Sunday, February 13, 2005
On the history of Apple TV commercials in the Jobs era
And so it begins. I've been warned that I'm "not allowed" to write about the Mac Mini, so I guess I should have known better than to point out what I thought was an interesting and rather inarguable observation yesterday:
"Speaking of the Mac Mini, it's been for sale for a little more than a month now. Anyone seen anything out of Apple as far as...a TV commercial?"
And sadly, the following quote is typical of the feedback I've received so far:
"Isn't the lack of advertising par for the course for Apple products, though? I haven't seen an ad for the iPod shuffle, nor the newer powerbooks, or the ibooks or G5s when they came out. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've seen any ads for the iMacs either."
Now, I don't want to embarrass the particular individual who sent me this. But anyone who writes in to tell me that I'm "losing it" really needs to think twice about the accuracy of what they're throwing at me before they hit the Send button. Lack of advertising is par for the course for Apple products? Do you just not watch television much, or have you been asleep for the past eight years?
When to even begin? The following run-down is straight from memory, so you can forgive me if I flub a detail or two:
- I've seen the iPod shuffle commercial no less than twenty times so far today, on ESPN, TNT, CNN and perhaps other stations.
- The latest PowerBook udpate is a minor one, hence no commercial. When the PowerBook jumped from the G3 to the G4, however, there was a television campaign (with voice-over by Jeff Goldblum).
- The original blue iBook had a set of commercials that featured the voice of the late Barry White ("you turned my whole world around"). The white iBook was featured in an ad that showed off iPhoto and iDVD. I don't remember much about the ad, but I think it took place in a hospital.
- The G5 had a major TV campaign that featured a man being blown out of his house. The ad was so prominent and controversial that Dell filed for an injunction to have it taken off the air, alleging that Apple's "fastest personal computer" claim was unverifiable.
- The original G3 iMac, the slot-loading G3 iMac, and the G4 iMac each had TV campaigns (the latter featuring a man sticking his tongue out at the computer).
- The PowerMac G3 had the "open door" TV ads, and the PowerMac G4 had the "tank/supercomputer" commercials. Even the Cube had a commercial, voiced over by Henry Rollins.
My point? Every major new Mac release in the Jobs era has seen a recurring TV ad campaign...except the Mac Mini. My point is hardly based on my own opinion. I didn't think I needed to spell out eight years worth of Macintosh TV commercials in my previous just to prove my point, but perhaps I should have.
If you feel the need to attack me and tell me that I'm losing it because you disagree with my stance on the Mac Mini, then so be it. But please don't make stuff up like "Apple hasn't advertised any of its other new hardware products on TV either" in an attempt to make your case. Every new model that Apple has launched in the Jobs era that consisted of more than speed bumps, has seen its own advertising campaign on television. One could argue that perhaps the Mac Mini's TV campaign merely hasn't begun yet, but please don't try to argue that the lack of a Mac Mini TV campaign thus far is "par for the course."
Sadly, it just seems like some folks don't want to see or hear the facts of the matter, because right now, all signs (outside of the insular Mac geek bubble) point to the Mac Mini being a machine that even Apple seems to have low expectations for.
I'm not wrong on this, I just really wish I were. I've grown tired of repeating that last point.
And so it begins. I've been warned that I'm "not allowed" to write about the Mac Mini, so I guess I should have known better than to point out what I thought was an interesting and rather inarguable observation yesterday:
"Speaking of the Mac Mini, it's been for sale for a little more than a month now. Anyone seen anything out of Apple as far as...a TV commercial?"
And sadly, the following quote is typical of the feedback I've received so far:
"Isn't the lack of advertising par for the course for Apple products, though? I haven't seen an ad for the iPod shuffle, nor the newer powerbooks, or the ibooks or G5s when they came out. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've seen any ads for the iMacs either."
Now, I don't want to embarrass the particular individual who sent me this. But anyone who writes in to tell me that I'm "losing it" really needs to think twice about the accuracy of what they're throwing at me before they hit the Send button. Lack of advertising is par for the course for Apple products? Do you just not watch television much, or have you been asleep for the past eight years?
When to even begin? The following run-down is straight from memory, so you can forgive me if I flub a detail or two:
- I've seen the iPod shuffle commercial no less than twenty times so far today, on ESPN, TNT, CNN and perhaps other stations.
- The latest PowerBook udpate is a minor one, hence no commercial. When the PowerBook jumped from the G3 to the G4, however, there was a television campaign (with voice-over by Jeff Goldblum).
- The original blue iBook had a set of commercials that featured the voice of the late Barry White ("you turned my whole world around"). The white iBook was featured in an ad that showed off iPhoto and iDVD. I don't remember much about the ad, but I think it took place in a hospital.
- The G5 had a major TV campaign that featured a man being blown out of his house. The ad was so prominent and controversial that Dell filed for an injunction to have it taken off the air, alleging that Apple's "fastest personal computer" claim was unverifiable.
- The original G3 iMac, the slot-loading G3 iMac, and the G4 iMac each had TV campaigns (the latter featuring a man sticking his tongue out at the computer).
- The PowerMac G3 had the "open door" TV ads, and the PowerMac G4 had the "tank/supercomputer" commercials. Even the Cube had a commercial, voiced over by Henry Rollins.
My point? Every major new Mac release in the Jobs era has seen a recurring TV ad campaign...except the Mac Mini. My point is hardly based on my own opinion. I didn't think I needed to spell out eight years worth of Macintosh TV commercials in my previous just to prove my point, but perhaps I should have.
If you feel the need to attack me and tell me that I'm losing it because you disagree with my stance on the Mac Mini, then so be it. But please don't make stuff up like "Apple hasn't advertised any of its other new hardware products on TV either" in an attempt to make your case. Every new model that Apple has launched in the Jobs era that consisted of more than speed bumps, has seen its own advertising campaign on television. One could argue that perhaps the Mac Mini's TV campaign merely hasn't begun yet, but please don't try to argue that the lack of a Mac Mini TV campaign thus far is "par for the course."
Sadly, it just seems like some folks don't want to see or hear the facts of the matter, because right now, all signs (outside of the insular Mac geek bubble) point to the Mac Mini being a machine that even Apple seems to have low expectations for.
I'm not wrong on this, I just really wish I were. I've grown tired of repeating that last point.
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