Apple today released three new “man on the street” iPhone TV commercials which each highlight iPhone features and benefits such as Visual Voicemail, real Web browsing, and having everything in one convenient device.
Doug “Mankind”
Elliot “Meredith”
Stephano “One Thing”
See the ads in higher quality via Apple.com here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Cubert” for the heads up.]
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They’re pretty good ads…I like the “candid” approach they took with it…hopefully we’ll see a few more like it. I think we all can relate with some great stories where the iPhone has saved us.
We all could relate IF all of us had iPhones. Alas, I am bound to an utterly complex Verizon family plan.
@standardmess…
I personally don’t know what they entail, but I know that there are a lot of different ways to get out of a Verizon contract without penalty. Google it, you never know!
I know this isn’t news to anyone, but the iPhone is just the most impressive piece of tech I’ve ever laid hands on. It’s definitely worth ditching Verizon for.
Wow, these are APPALLINGLY bad.
A friend of mine just got a iPod touch for her husband, and is totally amazed at how amazing it is. The iPhone is “touching” people’s lives like no other product ever has. I think these ads, while a strange settings, will reach ordinary people.
Not only are they really bad, but are ‘whites’ the only users of macs.
I hate to play the race card, but ( just for the record, I am not the type of person who sees race all the time) over the years as a mac owner, I can’t really remember African Americans being used in ANY spots ( except for the dork on the cart in one of the mac vs pc ads).
I am not referring to the iPod ads, although I don’t remember seeing any either.
Can anyone help my memory here?
Screw race! Where are the ladies…
Apple<I> did those?! They were so bad, I’d’ve sworn they came from AT&T;…
<I>”Screw race! Where are the ladies…”
Yeah! Where the white women at?
@ innhitman, there have ben several persons “of color” in Apple ads over the years. In fact, one of my all-time faves involved a black teacher exhorting his students “people, this is an exciting time to be alive” or words to that effect. And um, oh yeah, so what?
I have to agree with MacBill and innhitman:
These are the worst ads Apple has ever done. Period.
Does ANYONE relate to these guys? They’re pathetic. Apple (and/or their ad agency) have definitely lost their way…
dude, their “switch” ads were some of my favorites…
here are some african and asian americans…
http://www.appletvads.com/ads/switch/dj_q-bert_m480.mov
http://www.appletvads.com/ads/switch/de_la_soul_m480.mov
http://www.appletvads.com/ads/switch/tess_bethune_m480.mov
http://www.appletvads.com/ads/switch/bill_swan_m480.mov
the new ads are awesome by the way.
The Apple demographic is primarily white, male and homosexual. Why would they use any other kind of actors to portray the average Apple customer?
The iPod brought the ‘halo effect’ to the home consumer.
The iPhone is bringing the ‘halo effect’ to the business community.
I think the ads are saved by the fact that they walk off the set at the end into their business!
You moron, why do you think that if you pick 3 random persons, at least one of them _has_to_be_ black?
There are only 12% black people in U.S. (vs. 75% white), so it’s quite unlikely that if you have 3 random persons, at least one of them is black.
They have used people of colour in their iPod ads (not that it really mattered since everyone in an iPod ad is in silhouette). But I have to say that I did notice that they were all white males in these ads. Normally, I wouldn’t bat an eye but because these are supposed to be ‘man on the street’ type deals, I was like, where the Black, Brown, & Asian folks at?
“I am not referring to the iPod ads, although I don’t remember seeing any either. “
Everyone in the iPods ads are black, silly.
Let’s face it, white males are probably the target market for this product.
Phaque that black, white thang, why are they all Americans?
@ @innhitman
“You moron, why do you think that if you pick 3 random persons, at least one of them _has_to_be_ black?
There are only 12% black people in U.S. (vs. 75% white), so it’s quite unlikely that if you have 3 random persons, at least one of them is black.”
Well, on those figures there would be a better than 50% chance of there being at least one non-white person in a group of three chosen at random. The probability of there being at least one African American is about one third.
Reasoning with probabilities can be tricky. Doesn’t make anybody a moron.
I used to carry a bag with all my stuff in… And now when I leave the house I grab my wallet and my iPhone, jump in my car and think…
where are my car keys?
Doh
What happened to Apple’s creative marketing approach?
Good Lord people! These are advertisements, not documentaries!
Let me ask you this, has there ever been an iPod ad with classical music playing? Or an Audiobook? I certainly don’t remember one. Why not? iPod ads are not targeted to the classical music listening crowd.
These three new ads are targeted to a very specific demographic — those folks who can clearly afford the iPhone, but who might still be on the fence about actually gettting it. A “word-of-mouth” approach like this makes the sale to those people.
