More Apple TV Ads by Errol Morris? [Archive]

MacRumors

Jun 14, 2005, 05:43 AM

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

This interview (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/noah-helpern/the-huffpost-interview-_2610.html) of Errol Morris reveals that he is presently working on new television ads for Apple.

Errol Morris shot the original Apple Switch ads (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2002/05/20020508225804.shtml) in 2002. There have been recent claims (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2005/05/20050504112959.shtml) that Apple will launch a new ad campaign centered around Macs.

According to the interview, the ads will be shot in an "Ames Room".

They’re these rooms, they’re built in a completely distorted way in order to create an optical illusion based on perspective. I’ve always wanted to shoot in an Ames room and now we’re going to.

More information about Ames rooms can be found here (http://psylux.psych.tu-dresden.de/i1/kaw/diverses%20Material/www.illusionworks.com/html/ames_room.html).

liketom

Jun 14, 2005, 05:53 AM

i wonder what the ads for ?

intel - mac or iPod

always nice to see a mac computer ad

crap freakboy

Jun 14, 2005, 05:55 AM

I'm guessing rev B mac mini. Small form big inside.

J-Squire

Jun 14, 2005, 05:57 AM

I wonder how far off these ads are. If they haven't even started shooting them, they could be some time.

Sounds pretty interesting concept.

BornAgainMac

Jun 14, 2005, 06:02 AM

How about an Ad how Macs are used to create the Start Ads for Microsoft.

MacSA

Jun 14, 2005, 06:03 AM

I'm guessing rev B mac mini. Small form big inside.

I'm hoping you're right :D

Chaszmyr

Jun 14, 2005, 06:09 AM

i wonder what the ads for ?

intel - mac or iPod

I don't see any reason that Apple would publicly advertise the transition to Intel, especially this early in the game.

I think the mac mini thing may be a good guess, but we will have to wait and see.

(Also: for anyone who thinks that Apple shouldnt be advertising macs because they think buying a Mac before the switch to Intel is a bad idea, there is something you should know. If Apple gets their way, and all new Mac software is complied with XCode, it will all have universal binaries, therefore PowerPC Macs will be more software compatible than x86 Macs for the first couple years.)

OziMac

Jun 14, 2005, 06:12 AM

Errol Morris is Hamilton 'It makes me feel powerful' Morris's father, right?

bignumbers

Jun 14, 2005, 06:20 AM

Let's not forget that Errol Morris is now an Oscar winner, last year for Best Documentary for The Fog Of War. And a few years before that, directed what I think is the best documentary ever, The Thin Blue Line.

I think a Mac Mini ad would be perfect. Or I wonder if they're starting a new themed campaign rather than a single product ad. I could very well be wrong, but I don't think they've done a real product ad in ages. More on branding it seems.

Maybe he'll bring Ellen Feiss Ellen Feiss (http://www.ellenfeiss.net/) back!

SPUY767

Jun 14, 2005, 06:27 AM

Maybe he'll bring Ellen Feiss Ellen Feiss (http://www.ellenfeiss.net/) back!

I mean, I'd hit it, for sure. But I'm just not seeing how she's worthy of net worship. She's cute, but I date more attractive women on a regular basis. I guess the real allure is that she's the only attractive 20's woman to be obtusely associated with the macintosh. I have dated or not dated women based on their computer preference. Wasn't it's Robert Plant who said, "I don't know, but I've been told. . . Dell usin' woman ain't got no soul." Who knows, but this is for sure, a woman with a 17" PB ran off with my heart.

bignumbers

Jun 14, 2005, 06:29 AM

Errol Morris is Hamilton 'It makes me feel powerful' Morris's father, right?

Correct.

nagromme

Jun 14, 2005, 06:38 AM

AmigoMac

Jun 14, 2005, 06:39 AM

Blue man group, anyone? ;)

Ohh yes, these ipods ads are getting ... :rolleyes: .

njmac

Jun 14, 2005, 06:54 AM

... She's cute, but I date more attractive women on a regular basis. I guess the real allure is that she's the only attractive 20's woman to be obtusely associated with the macintosh. ....

