“For those who watched the Academy Awards Sunday night, Apple ran a made-for-the-Oscars TV teaser for its iPhone. Named ‘Hello,’ it simply does a 30-second history of great movie actors answering the phone in the style of an Oscar retrospective, and ends with an iPhone shot promising a June introduction,” Carl Howe writes for Balckfriars’ Marketing.
“It was nice awareness advertising, but the general blogosphere reaction is that it’s no 1984 ad. That said, the fact that Apple has started a demand generation campaign more than three months before the iPhone is available bodes well for my prediction that Apple will sell every one of these things they can make, despite its $500 price,” Howe writes.
Full article here.
“OK, the iPhone commercial Mac bloggers have been breathlessly anticipating finally aired, as promised, during the Academy Awards. Twice, by my count. It was fine, I suppose, done in the style of a made-for-the-Oscars film-clip compilation. 1984 it was not, however. It’s not likely to win any awards or be widely discussed, except perhaps by said bloggers, who have been poring over it frame by frame ever since,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt blogs or Business 2.0.
Full article here.
“Best Oscar Commercial? …The winner was Apple with its ‘Hello’ commercial, the first iPhone television ad. What separated it from other Apple launches was the element of surprise; the viewer didn’t know the ad’s product until the end, when the iPhone appeared. But it did so without showing the Apple logo and the iPhone name, the message being: You already know this phone’s name and the company that makes it. And they were right,” Scott Goldberg writes for Digital Media Wire.
Full article here.
Apple’s iPhone teaser ad “Hello” via YouTube:
See the “Hello” iPhone ad in higher quality via Apple.com: http://www.apple.com/iphone/hello/
Related article:
Apple airs iPhone teaser ad during Oscars – February 25, 2007
that is a great ad.
absolutely.
P.S. And Bam-Bam thinks the iPhone is perfect for late night clubbing.
In other news, people have differing opinions.
/sky is blue
//grass is green
ron, it’s not a matter of whether or not
one is subtle, it’s if you understand subtle.
i’m pretty sure you’re not of the design world,
where subtlety goes a long way, and is
beautiful. to try and give you an example,
sophia loren, courtney love.
you either get it or you don’t it’s that simple.
“nothing wrong with the ad per se, just poorly placed”
yeah the first commercial slot during the first commercial break after the beginning of the show is SUCH a weak spot for placement.
Ultimatoes says “Where are the Apple COMPUTER ads???”
————
Dude, are you living under a rock? There have been about 25 or so “get a Mac” ads in regular rotation airing in “prime time” spots for the past eight months.
Here are the actors and two animated characters:
Lucille Ball
Jackie Gleason
Humphrey Bogart
Marlon Brando
Jerry Lewis
Marilyn Monroe
Clark Gable
Peter Sellers
Steve McQueen
Richard Dreyfuss
Burt Reynolds
Betty Rubble
Robert Redford
Michael J. Fox
Harrison Ford
John Cusack
Audrey Tautou
Kevin Spacey
William H. Macy
Dustin Hoffman
Will Ferrell
Sarah Jessica Parker
Jeff Bridges
Billy Crystal
Cameron Diaz
Samuel L. Jackson
John Travolta
Robert DeNiro
Ben Stiller
Michael Douglas
Mr. Incredible
In case you missed the name of the contact who appears on the iPhone’s screen, go back and watch again. The ‘seed’ probably got planted either way – which is the power of visual communication. And subliminal can have the most impact. This IS the Oscars folks.
And one of you with lot of free time – please list of all the Films/Actors/Characters in the ad.
With THIS as a kicker – subliminally speaking – expect sooner (hopefully? rather than later) to see ALL of those Films, and more, available to download from Apple onto the iPhone as it becomes the ‘device’ of the future to watch Movies/TV in our Home via AppleTV – dig ?
Now THAT idea puts this Ad in perspective.
The iPhone is all hype. Common, It’s not being released until June and most people won’t even get one anyway. Will you really switch to ATT Mobile because of a phone? Weird.
Speaking of blogs, did you ever fart so hard you ended up in another zip code?
Absolutely, Steve. It was especially satisfying to movie fans such as myself who enjoyed dissecting the montage to see if we could recognize where each clip came from. We relived the experience of these movies for a brief moment in time.
It felt like it was literally apart of the Academy Awards ceremony! Like a Superbowl commercial, it was tailored for this program and felt like an extension of it rather than an addition.
I’ve watched it several times; how many cell phone commercials are there that make you want to see it again and again? Any of you guys got Verizon’s latest “BUY ONE RAZR, GET THE OTHER FREE!” on repeat?
My phone hasn’t stopped ringing.
Excellent simple and brief ad. Easy to understand for a global publicity. This ad will work everywhere and sell mountains of iPhones.
I hope there will be no other 1984 style ads in Apple’s future. 1984 had a strong negative background helplessness against bad world outside.
As a long-time (but critical) macuser I expect that iPhone will be as good as Apple’s marketing propaganda machine. People wait for such phone and they will go insane to buy one. For now we all have to believe that iPhone is real uber-phone.
To be fair, Elizabeth Jean “Betty” Rubble (née McBricker or O’Shale) is the voice of Bea Benaderet (and also, Gerry Johnston, B.J. Ward and Grey DeLisle).
And Mr. Incredible or Robert “Bob” Parr is the voice of Craig T. Nelson.
Best ad by far was the Amex Wes Anderson spot.
That was one of the slickest ads ever. No wonder he make such good films (Rushmore)
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the montage that OPENED the Oscars — that looked like one long Apple ad? That’s because the director of the opening montage, Errol Morris, did those iconic Apple commercials with people photographed against white (remember Ellen Fleiss?).
So basically the first 20 minutes was one long Apple-flavored opening!!
You can see the Errol Morris short on http://oscar.com/video/
Scroll to the bottom and click on “Nominees Montage.”
It’s even got that Apple music in the background!
Hey Me,
the 1984 ad sold a lot of Macs. Even more importantly it brought a stream of customers coming into the store asking about Apple and the Mac and that commercial they couldn’t forget and couldn’t believe they saw.
You won’t need a new iPhone every three months or even every 3 years.
It has a computer like OS. It can be upgraded for years.
New programs can be added. New features can be added. New OS’s can be downloaded. New media can be downloaded.
For Apple, this iPhone will be a license to print money.
Mike, I was just about to mention it.
anybody notice the Vista WOW commercials during the Oscars…
I didn’t think so
While that’s true for the software, Big Al, there are other aspects of the iPhone that will be upgraded in shorter periods of time such as the camera.
Apple will also continue to perfect Multi-touch. There might be all kinds of new things they can do with the technology a year from now, stuff that makes the current iPhone look like child’s play.
Let’s not get beside ourselves. To think that the company that wants us to buy a new iPod every year will create a device that can last for three is a bit ridiculous. Apple wants you to buy the next iPhone whenever your contract runs out just like any other cell phone maker and will put out improved devices as incentive to do so. That intention will be clearer if the battery isn’t user-replaceable.
Zach, meet ZuneTang. Perhaps the two of you can combine brains and end up with one that functions properly, though you might have to draw straws to see who gets to keep it.
@ ZachCube, u forget the other 99% of the world who will not have to switch to AT&T (whatever that is
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />, in some countries people will actually not have to switch at all, where i live the iPhone will be sold unlocked (locked phones are outlawed here)
Barny, Thanks man. Best laugh of the day for me.
Ace ad.