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Apple Olympics ads irk faithful followers

by on30 July 2012



Condescending and plain silly


Although Apple is going from strength to strength and almost seems infallible in the eyes of its many followers, the company’s latest TV ads seem to prove that everyone has a bad day.

The three ads, broadcast during the 2012 London Olympics, depict a rather obnoxious Apple Genius Bar employee who shows consumers how to make the most of their iGear. Nothing wrong with that, but it is just so unbecoming of Apple.

Love it or hate it, Apple is synonymous with great adverts and marketing campaigns, dating back to its Orwellian 1984 Super Bowl ad. In the nineties, Apple reinvented itself with the iMac and came up with a number of great ads with a Rolling Stones soundtrack.

With such high expectations the latest ads are nothing short of embarrassing. The Verge described them as “intellectually cheap” and we couldn’t agree more.

One ad features the “genius” helping out a bloke put together an anniversary video in minutes, and although it is the least embarrassing, it is still about as shallow as a detergent ad. The second ad is somewhat more disturbing, as it features a man whose wife is going into labor, yet his main concern is how to put together a photo card. While the first two ads depict Apple users as daft, the third one takes a swipe at non-Apple users.

After the iconic 1984 ad, the Think Different campaign and the great Mick Jagger, Apple seems to be taking a different approach, with a lot less taste, sophistication and a lot more stupidity and a pinch of condescension. Good thing the competition is not doing much better, namely Samsung with its sheeple campaign and “Designed for Humans” pitch.

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