Actually, I think the allure was that she looked stoned. The stoner net community made her famous.

oingoboingo

Jun 14, 2005, 06:57 AM

Wasn't it's Robert Plant who said, "I don't know, but I've been told. . . Dell usin' woman ain't got no soul."

When a lady has one's joystick in her hands, one seldom stops to quarrel over the particular brand of hardware it is going to be plugged into.

SPUY767

Jun 14, 2005, 07:01 AM

When a lady has one's joystick in her hands, one seldom stops to quarrel over the particular brand of hardware it is going to be plugged into.

Like when my girlfriend flies X-Plane?

SPUY767

Jun 14, 2005, 07:07 AM

I'm gomma photoshop her head onto a tasteful female nude and all the typing will go to hell tomorrow cause everyone will be doing it 1-handed.

crap freakboy

Jun 14, 2005, 07:08 AM

I'm gomma photoshop her head onto a tasteful female nude and all the typing will go to hell tomorrow cause everyone will be doing it 1-handed.

:eek: Too much information

macapple

Jun 14, 2005, 07:09 AM

cool, anyone know where i can get the original 1984 mac ad

Sharewaredemon

Jun 14, 2005, 07:13 AM

cool, anyone know where i can get the original 1984 mac ad

Here (http://www.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/1984.mov)

Frisco

Jun 14, 2005, 07:36 AM

When a lady has one's joystick in her hands, one seldom stops to quarrel over the particular brand of hardware it is going to be plugged into.

True, but some hardware are more prone to viruses so you have to be careful these days ;)

dwbarcl

Jun 14, 2005, 07:41 AM

I have a family member that goes to the Westside high school in Omaha, NE (one of apples showcase schools). He told me that a few weeks before school ended APPLE was their shooting comercials. He said that they were using large production type cameras, and high tech lighting. Interviewing students and other stuff..... :eek:

Sharewaredemon

Jun 14, 2005, 07:44 AM

True, but some hardware are more prone to viruses so you have to be careful these days ;)

:eek:

lol well put!

~Shard~

Jun 14, 2005, 07:50 AM

Sounds interesting, this could make for some very unique and more importantly, effective ads - if done right. Let's hope Apple does a better job this time around than they did with the original "Switch" ads.

And here (http://asp.cis.pitt.edu/thinkmov.html) is a collection of previous Mac ads in case anyone is interested. :cool:

geekdreams

Jun 14, 2005, 08:07 AM

Tons more Apple-related videos here:

http://data.ddmovies.net/

VicMacs

Jun 14, 2005, 08:08 AM

I hope apple takes my idea of a commercial...

and they better not release a better powebook now.... I just bought one!

Sharewaredemon

Jun 14, 2005, 08:10 AM

Not sure but this (http://www.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/movies.html) site seems to have a more complete collection of Apple ads, Switch ads, as well as Apple Movies.

mainstreetmark

Jun 14, 2005, 08:39 AM

Really? An Ames Room?

I can see it now...

"Apple Computer. Distorting Your Reality."

Man, I got about 30 slogans for this thing.

MacGrande

Jun 14, 2005, 08:52 AM

Hmmn... Perhaps the G5 powerbook is coming out after all... Distorting the size down from 6 inches thick :p
(Probably released next Tuesday too) ;)

immac

Jun 14, 2005, 08:55 AM

You might remember the powerbook ads with Wilt Chamberlin and Willie Shumaker or was it or was it Yao Ming and Mini Me??

Hey i'm sorry but Ellen Feiss and and localized elevated blood pressure don't exist in the same universe for me......

cheekyspanky

Jun 14, 2005, 09:12 AM

Really? An Ames Room?

I can see it now...

"Apple Computer. Distorting Your Reality."

Man, I got about 30 slogans for this thing.

