Windows Phone 7 debuts Monday in US

Microsoft's advertising campaign for its new mobile phone is neither app crazy nor a snowman robot, The Seattle Times repots.

In a massive marketing campaign that will cost Microsoft $100 million, the company is issuing a manifesto rallying people to spend less time with their phones.

Windows Phone 7, which starts selling Monday in the U.S., will help people break their zombie-like fixations with their phone screens, Microsoft says.

The ads probably will be inescapable this holiday season, as Microsoft throws its weight behind a hoped-for comeback in the mobile-phone market.

"There's been a bit of a dark side to the relationship people are developing with their phones," said David Webster, chief strategy officer of Microsoft's Central Marketing Group. "We've all seen this. Folks at a dinner table, should be talking to each other, are staring down at their screens. Folks sitting at soccer game sidelines, should be watching their kids, are staring down at their phones."

The ads have begun airing on television, during the World Series and in prime time on the major networks.