion.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2005-06-30 06:54pm

Utsanomiko wrote:It probably helps I've never had to see or hear anything concerning that frog here in the states untill that page in the OP. those ringtones/realtones would get annoying real quick if I hear cellphones go off with them every so often.

The CG animation is still very well-done, although I don't get why the frog has to have a penis...

Imagine 1 or 2 in 3 adverts where the frog and imagine how you'd feel about it. For a period of roughly 1 month thats exactly what brit TV was like, there was no escape from it, unless you watched the adless BBC and even then there was a few mentions of it in the news.

Post by **Dalton** » 2005-06-30 08:20pm

Comosicus wrote:I've seen a version of the clip with the frog's penis blured. Although I hardly find it offensive, but it seems like others do not share the same opinion.

Obviously a depiction of a tiny cartoon penis will lead to sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, AIDS and the downfall of civilization as we know it.

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2005-06-30 08:24pm

That text message problem wouldn't happen to me as I don't have texting abilities on my phone. Well it's possible to get the abilities but I don't feel a need for text messaging. As it is we only use our cell phones when we need to get a hold of eachother when we're out or if we need to call people when we're driving somewhere. So we don't use our phones very often seeing as though we both get to stay home all day

Nah, I don't need a new ringtone, I think my Fraggle Rock theme and my Another One Bites the Dust ringtones are enough, for now anyway

EDIT: @ Dalton... Yeah I have little patience actually, I like it more because my kids laughed at it when they saw it, but when they started asking me to play it over and over again I started to get annoyed. To be honest.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2005-07-01 02:22am

For a while there were Jamster commercials on my shows every night here in the states.. I still see ads for other tone services.. but thanks to the wonders of my DVR cable box I can say fuck them and skip it

*huggles DVR cable box*