I saw a Dentyne commercial this evening that caught my attention. I don’t know why I missed it earlier, apparently the campaign has been around since the fall of 2008. The pitch is that true “face time” is much more important than time spent socializing online. And, of course, these interactions can be greatly enhanced with breath-freshening gum.

It’s an intriguing concept, although not one I completely subscribe to. I do like the use of social networking phrases (like “friend request accepted”) juxtaposed with images of people interacting.

Here’s the commerical:

Another interesting component of the campaign (done by McCann Erickson) is the branded web site, www.makefacetime.com. It shuts down after three minutes of use, apparently to allow more time for chewing gum IRL. The site features the ability to schedule real face time with friends courtesy of a nice use of the Google Maps API and an anti-emoticon game, the Smiley Chamber of Doom.

I’m curious what others think of this approach. While clever to me, I’m not sure how it resonates with their younger target audience. What do you think?