Smashed Sonim "Indestructible" XP3 Shows Danger Of PR Pride

Sonim have managed to carve a niche for themselves in the cellphone handset industry by offering supposedly "indestructible" devices to the sort of users who care more about ruggedness than they do multitouch.  Unfortunately sometimes their marketing comes back to haunt them, such as when the BBC's Dan Simmons was challenged to break the latest Sonim handset, the XP3.

After giving it a dunk in a fishtank – with the phone still working – Simmons was told by Sonim CEO Bob Plaschke to try to break it.  The BBC journo then gives it a few sharp whacks against the side of the tank, the final one resulting in a telling smash-tinkle sound that, we're guessing, was accompanied by weeping from Sonim's PR team.

To his credit, Plaschke seems more impressed than devastated, bemused expression in our screenshot above notwithstanding.  It'll be interesting to see whether the old "there's no such thing as bad PR" adage applies over the next few months of Sonim's sales.  Check out the full video here.

[via Recombu]