By the way, LOVE my iPhone and have been telling everyone I can about it. I have about a dozen friends — and not all of them Mac users — in my immediate circle who now have an iPhone.
Gotta love it when our “color blind” society has to pick out race in an Apple commercial. Who the hell cares? What is the obsession with race? People are people. Race continues to BE an issue because of such nonsense.
Glad the left the groids out. Best ads ever
Oh-my-god.
I don’t think commercials are a good place for “PC” (or there any, beyond politics?).
Yeah, they could have done a commercial with a colored person.
But then, maybe hispancs could protest. And what about an ad with somebody with a Jewish background? Arabic?
Chinese anybody? Korea?
I’m too lazy to look it up, but I guess there’s a certain percentage of asians living in the US today. They should be represented accordingly in the ads, right?
And Native Americans? Surely, you don’t want to ignore them (like you did for the last 200-something years), do you?
See where that leads?
Apple are not only “white”, they are also wise. If you can’t please everybody, then try at least to offend everybody in the same way. That way, at least everybody is equal in a sense.
Yes, this is clearly the last set of commercials they will ever produce. Everyone should freak out and wage every pathetic comment they can think of. The end is near.
Ugh. It must be a godsend for some of you that there are velcro shoes.
innhitman…
It has been my experience that every time anyone ever opens up with the line “I hate to play the race card, but…”
the “race card” is EXACTLY what was meant to be played.
Nice job. You’re now, by definition, a Racist.
@@inhitman
If whites are 75% of the people then I’m pretty sure that the chances of picking three consecutive white people at random would be .75*.75*.75, or 42% chance. You said it would be highly unlikely that, of three people chosen at random, one would be non-white. Actually the chances are better than 50-50, assuming all other things to be equal.
Good morning!
I liked the ads right away when I saw them. No dorky music. The entire ad isn’t shot in front of a white backdrop. And, the ads present real life situations that the average person can relate to.
Also, it may just be me, but look at the end of each ad. The Apple logo is cast against a black cloth. I know this is so the logo can be seen more easily, but on all 3 ads that black cloth looks remarkably like the backside of the new iMacs.
Anyone else think this?
I think these ads are okay, compared to most of the other inane, cacophonic rantings. Black guy, white guy, old guy, young guy…whatever, who cares. It gets a message across that’s all. I love all things mac, but i’m not anal about it. These forums can get awfully mincy at times. Interesting notes about the homosexual angle though…
Anyway, it’s all good so mellow out.
Isn’t it sad that we have to promote the misuse of “like” (Elliot Meredith add)?
I was “like”, and then she went “like” etc.
I notice a number of posters on this forum even write that way but it is too bad that we have to pretend that it is an intelligent way to communicate.
How did this ever happen anyway? When did the school systems quit correcting the grammar of the students?
“When did the school systems quit correcting the grammar of the students?”
When the grammatically challenged students became part of the school system.
Glad I’m retired.
I really hate the fact that Apple has gotten popular and a bunch of anal retentive PC bozos are now clogging the ranks of Mac users.
Wow!
Now I won’t have to carry a bag around with all of my electronics looking like a complete idiot. And best of all, I’ll never forget anyone in a wedding party ever again!!!
And I thought it was just the Zune ads that were bad.
Nice lighting. Interesting stories that everyday people can relate to. Good casting. People seem real. Interesting close and tag, that at once tie the commercials together, and again emphasize that there is nothing phony about these testimonials.
“Mankind” and “One Thing” were pretty cool and it seems as if more people can relate to their experiences. However, “Meredith” seemed to not mesh well with the others, the incident seemed too specific.
Mix these ads with the others and Apple will be just fine.
On another note, one of my buddies (a PC hardened military officer) just got an iPhone. He calls me once a day to tell me some story of how wonderful his iPhone is and to thank me for suggesting this product to him.
It’s called “Diversity” it’s used by corporations to prevent lawsuits.
It’s based on the word divide, not the word unite. It’s highly effective at keeping people self interested and away from a common good.
what – you prefer dancing silhouettes?
c’mon. these are great. they’re testimonials that credibly demonstrate iPhone’s benefits. remember how you all would bitch about mac ads not showing the OS? well, this is the OS… (well, maybe not the last one, which was the weakest of the three.)
@PCidiot
Diversity is also the way nature keeps an ecosystem healthy and stable.
As for the comments about homosexuals, it used to be that Americans took pride in standing up for the underdog. Now it seems some enjoy kicking the underdog and keeping him down. The spirit of segregation is still alive and well, but the target audience is more diverse. It’s still the same mean, base, nastiness however. Thanks for keeping up the dark side of American history and society, people and providing me the fuel I need to stoke my cynicism and misanthropy.
