Jamba!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Jamba.

Jamba! is a mobile phone content provider, based in Berlin, Germany. In China and the company's English-speaking markets, currently Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States, the company trades under the name Jamster!.

The company was founded in Berlin's Kreuzberg district in 2000. In 2004 it was purchased by VeriSign for €223 million. Jamba!'s main line of business is the creation and marketing of ringtones for mobile phones. It is perhaps best known for the Sweety the Chick and Crazy Frog characters. The company also sells insurance for mobile phones and home electronics and runs online gaming and online dating services. In 2005 it started doing business in the United States and China.

On September 12, 2006, News Corporation announced it will pay approximately $188 million for 51% shares in Jamba! and will combine it with Fox Mobile Entertainment assets.

[edit] Controversy

Jamba! has drawn criticism for allegedly misleading customers in its service advertisements. In general, Jamba! services are sold as a subscription, despite advertising that seems to imply that customers are buying a one-off phone ringtone. The firm has drawn criticism for making it difficult to unsubscribe; for example, as of December, 2005, Jamba!'s German website FAQ does not mention the SMS code needed to cancel all subscriptions.

Jamba! advertises on AOL Instant Messenger on the top ad. When scrolling over the ad, it plays ringtones that many users find annoying.

Jamba! advertises aggressively on youth-oriented channels such as MTV and German VIVA. In 2004, it spent €90 million on television advertising in Germany alone. In Jamba! countries in Europe, it is not uncommon to see a multitude of the same Jamba! commercials in the same commercial break. An online petition in Germany protesting the firm's advertising practices drew some 200,000 signatures. In the United Kingdom, the Mail on Sunday decried what it described as a "ringtone rip-off," citing the example of a young girl who ran up a bill of £70 in a short time, just by ordering ringtones and wallpapers [1].

In August 2006 Jamba! began selling a collection of media based on the animation Loituma Girl, which caused some uproar in the internet community.^{[citation needed]} The video shows an anthropomorphic cow (called Holly Dolly) dancing to the animation which is displayed (flipped horizontally) in the background. The song/animation is marketed as the "Dolly Song", and the music is played faster than the original Loituma version.

In late September 2006 television channels MTV, ProSieben, RTL2 and Viva cited ethics concerns over refusing to air Jamba's advertisement for a Hitler themed SMS-downloadable cartoon titled "Der Bonker". Illustrator Walter Moers's short film depicts the Führer in bathroom humour scenes with his dog Blondie and three Nazi uniformed rubber ducks. The work has earned strong criticism from Jewish memorial groups and mainstream politicians, while earning some of a cult status among German youngsters.

[edit] Jamba! characters

Rhino and Rat
Prime8
Coolabear
Crazy Frog
Pussycat
Tipsy Tiger
Schnappi
Sweety the Chick
Nessie the Dragon
Pinky the Pig
Party Bee (features in one ringtone; "Wanna Have Some Fun")
Mr. Chaos (His appearance is of a big nosed, long-tailed red devil.)
Groove (Appears as a blue thing in a wheel (no legs) with brown hair and goggles. His mobile downloads were random on each jamster site. (Eg. Jamster UK has only videos while Jamster Italy has the real tone.) Only appears in the Amadeus ringtone.)
Bazooku (Swead)
Mad Dawgz
Monsters (Mah-na Mah-na)
Chubb Chubb
Jimbo, Jombo, Jembo (3 monkeys)
DJ Mozart (New Jamster star)
Rosster Records (New Jamster star)
Holly Dolly (New Jamster star)