"Time to change your perspective"

Or start off with an iPod and then show the Ames room, "Now your perspective has changed, try a Mac" (or similar)

kretzy

Jun 14, 2005, 09:18 AM

dontmatter

Jun 14, 2005, 09:21 AM

cool! didn't they use one of those rooms in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind? When they went back to his house in the fifties and jim carey was a little kid?

stockscalper

Jun 14, 2005, 09:23 AM

Meanwhile, on the Titanic, Apple is busy shuffling the deck chairs and everybody else is busy jumping ship.

zelmo

Jun 14, 2005, 09:40 AM

I'd love to see an ad where a 17" PowerBook is in the right corner of an Ames Room, then is moved to the left side to become a tiny Apple iTablet.

"All the power you need in a package small enough to fit in your coat pocket."

macmax77

Jun 14, 2005, 09:41 AM

GET THE BUD DUDES AND MAKE ME LAUGH!!!!

Well they already made me "laugh" witht the Intel switch

How i am loving my Mac and hating Apple more each day is so weird

tiiim

Jun 14, 2005, 09:42 AM

Sounds like you guys get way more ads than we do in the UK. We only get ipod ads...seems years since we seen any others... or maybe its just me and i cant see them....

Sharewaredemon

Jun 14, 2005, 09:45 AM

cool! didn't they use one of those rooms in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind? When they went back to his house in the fifties and jim carey was a little kid?

Quite possibly, that was a cool movie.

I just looked up what an Ames Room is, man that is messed.

So in order to film that the camera has to at a fixed point looking from the right perspective.

Wow, I'm excited to see these.

kretzy

Jun 14, 2005, 09:45 AM

Sounds like you guys get way more ads than we do in the UK. We only get ipod ads...seems years since we seen any others... or maybe its just me and i cant see them....

It's the same here in Australia.....we only get the occasional iPod ad. I don't think there has ever been Mac ads on TV, or on any other media for that matter, other than in the US

sirron

Jun 14, 2005, 09:52 AM

>APPLE was their shooting comercials.>

It's getting worse! :mad: Schooling that is.

ahuman7341

Jun 14, 2005, 09:54 AM

I'm in the US and still nothing scence the Switcher ads except for iPod/iTunes.

Well its tuesday, whres my Powerbook G5!.. Oh, it melted. too bad

FoxyKaye

Jun 14, 2005, 10:07 AM

Wow, the amount of nerd humor on this thread about women is more than a little nauseating... Y'all sound like half a dozen Comic Book Store Guys from The Simpsons.

Anyhow, the Ames Room and "Ames Effect" explains a lot of the shooting of the Lord of the Rings movies, but maybe I'm a little cynical when it comes to Apple ads. The last thing Apple needs right now is another "cute" set of ads like the Switcher ones from a couple years ago.

I'll believe a real Apple Mac ad when I see it, or more aptly, when I read about it since I don't have TV.

amac4me

Jun 14, 2005, 10:37 AM

I can't wait to see these ads ... I'd like to see Apple's marketing goals and vision. I wonder if the Intel switch will have a factor in these ads. Regardless of what we see in these ads, it good to know that Apple will begin touting products other than the iPod ... at least that's the hopw :)

jayscheuerle

Jun 14, 2005, 11:23 AM

cool! didn't they use one of those rooms in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind? When they went back to his house in the fifties and jim carey was a little kid?

They may have used forced perspective, but an Ames room is seriously difficult to walk around in as the floor is on an incline. When you see pictures of people in them, look at their ankles and feet.

min_t

Jun 14, 2005, 11:25 AM

I want a pentium M le mac Mini with a core video capable vid card for X-mas.

Can someone who knows a guy, who knows another guy, who knows a guy who knows Steve, to make it happen, please.

Gasu E.

Jun 14, 2005, 11:27 AM

I had a toy Ames room as a kid (not life size!). The effect is to make one person in the room look tiny and one person look huge. Or one person can grow/shrink by walking across the room.

I suppose some kind of visual pun is on the way...

