
Mayday, mayday: Apple’s latest ad campaign faces groans from all sides - evo_9
http://arstechnica.com/staff/2012/07/mayday-mayday-apples-latest-ad-campaign-faces-groans-from-all-sides/
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SoftwareMaven
I was talking with a friend at work yesterday. He is a Windows/Android guy
(Windows for gaming, Android because it's not an iPhone). He really liked the
commercials (though he felt _Basically_ was pretty close to douchebaggery).

The point: maybe these commercials aren't geared at patting the Apple elite (I
am one of them!) on the back about how smart they are. Maybe they are about
introducing a different audience to Apple and we elite are too close to it to
see whether it is effective or not.

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r00fus
That's the only one I thought was bad - I really dislike Apple picking on the
small guy (the sleazy looking guy who apparently sold fake goods), and the ad
doesn't end up on a positive note.

The other ones (the airplane one especially) aren't bad, and make a point -
you can do things pretty effectively on a Mac. They still don't have the
elegance or panache of some of the other Mac ads, but let's not kid ourselves
- some of those Mac vs. PC ads were pretty horrible.

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laserDinosaur
I can't help but feel like people are already convinved that simply beacause
Steve Jobs wasn't involved that apple has lost it's magic, regardless of the
actual content of the ads. If they released the Mac Vs PC ads now, people
would probably denounce them as the worst ads ever made, convinced Steve would
never let ads like that fly.

I would love to show these ads to two groups of 100 people and tell one half
that the ads were made after Steve Jobs died and tell the other half they are
the last ad series he helped work on before he died. I get the feeling the
second group would be a lot more likely to spill out sentences like "oh wow, I
can see the new bold direction he is taking, these ads are amazing!" or "Wow,
he really knows what the current market is like, these ads are amazing!".

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Danieru
I like these commercials. I can see why others might dislike them but I would
much prefer to see these during the commercial break than Apple's more famous
spots.

The "I'm a Mac" spots were arrogant. They flared rivalry and caused Mac vs PC
flame wars to increase in intensity. And now-days with IBM contributing
consider open source man power the 1984 spot is ironic. These new commercials
are mellow, fun, and maybe a bit bland. They no longer position Macs as a
social signal but rather as a quality computer. Which is the correct tactic
for Apple to take when targeting the larger computer market.

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beernutz
I have to wonder if this ad would have made it past "The Steve" while he was
at the helm. It seems very out-of-sync with what they did then.

Is this indicative of where Apple is heading I wonder?

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j45
I love that we expect and hold Apple to a high standard of advertising.

If they say we get the leaders we deserve (by the leaders we do, or don't
demand), maybe the same is true of ad campaigns?