Good ads. Shows just how easy it is to promote a great product. Can’t see anything like it from Nokia, RIM et al.
And PLEASE, let’s keep ridiculous political correctness away from 3 simple iPhone advertisements. Sexuality/skin/politics can all go and bugger off! Apple is a business, not a Government agency for promoting equal opportunities…
@ Delta: i was going to write the same thing. well its suggested that he will take the keys…but i guess these days we like to analyze even his eyebrow movement that indicates something. oh well … it makes us good observers i guess.
and WTF is with all u guys saying there should be atleast one black person in there? WTH? it just so happened that their random selection ended up with three white ppl. what would happen if the third was asian? stop playin the race card fools.
These were probably taken from the iPhone web pages “Tell us Your Story!” section. Somehow I don’t think they’ll be calling me to relay my utter disappointment that Apple struck a lousy deal with AT&T;that has forced me into going the “pay-as-you-go” route. No business accounts? I’m sure if I were calling from the IT department and wanted to add 200-employees, someone at AT&T;would find a way to dance with me. My business has maintained three cellular lines for many, many years. Give me that black backdrop, I’ve got a few things to say!
Yep, Apple totally hit the target white, male, homosexual demographic for me. If I didn’t already have an iPhone, that Stephano guy sure would make me buy one. Oooo, those muscles!
* selects “It’s Raining Men” on the “Best of Disco” playlist and starts chairdancing *
next ad I call for a Japanese female to be used
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I am black and I dont give a rats ass if they used pink, brown, or charcoal people in their ads. All I care about is that they make a good product. You fuckers drag the race backwards everytime you play the race card. Race wise, nothing is ever right for you people. No matter what you acheive in life. STFU.
I like the approach of these ads. Let’s see where they take it.
Would an Eskimo be close enough?
These ads are GREAT. They look natural, the individuals talk like regular people (including uneducated ones), and all of the points are very illustrative of iPhone benefits.
As to the politically correct crowd, get a life! These are just THREE ads. Now, if Apple made a dozen person-on-the-street ads and none of them included anyone who looked Black, Hispanic or Asian, yeah, that would be a bad idea. And no, even then, the bean counters shouldn’t expect the proportions to work out perfectly.
The ads a good and quite effective. “Testimonial” ads are perhaps the most powerful ad tools available. These ads, and there will undoubtedly be more, convey the real life impact the iPhone makes on those that buy one. The subjects in these ads were believable as ‘regular’ people and they each hilite the benefit of a different iPhone feature. The ads are deceptively simple and well crafted. Quick and engaging. They echo the same stories that iPhone users find themselves relating to friends and strangers alike.
iPhone users here: Don’t you find yourselves still telling stories like these almost every time you pull out your iPhone in front of other people? To this day, some one almost always asks about my iPhone when they see it.
Spark —
Yes, I am asked constantly about the iPhone — “so, how do you like it?” I’m forced to respond that it does all the things you’ve seen it do in the commercials really really well. If you DON’T see it in the commercials, it either doesn’t do it or does it poorly. Which is sad, because that includes just about everything you take for granted.
iPhone has only a couple of excellent features. The rest is in serious need of tightening-up. I’m about a month into my iPhone experience now, and I still miss my Treo every day.
Great ads!
It’s a great approach… With my iPhone, I can do THIS…
I can absolutely relate to ALL their stories.
• Carrying all the crap.
• Forgetting someone’s name.
• Weeding through a long list of phone messages… the 4 minute guy that hasn’t paid me, is priceless!
I even know where they were shot!
Chelsea, Brooklyn Heights and SoHo.
We need to see Macintosh ads like this.
Fuck political correctness. Since when are politicians right?
Makes me feel snappier!
First… Mac users are white male and gay… I’m gay? I am only finding this out now?
The race card… why not just skip over the race card and accept we are all members of the HUMAN race.
Eskimos? Who says Eskimos!?? The proper term is Inuit.
I find these Americans’ wacky accents quite entertaining and endearing.
When the iPhone is available here, I will buy one just so I can call the USA and hear someone say “abaawt” (about), “Cah” (car), and “Rubber wut?!” (Robertson screwdriver).
Robertson screws drivers are primarily Canadian btw.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_screwdriver
Uhm, maybe I’m naive, but I thought these ads were meant to be actual people on the street, like Jay Leno’s skits. The imperfections are to convey reality. Anyway, that’s what I thought when they did the pullbacks to show the 8×8 backdrop on a city street. Viral marketing.
