For all of you that think that word of mouth and internet ads are enough are wrong. They are good but even though there are a lot of people that surf the web daily, they dont all check tech geared sites or the type of sites they would advertise this on.
We you have a great product and your a company trying to climb back from a few bad yrs with a bad rep, you have to hit everybody from all angles. This means internet, radio, tv, billboards, paying these huge chain stores that they are in to make them the biggest center of attention as soon as you walk in these stores and all over the stores.
I can say that other than the tech sites that i visit, I dont see this phone advertised anywhere else. Sprint shouldnt only want to grab the techies that want this phone but those that may have considered a smart phone but didnt want to pay Verizon or ATT prices for real smart phone service.
Android isnt a new OS that isnt proven, its a desired OS to many and those who may not desire it may be curious as to what it is because they hear Google. The money may not be there to go all out like the bigger companies, but when you release your flagship, you have to put a good amount of money behind it (and that doesnt mean Hesse being in a commercial telling people how good the phone is
).