What the heck are all these "Hello Friend" ads FOR?

Question

I live in central Florida and lately there have been these short TV ad spots having some random person (a little girl hanging upside down on monkey bars, a guy making pizza) saying "hello friend". Then the screen turns blue and there's a logo that simply says "hellofriend" in white text with some kind of tiny swoosh mark under it.

I tried Googling and came up with pretty much zilch. I'd check Wikipedia, but, ha, SOPA/PIPA protest, so, that's out (not to mention, the cached snippets that turned up in the Google search didn't look promising anyway).

Anybody know what these ads are even for? I'm kind of baffled.

Answer 1

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that all will be revealed during the superbowl, which will air on Feb 5th.

Answer 2

Also wondering. There are Radio, TV and Billboards in St. Petersburg.

Answer 3

Whatever it is, you are doing exactly what they want, advertising for them. It is a ploy, an advertising scheme, and not nearly as interesting when it comes out as it is being made by people trying to guess. Really, it is just plain boring, and another commercial ad that should be ignored. Be patient, when it comes out you will be frustrated as to why you wasted so much brain power on something so dumb.

Answer 4

Maybe just maybe it's a reminder not to forget about those friends that you have but aren't in you're inner circle. Just pick up the phone every now and again give them a call and say hello friend!!

Answer 5

As a couple of people mentioned, i also think it's for Brighthouse networks, a cable/phone/internet company. Since it seems to be only in Florida and Michigan, and those are Brighthouse's only 2 service/marketing areas, it would be the only logical conclusion.

Answer 6

i was looking for this answer too a couple days ago ( but SOPA and PIPA made it hard to wednesday)



from what i was told...its a promo commercial ran by brighthouse networks (note the color scheme represents brighthouse and also the "smiley swoosh" that pops up....much like brighthouses smiley swoosh.



Basically, to answer your question, Brighthouse TV Networks has to much time on their hands.



this help any?

Answer 7

I'm in Daytona Beach and I have seen them too, other than the fact that it seems to be pretty centralized in Florida, I have no other idea?

Answer 8

I don't know, but I just saw one with this women coming up an escalator, and she said "Hello friend" very creepily. I'm starting to get scared. Come on, admit it - it's a little freaky!

Answer 9

When I looked it up and found nothing I thought I was imagining the commercials, glad im not alone.

Answer 10

I'm in Ocala FL and am a lil freaked by it. I hope a answer is found soon

Answer 11

Southeast Michigan...same ads...same questions. They freak me out.

Answer 12

I live in Indiana, watch comcast so that knocks out the brighthouse and location theory. i see the ads, the fisherman, library chick, dude in the wild, etc. i check hello-friend.com and its a design firm site apparently, but nothing is on the site except for an email link based on an image, its a personal site for some design artist named dan something, im pretty sure that this site is unrelated so I checked other domain names based on "hellofreind.com" which is a registered domain under a company in New York, that has been registered since 1998. but if you visit the site it is under construction..... I don't get it, it must be some subliminal message for a company that is either coming out soon, already out of business, or non-existent. By all accounts it is one of the best advertising campaigns because it is so frequent, and people are asking about it everywhere. Maybe it really is aliens, letting us know that they are out there, integrated into our society at every level and they wish to gain our friendship? Some people think that it is a new friend website or dating site, but the simple truth is no one knows. its baffling and frustrating, but hey we're not wasting our money on these ads so who cares?

Answer 13

HelloFriend is a disabilities organization started by Bill Cosby in honor of his son, Ennis Cosby who was murdered in 1997. The organization was based on Ennis's life goals to help kid's with learning disabilities, illiteracy, and difficulty in keeping good grades. The foundation's name was created because that was the common greeting of Ennis Cosby. You can search it on Google by typing in one of it's two names; The Ennis Cosby Foundation or the HelloFriend Foundation. Central Florida isn't the only place that this is advertised; in fact, it's all over the country! But recently Central Florida has been targeted because it is currently the lowest average testing scores in the nation. I hope this helps!



~Nimble



P.S. The reason this information is difficult to find is because the organization's website is down is under innovation.

Answer 14

I've been researching these commercials for the past few days! I've heard the it's some bank or all these other scenarios! I live in the Tampa bay area here in Florida and have bright house . But I'm guessing we will find out soon! It's starting I get a little creepy! Haha

Answer 15

I've been asking everybody and also searched the main search engines and came up with nothing. It seems weird someone would invest this much into television advertising without seeking some kind of benefit. I too am from Central Florida and am interested to find out.

