BlackBerry names Alicia Keys its ‘global creative director’

Despite the unveiling of two new smartphones and changing its name, the most eyebrow-raising announcement from BlackBerry’s event Wednesday morning may have been the company naming singer Alicia Keys as its new global creative director.

Toward the tail end of the event, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins welcomed the artist on stage. Keys, wearing what looked like a velvet suit, talked to the crowd about her favorite features on BlackBerry 10, the company’s new mobile operating system.

Keys said she’s back to using Blackberry after having left for other smartphones. She’ll focus on promoting BlackBerry 10 to customers, people in the entertainment business and developers.

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BlackBerry’s decision to hire Keys as its global creative director was lighting up the social networks. The reaction was mixed, with some Twitter users calling the new position a joke.

But Keys is hardly the first celebrity to be named as the creative director for a tech company. In 2010, Polaroid did the same with Lady Gaga, and a year later, Intel named will.i.am as its creative director.

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