“Last night’s episode of ‘Modern Family’ was essentially a half-hour-long plug for the iPad, days before it hits the stores. The episode revolved around Phil’s desperate wish for an iPad for his birthday, and Claire’s repeatedly failed attempts to get him one,” Matthew Gilbert reports for The Boston Globe.
MacDailyNews Note: SPOILER ALERT: Here’s a clip, if you don’t mind being spoiled:
Direct link to video via YouTube here.
Gilbert reports, “The episode worked beautifully. Phil is a dorky gadget-head, and it made perfect sense that he’d be lusting after the newest Apple phenomenon. This wasn’t the kind of TV product placement that has obviously been imposed onto the story for money; it was a natural extension of the character and the show’s ‘modern’ themes. When Phil said, “The iPad comes out on my actual birthday! It’s like Steve Jobs and God got together and said, ‘We love you, Phil,’ it was true to the humor of ‘Modern Family.’ So was his line, ‘Next week! That’s like the worst thing you can say to an early adopter.’ I’d actually believe it if someone told me that the writers — and not the producers or the network or Apple — initially came up with the iPad plotline.”
Read more in the full article here.
The full “Modern Family” episode (“Game Changer”) is available online via ABC here.
MacDailyNews Take: Marketing students, watch and learn. The Apple machine is firing on all cylinders this week. It’s quite a sight to behold!
[UPDATE: 10:45am EDT: Changed “around” to “on” in headline as per “Logic Police.”]
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Me in LA” and “Jay in DC” for the heads up.]
Poor netbooks,
Dying for for my Wifi + 3G.
A very minor suggestion, MDN:
Change the title to “Entire episode of ABC’s ‘Modern Family’ centered [on] Apple iPad (with video)”
Logically speaking, nothing can be centered AROUND something, for the center of something is a mere point, containing no spatial dimensions. “Center around” is a common idiomatic error and is one that is ‘way beneath this informative site.
FYI, Apple does not pay for product placements.
“Touch it but don’t touch it.” Hahahaha. Phil.
I heard a while back that Jack Bauer was going to use an iPad on an episode of “24”. Maybe next Monday?
Great show! Haven’t seen it, but I’m now looking forward to this episode even more than usual!
Haha, that was perfect gadget depression and gadget lust!
Jack Bauer with an iPad? Makes perfect sense. But my guess is that he’d be waiting for the 3G model.
And if Apple doesn’t pay for product placement, then it’s even more exciting how many shows are sporting Apple products.
@ Logic Police:
NERD! NERRRRRRD!! NERD! NERD! NERD!
Nice to see so many “writers” claiming this is a paid product placement with no facts to back that up. Journalism is dead my friends.
@ Logic Police
I too cringe at many grammatical errors, and being an old fart, long for many things that have changed. For example, I hate to see “that” used when “who” is called for.
However I am afraid your post is off base. You actually hit it on the head when you say “”Center around” is a common idiomatic error… “
From Wikipedia:
An idiom “is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made.”
and:
“Moreover, an idiom is an expression, word, or phrase whose sense means something different from what the words literally imply.”
Therefore an idiomatic expression by definition cannot be an error. If it is common usage, then it is – by definition – valid, no matter how “nonsensical” it may be literally.
IMHO
Happy wordsmithing!
—
PS Ironically, my security word is “police” LOL
This video contains content from ABC, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
ABC is owned by Disney, isn’t there some Apple bigwig that owns a lot of Apple stock?
lol
Crap, I meant Disney Stock.
Because in TV and even Movie production Apple products are used for all kinds of things from controlling lights to production scheduling and even to budgeting and accounting. Apple no longer pays for placement but Apple does provide a big discount on Products purchased by the Productions and in some case Apple will provide Free computers, iPods, iPhones, Software … for promotional considerations.
Helps that the show is on ABC which is owned by Disney and it sure helps that Disney’s biggest shareholder is Steve Jobs.
you can watch the entire episode here in high quality: http://www.macdaddynews.com/?p=1941
I love that this show does not have a laugh track.
I would liked to have watched this but ABC have blocked access outside the US “on copyright grounds”. Shame.
Was that a chair that just zoomed by? I mean zuned by.
jmmx vs. Logic Police
War of the nerds / words!