Comcast Remote Control Mascot Goes 'Missing' for a Cause

A missing remote control is helping to raise money for charity while promoting Comcast’s new Xfinity platform.

Comcast, which has its Michigan headquarters based in Plymouth, rolled out new Xfinity features last week, which include mobile device features, faster Internet connection speeds and connectivity between phone, computer and television services.

To promote the product, Comcast’s remote control mascot is “missing,” allowing Internet users to log on to Facebook and “like” him to bring him back. For each click, Comcast will donate $1 — with hopes of reaching $10,000 today — to Leader Dogs for the Blind. As of 4 p.m. today, there were 2,014 "likes" on the Comcast Michigan Facebook page.

The point of the “missing remote” promotion, according to Mary Beth Halprin, vice president of public relations for Comcast,  is the remote control “figuring out what his role in life is because he thinks he is no longer needed.”

People can go to facebook.com/ComcastMI to post a message to lead the remote control home.

According to Halprin, the Xfinity platform was something the company has invested in for several years. She said the service is about “tying all of these Xfinity products together so that the customer can use our services in a way that works for them.”

She said the remote control, contrary to the mascot’s staged disappearance, still will be an integral part of the Xfinity platform. The new features, she said, are “a support merchanism to the remote.”

Eventually the services will include home security system management, she said.

The new platform officially launched last week, she said, although some Xfinity features have been available during the past year, such as the ability to schedule recordings on your cable box remotely from its website.  She said many of the new features switched over “without customers having to do anything.”

She also said the company plans interaction with the video-chat service Skype, allowing video calls on the television.  Programming in 3-D also will be expanded, she said.