Yesterday, during the day, I was watching NFL out of the corner of my eye while eating, and an iPhone commercial came on. (They have a way of getting your attention because of their simplicity.) I wasn't really watching the commercial, but the story was funny, so I looked up toward the end of it, and did the biggest double-take ever… it was my friend Elliot Riebman from college!
Elliot and I lived across the hall from each other freshman year at Emory. He was actually one of the first people to read Points in Case because I posted the first issue inside the stalls of the guy's bathroom on our floor. (Not to imply that Elliot took more shits than everyone else.)
Interesting tidbit: Elliot and I founded the S&M club freshman year. That's “Showmanship & Magic” for those of you who jumped the gun. Laugh it up, but we both juggled really well, and Elliot did amazing magic tricks. Guys, if you have no game with women, your best bet is to learn magic tricks; women are instinctively drawn to that element of mystery.
Anyway, I was pretty sure Elliot wasn't an actor, so I emailed him to see how he got the gig, and here was his reply:
I got the commercial out of the blue. I was sitting in a coffee shop reading and some woman approached me and asked if I had the iphone. She said it was for marketing and research. I answered a few questions for her and a week later I got a phone call saying I was cast to be in an iphone commercial. Long story short, I'm not acting… just lucky!
He told me it would be on during The Simpsons last night too, so I kept my camera on and managed to catch it. (I missed the first 7 seconds or so, but the premise is that Elliot and his girlfriend are going to dinner with his girlfriend's boss and fiance.)
Another weird coincidence: my sister's name is Meredith, and she got married this summer. I'm pretty sure the story isn't about them, but I'll have to double-check, else the Earth skips a rotation or something next time I blink.
Update: The commercial is now viewable in full on Apple's website www.apple.com/iphone/ads/ad11/