Answer 16

It is a VERY successful marketing campaign. Run the add for a predetermined length of time on various forms of media, peak the interest of the public, create conversation at the "water cooler"- ie the Internet, once everyone must know what it is, advertise when it will be revealed (yes, probably the Superbowl) finally tell the public. This will ensure continued dialogue about the product as everyone asks their "water cooler" friends if they heard who the advertiser was. Very smart and historically very successful.

Answer 17

Hello my friend! My guess is that it's a Florida tourism campagne of some sort that will have a two word tagline, since the swoosh is below the o & f. I would expect the f to be for Florida. Any ideas what the "o" would stand for? Time will tell!

Answer 18

I've been researching it too. The pattern for all chacha and yahoo answers seems to be them airing in Florida. They also tend to air on news networks. I'm in Orlando and I'm seeing them several times a day and I watch a pretty limited amount of TV. I would suggest they have something to do with the upcoming president primary in Florida but these have none of the hallmarks of a political ad. My one idea is that they may be a viral campaign for the Mormon church. LDS is running ads hard in primary states with fairly cryptic commercials getting out in front of the Romney faith issue, working as a defacto super PAC.

Answer 19

I'm in Tampa... there's even a billboard on I4 westbound between MLK and 50th St... No idea what it's for. I'm intrigued and I'm wishing it was like, some new social network for people who actually care about other people... or something... but I know I'm just going to be pissed off when the 'big reveal' happens and we all find out it's some bank or advertisement for brighthouse. lol I hate these teaser ad campaigns. They get everyone talking about it, and then they piss everyone off.

Answer 20

Also in SW Florida, and also wondering the exact same thing. Yes, it is kinda eiree and definitely frustrating! Now IDK for sure; I'm only guessing here, but these commercials might be ads for Clear PC, a fairly new internet broadband co. Got something in the mail w/that "swoosh" (or sideways parenthesis) mark saying, "Now you can talk to your friends even easier by combining your internet & phone to our broadband...," etc. *Like I said, it's just a guess, but it would make sense - put up mysterious commercials to get everyone's attention, then finally "reveal" what they're for & mean.

Answer 21

I agree with everybody that it's bright house. Especially when I typed in hello friend on google and then put a space aftarward the first thing that came up was brighthouse.

Answer 22

I too have been curious about these ads. I just saw a Vonage commercial w/ the same color schemes & the swoosh was very similar. I believe they must be launching a new service. The hello must refer to the common answering of the telephone.

Answer 23

Love it! In a regular conversation w my daughters and catching some recent news indeed we linked these ads w Brighthouse , since they are expanding their " hot spots " connections for " free" so consumers can continue their communication w friends all over Fl very specific thru the areas close to the beach. So activate all your wifi and Hellofriend all your contacts any time everywhere!

Answer 24

I live in Central FL between Orlando and Daytona BCH and those Ads have been running .. Like some of you they too are just weird.. I dont like viewing things unless it is clear to me what I am suppose to seeing in the Ad.. Someone or some group is trying to sneak their opinions on us. I think that we all should be good neighbors but I dont think this is what these ads are supporting. it is weird that no one can find out who is behind these commericals. Someone is paying for air time. Just a thought.

Answer 25

We have them in the Tampa Bay area. The little swoosh under the o and the f looked like the amazon advertising, but I have a feeling it's not that. Man this is frustrating!

Answer 26

We have them in Calif too! Thinking it is something to do with Brighthouse, colors and font of lettering is similar. Have seen about 4 different versions. The one with the little girl hanging upside down freaks me out, expect her head to spin around and start talking in tongues! lol

Answer 27

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. That's why I came to this question. Those ads are very interesting. Let's not forget about that person whistling when the 'hellofriend' comes up. I'm in Florida too, maybe it's just Florida.



-Yeah and there's one with a girl in a library who looks up from her book and says hellofriend and a girl going up an escalator who says it too. They are eerie.

Answer 28

It IS 100% a bright house ad. The escalator scene was filmed at the mall in Clearwater off of US 19.

Answer 29

I'm so glad that other people are questioning this. I don't like sneaky commercials. Some of these "hellofriend" commercials are just creepy. There are a couple that are really lengthy - like the one I just saw about the houseguest with cats. It almost promotes being a martyr and putting up with anything; reinforces being a doormat. After seeing the movie "Thrive" I'm suspicious of anything commercial that seems to have a message to teach me something. I hope we find out soon so we can ignore them like all the other stupid commercials.

