As you can hear in the video above, Alamo asked the actual voice of Siri, Susan Bennett, to add oomph to their latest Don't Talk or Text" PSA. In this quirky vid, the cheeky virtual assistant refuses directives to text, calling her unseen user "rude" before threatening to send a message that will release embarrassing personal information. And just in case being called an idiot by artificial intelligence isn't enough to make you keep your phone out of site, this ad ends with an ominous warning:
I can't decide if this running theme of Siri becoming self-aware is increasingly hilarious or increasingly disconcerting. Maybe both?
Funny enough, Alamo is promoting this Siri-centric PSA along with news that Spike Jonze's Her will be the next title to screen in their Drafthouse Recommends series. The heralded theater chain carefully picks its recommendations looking for works its runners feel are "groundbreaking, innovative, and provocative films that push the boundaries of genre, represent enigmatic subjects or highlight emerging new talent."
Previous releases in this slate include the controversial Spring Breakers and polarizing Only God Forgives. While Her is an inarguable critical darling, not everyone is loving this romance about a lonely everyman who falls for his personalized operating system. In fact, one of the film's most outspoken critics is none other than Siri herself! (Itself?)
Siri's PSA might play before Her, but the iPhone icon is far from a fan of the film's Siri-like OS, called Samantha. Ask her yourself. You might get a message like this:
Her is now playing.
