This is not only one of my favorite Christmas commercials – it’s one of my favorite commercials of all time. Period.

I’ll admit, it’s partially because “Island of Misfit Toys” is my favorite scene in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But mainly it’s because it was such an ingenious way to express what was not too long ago a major barrier to purchasing an iPhone – their exclusivity contract with AT&T.

Even though the ad was touting coverage, it was also a subtle promotion of the recently launched Droid, whose kickoff ads had gone after the iPhone in other ways:

Was it the Misfit Toys who convinced Apple to finally blow off AT&T and embrace Verizon less than a year ago (Verizon iPhone didn’t launch until February)? Can’t be certain, but it sure as hell couldn’t have hurt. Who knew that a water pistol that shoots jelly could be such an effective weapon?