Answer 30

Soooo glad I'm not the only one going crazy trying to figure out the source of these very eerie commercials. Extremely strange that we can not find an answer online.

Answer 31

I live in Lakeland and have no idea, though i havent' seen the tv commercials I did hear a radio ad this morning on 93.3 WFLZ on the MJ Morning show. I'm wondering what its all about too, I'm leaning towards AMazon and not some bank....

Answer 32

I live in Florida right by the Gulf, and I've seen various commercials and a billboard..I've googled it and saw your question thinking there would be an answer lol.. but I was wrong. Obviously whatever it is, is catching peoples attention.

Answer 33

I don't know either, also middle of Florida. I don't have Bright-house (Verizon) but the swoosh thing makes me think of Amazon. We've got billboards too here on the west coast (of Florida)

Answer 34

I just created a question on this and got nothing. I think it's some sort of subliminal message, but I can't decipher it. It's quite scary / Eerie after seeing it come on a couple of times. It has made me really curious and no where online can I find anything on this. I'm glad atleast somebody else was curious.

Answer 35

If is like a campaign we had on billboards in detroit a few years back it may be a campaign for a church. But they did not take to TV media when they did their billboards.

Answer 36

I live in Florida as well and I just found a link to oceania bank on facebook that claims responsibilty for these ads. I have never heard of them.

Answer 37

I think it is bright house also.. We are in Indiana and have bright house (which sucks). On the other hand seems to be something to get us to use search engines, but Who knows though I'm just tired of them.

Answer 38

Their purpose is exactly what's happening in these posts. Classic advertising ploy...first, peak the consumer's interest. That's what those brief spots are doing. Be patient, there willl be more teaser spots. Can't find any explanation online? That's intentional...stop looking...you won't find anything.

Answer 39

I live near Crystal River, FL and the ads are on the TV all the time. I think it is absolutely nothing. I think they just want to drive us all NUTS!!!!!

Answer 40

I've been wondering too but don't find the commercials freaky or weird, just sweet. Maybe someone thinks we should treat our friends like we really love them.

Answer 41

With my luck it's a secret Muslim terrorist code passing trick

Answer 42

I live in The middle of FL & am curious about these ads. Are they subliminal messages? They do make you feel happy that these people have friends that care about them. Scary stuff. Are they Government controled?

Answer 43

Its advertising from Bright House Networks...there is a message behind it that will be revealed eventually but until then just retarded commercials.

Answer 44

I'm wondering the same myself. wikipedia is back up now but I doubt these commercials are advertising a 2003 comedy-horror short film.

Answer 45

I am searching for the same answer. The colors of the commercial end remind me of Brighthouse.

Answer 46

My guess is pnc bank they have the exact same color and they are trying to become a bigger bank here in Florida

Answer 47

Has anyone seen this ad on a tv that is NOT on Brighthouse?

Answer 48

It is for Brightouse! Yes, Brighthouse... And be aware people, they want to be your "friend" now, just before they get ready to raise your cable/internet/phone rates!!!

Answer 49

I thought suntrust because the colors and swoosh?

Answer 50

I searched and questioned these ads also and nothing.......whatever it is it has people speculating!!!! My thought is maybe some kind of new social networking site????

Answer 51

With it being an election year who knows, we have all types of confusing commercials during this time.

Answer 52

i have too i think they're just the commercials for brighthouse which makes sense since i have that cable service lol

Answer 53

LMAO. I live on the west coast of Fl. and we have been debating the same question. Can't find anything about them.

Answer 54

Well, it's official. There are aliens sending these commercials to us to subliminally persuade us that they are friends. Then they can interweave themselves into every facet of Earth life, and then spring the attack..... clever.

Answer 55

Reminds me of the scientology commercials they were running a couple years ago.

Answer 56

I think these are commercials for welcoming tourist to FL. That's my hunch.

Answer 57

Here's an answer:

http://www.cybergenica.com/blog/business-post/what-are-those-hello-friend-tv-ads/

Answer 58

They are brainwashing techniques. They want you to vote for Gingrich.

I wouldn't listen to them.

Answer 59

I've seen Billboards in Naples, FL and there is no Bright house here..........

Answer 60

rumor has it they are Brighthouse's new marketing campaign - does everyone use Brighthouse?

Answer 61

Wondering too. Can't find anything

Answer 62

Well whatever it is for it seems to be getting our attention.

Answer 63

I'm sure we'll find out soon enough........ Hello Friend!

Answer 64

I can tell you it is not a bank!!

Answer 65

idk either. none of my friends in nys hv seen them tho. im in central fl too.