You really are “politically correct” aren’t you? I’m a black man and do not like the term African American. I know media people use it, and people tend to follow media trends. Be proud of who you are! Black, white, whatever. I’ve never been to Africa and never want to go! I’m sure most white people don’t like Euro Americans. We’re Americans, first and foremost!
By the way, I don’t care if they don’t use black people in commercials. I don’t feel left out! Why should you?
The responses to my comment on diversity in the Apple ads really covered a wide range. It made some angry. It drew insults. It brought out the best in people, it brought out the worst.
I wasn’t trying to stir up anything, except perhaps to bring Apple’s attention to my feelings on the subject. If anyone wants to bash me for that, well so be it.
I saw “the One Thing” ad on the USA channel last Sunday afternoon. Good advertisement. I especially liked the ones that actually shows you what the screen looks like, so that people actually get an idea of what it looks like when you’re scrolling around inside. We Mac users have been saying this for years, haven’t we? “Show everyone how easy it is to move around inside.”
Macs, and now the iPhone seem to always be sold more by word-of-mouth, when actually it’s Apple’s million dollar ad budget. Either way, Apple is going to sell a lot of iPhones.
I actually like the ads. If you look at the end you’ll see a stand with a black screen setup as a backdrop.
That tells me that whoever set that up wants every day Joe in the street to stand in front of the backdrop and talk about their experiences with the iPhone.
Could be an elaborate ploy to make us the viewer believe that the people featured are just off the street and aren’t actually brought in from some talent agency.
Up to you to decide. I’d go with the ads being genuine and uses everyday Joe. After all Apple are not Microsoft and end up resorting to lying about their product line.
MW: ‘point’ as in what’s the point of lying about a product that is so good already.
no women being represented by apple?
I get the whole real life thing, but usually ads like this need a little of the “I want to be that guy” thing. 2nd one is ok, but the other two…no way.
@I Was Like
Hey old people– get a clue. The phrase, “I was like” is a poetic development in the English language. It creates an active, living metaphor in the midst of verbal communication.
…And I was like, “Oh my God!” It puts you there. It gently invites your listener to come with you to the moment to experience the moment in from a first-person perspective.
When will people realize that when something is embraced by an entire culture of human beings it is embraced because it adds something that was perceived as needed.
Ya’ll grumpy old folks can complain about grammatically challenged young people, but the truth is that it’s good that people get old and pass away. It creates space for new ideas, new perspectives, new approaches to communication, love, spiritual fulfillment, government.
So I’m glad that you’re retired and out of the school system, too. Just as glad as you. Maybe more so. I’ll work to allow you back in when you commit to looking at cultural innovation on its own merits.
Until then, enjoy Dr. Phil and People’s Court and your tomato garden. And leave the pushing the envelope to those to whom it is chronologically and culturally suited.
Shogun –
Pronouncing “ask” like “axe” adds something that was perceived as needed? Do tell.
These ads were terrible. Saw them during football this weekend and nearly spat out my beer. Bleh.
@PC Apologist
… huh? “Axe” is hardly widespread and certainly has not been embraced by the wider culture. I think perhaps you’re looking for some simple exception… How about I just grant you one? Or how about five or ten?
There you go!
Now, if you like, you can go back and consider the wider theme in my post. I still believe it’s relevant and true. If a society can’t allow itself to experiment with its language — its most basic tool — then it’s got some really serious problems. What’s good or useful in the innovations will stay. What’s bad will fall away.
The implicit system actually works pretty well, I would suggest.
If I’m wrong, well, at least give me points for thinking!
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Shogun
I like your hip outlook. You are one groovy, far-out cat. Shucks, I aint never seen no one make no better argument for tweaking english use, right on bro.
MW: last
Groan! Only in America does “race” (no such thing btw) get played. Having said that, a few notes: one of the first iPod ads featured a man of Indian descent using a Propellerheads soundtrack getting tunes onto his iPod; one of the hottest “Get a Mac” ads showed “that new Japanese camera” gorgeous woman (ad no longer on Apple’s site for some reason), and for the record, the African-American “dork” is in the “Party Is Over” segment of the “Get a Mac” ads. I love diversity, but c’mon, that’s the last thing I think of watching the new ads. For the record, the last guy could be Hispanic, n’est pas?
I think it’s just you and me left, Cider. Wanna go get a drink?
“…And I was like, “Oh my God!” It puts you there.”
The phrase “And I was like” also helps you identify the speaker as a retard, which is helpful if you’re trying to avoid retards.
Apple I love you
BUT
I don’t care about ads
BTW
I hate them all
SO
Try to just show, without being “funny”, “creative” or whatever “forced”