“Apple Computer, known for its trend-setting technology, finds itself in the uncomfortable position of being labeled a follower — or worse, a rip-off artist — over a new ad campaign,” Holly M. Sanders writes for The New York Post. “Apple’s new ad featuring rapper Eminem, set to his hit ‘Lose Yourself,’ is under scrutiny after some keen ad watchers suggested it bears a startling resemblance to an earlier commercial for Lugz boots… The 4-year-old Lugz ad was created by New York animation house Psyop on behalf of another ad agency. The Apple spot, developed by the computer maker’s longtime agency TBWA, was introduced last week by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs at an industry gathering to launch the new video iPod.”
Sanders writes, “Both ads show hip-hop figures dancing in silhouette against an orange-hued, urban backdrop with plenty of graffiti. There are some differences worth noting as well, such as the dancing styles and music. ‘To my eye, the similarities are painfully close, and it’s unfortunate that such a prestigious client buys into such re-used stuff,” one observer, who goes by the cheeky name “think similar,’ wrote on the blog Ad-freak.com. TBWA referred calls to Apple. A spokesman for Apple declined to comment on the ads. Justin Booth-Clibborn, executive producer for Psyop, said his firm has endured its share of copycats and there are no plans to ‘make waves.’ Still, he admits that even he was struck by the similarities.”
Full article here.
Jobs said they’d been working on the Eminem ad for over two years. Sure, TBWA might have some explaining to do to Jobs, but this is just some NY Post-style ado about nothing. Advertising agencies pride themselves on recycling ideas. It’s one of the basic tools of the business. Hopefully that ad sold a lot of boots the first time around and now it’ll sell a lot of iPods and iTunes Music Store music and video files. Apple deserves no heat over this one. TBWA does.
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Related article:
Apple’s Eminem iPod+iTunes ad airs on U.S. television networks – October 17, 2005
Apple reposts Eminem iPod+iTunes ad online – October 17, 2005
Apple removes new Eminem iPod ad from website – October 12, 2005
Following is the new trend-setting. Micro$oft has had it down pat for years.
Next up…ads for the new iMac featuring an old woman saying “where’s the viruses?”.
They’re both very cool ads but Apple is not looking very innovative in it’s choice of ad agencies. This ad style is 3 years too late, behind the Lugz ad.
What makes it worse is how excited Jobs was when showing this at the last week and apple was working on it for the last 2 years. OOOOps, someones head will role for making his highness look like the court jester….
OK so there are some minor similarities — but EVERYTHING that boy does is kinda similar. Like going out of your way to find something bad about the ad when really the problem is with the performer.
Come on everyone, let’s take it personally!
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http://www.lugz.com/timeline/subevent/2002/video.html
Check it out
So What!
There may be similarities, however you can quite clearly see how this is a progression from the existing silhouette adverts.
I guess I should have been clear about the fact that it is Eminem who’s always the same. I bet he exerted some sort of creative control over the ad. So who’s fault is that?
Apple’s ad agency ‘ads’ nothing to the product. Ask any ten people you know if they’ve heard about OSX and what it does—you’ll get blank stares.
gforce –
You (like myself) are showing your age……
I’d like to see “Geico” style Apple commercials anyways….. Like something to the effect, “I just saved a lot of money that I would have spent on Virus protection software by swiching to OS-X! Yeah, baby!”
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ok
i work for an ad/interactive agency and it IS NOT apple’s job to research ads that are presented for them for approval. i don’t have one client (most are bigger than apple) that would know that this ad concept was used before unless it was plastered everywhere.
this is really TBWA’s fault and they should take the hit for it. their creative people that produced the ad or the production house that they used to create the special FX should be held accountable.
jeez. i wipe my ass with the Post
“Apple’s ad agency ‘ads’ nothing to the product. Ask any ten people you know if they’ve heard about OSX and what it does—you’ll get blank stares.”
this is apple’s decision. apple decides where they spend their advertising dollars, not TBWA. you can’t tell a company what they should and shouldn’t advertise
TBWA/Chiat/Day has been making a lot of bad decisions in their ads lately, either due to a lack of research or common sense. Just this past Monday, Nissan pulled their latest ad that featured “Colonel Bogey’s Song” from <i>Bridge on the River Kwai</a>.
For some reason, it never occurred to TBWA/Chiat/Day that a Japanese automaker using a song from a movie about American and British POWs (forced into slave labor by the Japanese) might be offensive to veterans who served in the Pacific during WWII.
And Microsoft has been copying Apple’s INTELLECTUAL property for how many decades?
Real close clone copy of the Lugz ad- Psyops produced animation!!!
And, what is that thing in Em´s hand that he keeps putting to his mouth???? – looks like a vibrator.
Not cool Apple.
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Tip to Steve – get out and see the real world, you´ve been too long inside having meetings in your Apple world.
who cares. this is totaly unimportant.
MDN´s as usual out-of-touch take: “Advertising agencies pride themselves on recycling ideas.”
Yeah, sure MDN, as if you have ever worked in an ad agency. Stealing ideas is a definite, big time, no-no in the creative world. No agency, no creative director, no company wants to be known for stealing somebody else´s ad ideas.
“Advertising agencies pride themselves on recycling ideas. It’s one of the basic tools of the business.”
HYPOCRITES! HYPOCRITES! HYPOCRITES!
If this was the other way around (Lugz copying Apple) MDN would be all over it. Give me a break.
I like the ad. I think its different becasue it showed eminem. I commend Steve for having the guts to get someone like eminem who tried to sue apple before. It just shows good intentions on apple’s part. So while the video maybe somewhat a copy. The underlying idea which is a boon to apple is that it can work out its differences with people and still show that eventhough artists try to sue them .. they are still willing to bridge the gap and that they are still about the music.
I am not a fan of itunes.. anyone reading my previous posts can probably agree with that but I give credit where its due.
Copy or not the Ad “just works” (they way Apple wanted it to) to show that apple is still about the music despite of differences.
Regards
Music Label Executive – ANON
no one except ad geeks are going to see similarities. How many people have even heard of Lugz? The ad looks good to me and I even don’t like m&m peanuts.
Disclaimer: MDN is owned and operated by a secret slush fund from the Apple marketing dept. They are forbidden to criticize Apple in any way. Everyone else is wrong, Apple and Stevego are always right.
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Please remember how we at MDN were screaming when some companies were trying to use the design of the iPod and using the silouhette figures from the iPod ads in other companies promotions. We are hypocrites at MDN, but forgive us for we are blinded by the light given off by the Steve, our savior.
why dont you people pull ur thumbs out ur butts and take a look at windows vista and osx… hmmmmmmmm…. talk about copying… holy crap!!!
Clearly the copying was intentional. It’s part of a stealth campaign to introduce the “ShoePod” meant to sell to runners, walkers and dancers.
The truth be known, it was probably Steve that ordered the ad agency to steal the idea from the Lugz people….
Steve´s finger is in every ad design decision—-that´s why Apple advertising so usually sucks. (Anybody ever remember a good Apple computer ad in the last 5+ years???)
First of all, this is just the evolution of the silhouette ad anyway, with some added graphics. Similarities in the creative world happen all the time because despite what some people think, creative work is a process, not just a bunch of people sitting in a room executing an idea based on their whim or what dream they had the night before.
Sometimes creative teams from different firms may have the same thought process guided by the client’s needs.
Even having said that, who the hell is Lugz anyway, and how many people actually saw the commercial in question?