

Unapologetically Plastic, Artisanal Buns - jordaninternets
https://medium.com/adventures-in-consumer-technology/9655fd3ea2c7

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replicatorblog
If you want an amazing way to blow an afternoon, read some of the abstracts
published in the "Journal of Consumer Research"
([http://www.ejcr.org/](http://www.ejcr.org/))

It's an absolutely fascinating way to see how little turns of phrase, naming,
and packaging can influence our perception. There are some absolute classics
that back up this article showing that giving exotic names to jelly beans led
them to be picked more often, even though they tasted the same e.g. Orange vs.
Blood Orange.

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zachrose
I've had phones that were apologetically plastic. They had a metallic finish
that wore off to reveal the bone-colored ABS underneath.

"Unapologetic" here corresponds to the notion that materials shouldn't imitate
other materials, a practice that gained steam during the industrial revolution
and irked the Modernists something awful.

~~~
arrrg
Exactly. There are so many phones out there that are apologetically plastic, I
think it’s a very good idea to point out that one does not share that approach
if that is the case.

I like Apple’s honest use of materials and I like that they increased it over
the years. Silver keys on the MacBook Pro, made to look like the aluminum
shell (but actually plastic)? Gone and replaced by black keycaps which are
unmistakably plastic.

(That is not to say that Apple uniquely has this approach. I also like Nokia’s
unapologetically plastic phones very much.)

Those words are not completely meaningless. Apple could have made a plastic
phone that tries to look like the iPhone 5. That is apologetically plastic.
And it would have been awful. There is a difference.

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vxNsr
The importance of this message cannot be overstated.

To put it another way:

The Words you use to convince someone are more important than the message
itself.

I've seen people stab themselves in the back (and lose out) because they
didn't pay enough attention to the words they used.

I was super interested in how Apple was going to sell the 5c for this exact
reason, I use a plastic phone that doesn't feel too cheap (the lumia 521) but
I think of it as the crummiest phone on the market because of the plastic
(though it's actually really durable, I've basically launched it tons of times
and like a good nokia it will just come apart- distributing the force evenly)
So Apple's "Unapologetic" is a really important marketing concept.

~~~
sp332
There aren't that many metal phones on the market, are there?

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mrxd
Some other fun examples: soft Corinthian leather, Lucky Strike ("It's
toasted!"). These fit alongside Madagascar vanilla and artisanal hamburger
buns. But "unapologetically plastic" clearly doesn't.

The pattern we should look for is a modifier that creates the appearance of a
nonexistent competitive difference. Not a regular bun, an _artisanal_ bun. Not
regular vanilla, Madagascar vanilla.

So... not regular plastic, but unapologetic plastic? Apple wants us to believe
that this plastic is special because it doesn't apologize? That doesn't even
make sense.

It's clear that "unapologetically plastic" means that _Apple_ is unapologetic,
proud that the 5c is made of plastic. They want us to believe that this is not
a cheap knockoff iPhone, despite being made of plastic, and that's more about
affirming their brand values than anything else.

~~~
mc32
You have a point about "It's toasted" (as they were all toasted) --it'd be
like selling "cholesterol-free water". Madagascar vanilla, however, is a
variety distinct from Tahitian or Pompona. So, depending on what
characteristics you're looking for in the vanilla, you might choose one over
the other variety. Kind of like how vintners choose one grape variety over
others for specific reasons.

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nsxwolf
Have you ever had a really, really good hamburger bun that set the burger
apart from almost any other burger you've ever eaten?

If you have, why not describe it as "artisanal"? Some bread really is good
enough to warrant a special description.

Likewise, the iPhone 5c is a really, really nice plastic object. I know next
to nothing about plastics, but I do know that the 5c is set apart from, say,
this Handspring Visor that's (for some reason) on my desk.

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jbail
You have a Handspring Visor on your desk? Have you just not cleaned your desk
in 10 years? I kid, but I am genuinely curious what exactly you use it for
these days?

I cleaned out my bin of extra cords and random electronics this weekend. I
found my Visor and promptly put it in the "give away" pile.

~~~
nsxwolf
It's basically that I haven't cleaned out my desk, but this thing made it to
the top of the pile a bit ago because I was curious if I could get it onto the
Internet and what that would mean exactly in 2013.

Sadly I cannot find the wireless module.

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saurik
Words affect people deeply, but they don't affect everyone the same. Some
people, myself included, hear certain words like this, and get an emotionally
strong negative "that's bullshit, you added that word to manipulate me, and
now I like you and your product less for it" reaction. For me it hits really
hard when I see people use the word "beautiful" to describe a programming tool
or API: some people eat that term up, nearly looking for it as a defining
characteristic, whereas when I see it I generally no longer trust anything
else you have to say about your product. If the target market for your product
includes a lot of people who know they are being pandered to and generally
dislike it, you have to be really careful to actively avoid these kinds of
words.

I'd therefore feel a better statement to make (than waxing poetically about
words like "artisanal", which I know turned off budget-conscious friends of
mine as "probably too rich for my blood" despite meaning little in and of
itself, due to associated genre effects) is more "don't underestimate the
power of a wording change: test different adjectives and see what resonates
best with your audience, whether via live A/B testing or using focus groups,
and be prepared for the idea that you may have to split your message and
target different sub-groups separately, potentially even splitting your brand
entirely (something we tend to not see software companies do much, even though
old school product companies like detergent or cereal do it constantly)".

~~~
jff
I'm really happy someone else feels the same way about "beautiful". It's lost
all meaning in this space, it might as well be "EXTREME" or some other
marketing bullshit term.

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snorkel
Well I only eat Artisan Tostitos because I like to support small businesses
like FritoLay.

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breckinloggins
I think this has something to do with the word "cheap" being placed in front
of "plastic" so often that it stopped modifying "plastic" and just became part
of it. When that happens, you need a pretty strong adjective to reset the
connotation. "Unapologetically" seems to fit the bill.

It works with buns, too. "Go grab some hamburger buns" sounds Forth of July
Rainbo Bread to me. "Pick up some artisan buns" resets that.

Well, that's how it works in my mind at least; your mind may vary.

~~~
Zikes
In the context of phones in particular, Apple had a lot to do with "plastic"
being conflated with "cheap" when they launched glass-back phones.

~~~
breckinloggins
I was also thinking much older. Growing up I would often hear something like
"this is just a cheap plastic toy, it's not a real <whatever>".

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cschmidt
Ive's comment about plastic reminded me of a conversation I had once with an
architect. He said that one of his dreams was to have a client who wanted him
to do an vinyl siding house. He normally did things in very tasteful wood.
However, he wanted the chance to explore the possibilities of what you could
do with vinyl.

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noonespecial
They need to try harder. 3 times in the last week when I've told people I'm
thinking of upgrading my iPhone(4s) they're said "Are you going to get the
real one or that plastic thing?" or something to that effect.

Its going to be an uphill battle.

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nopassrecover
Reminds me of "It's Toasted" on Mad Men (based on a real campaign)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=E0...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=E0L8f1IY1Vk)

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pyrocat
In other news, copywriting is a valuable skill when selling a product.

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AsymetricCom
Perhaps this strategy works great on the general populous and market, but I
already recognize this... advertisement trope, McDonald's has been using it
for years.

When are marketers going to stop trying to mislead their customers and realize
that people in general aren't stupid, just busy? Oh wait, if we told our
customers the truth, we'd have to live with a real market, not an inflated
one, and everyone knows an inflated market is best.