Makes perfect sense for the Mini. Put the Mini in front, another object in back, making the Mini look like a "normal" sized computer. Then move the rear object forward to show the true relative sizes.

beatle888

Jun 14, 2005, 11:45 AM

I'm guessing rev B mac mini. Small form big inside.

good guess. logical at least.

i doubt they'll be creating ads for the intel at this point...i could be wrong but that doesnt seem as logical.

Sharewaredemon

Jun 14, 2005, 11:48 AM

Makes perfect sense for the Mini. Put the Mini in front, another object in back, making the Mini look like a "normal" sized computer. Then move the rear object forward to show the true relative sizes.

I think that would be the best idea, cause it would get people psyched on how small the mini is.

slb

Jun 14, 2005, 11:49 AM

Ugh...more "Switch" ads? Apple is going to have people telling us how great the Mac is instead of just showing us the Mac?

w_parietti22

Jun 14, 2005, 11:51 AM

Did he do the iMac G4 Window add: http://pulsar.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/imac_window_m480.mov

Or the 17" and 12" PB ad with Mini-Me and Yao Ming?: http://pulsar.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/powerbook_g4-03-02_m480.mov

those were both great comercials. Id like too see some more llike that!

Daveway

Jun 14, 2005, 11:55 AM

Moonlight

Jun 14, 2005, 11:59 AM

She's cute, but I date more attractive women on a regular basis.

Hahaha, thanks for telling us that little factiod, we are all SO much more well informed now. I was just asking my co-worker the other day if random mac posters were dating women more attractive then Ellen....and if they do,is it on a regular basis?

NOW I KNOW !!!

You stud you....Meow

Sharewaredemon

Jun 14, 2005, 12:05 PM

narco

Jun 14, 2005, 12:11 PM

I don't know about this; if not for the iPod, then what exactly are they advertising?

I know that Apple doesn't want people to stop buying their PPC machines, and I know that the software people are going through the code to make their programs compatible for Intel and PPC Macs, but you know Apple will stop making stuff for the PPC sooner or later. I think when that happens, people will get pissed and feel that they made the wrong purchase.

But I would like to see some advertising anyway.

Fishes,
narco.

SiliconAddict

Jun 14, 2005, 12:14 PM

I hope apple takes my idea of a commercial...

and they better not release a better powebook now....

Don't worry....there won't be...until next Spring. Unless you call a price decrease and maybe a new screen "new".

Daveway

Jun 14, 2005, 12:21 PM

Here is the transcript that involves Apple.

Morris: Yeah, I thought it was very funny.

One second…

[puts me on hold]

That was my day job calling.

HuffPost: Who?

Morris: Apple. I’m doing some more ads for them. I have to go back to LA to shoot more commercials. They’re building an Ames room in LA as we speak.

HuffPost: What kind of room?

Morris: They’re these rooms, they’re built in a completely distorted way in order to create an optical illusion based on perspective. I’ve always wanted to shoot in an Ames room and now we’re going to.

HuffPost: I’m looking at an Ames room online right now, but I’m having trouble visualizing how it would look on film.

Morris: Well, I’ll find out.

HuffPost: Are they going to be the same format as the earlier ads?

Morris: It’s not clear yet. You know, I actually like doing commercials. I don’t like doing them to the exclusion of everything else, but I like doing them. The 30-second format is very hard. I sometimes call it American Haiku. And I think some of the commercials I’ve done are not so bad.

mafwoj

Jun 14, 2005, 12:51 PM

How about an Ad how Macs are used to create the Start Ads for Microsoft.

I knew it!

StkhlmSyndrm23

Jun 14, 2005, 01:01 PM

rxse7en

Jun 14, 2005, 01:26 PM

Really? An Ames Room?

I can see it now...

"Apple Computer. Distorting Your Reality."

Man, I got about 30 slogans for this thing.

Shaddap DELL BOY! :D

SiliconAddict

Jun 14, 2005, 01:28 PM

I really hope these new ads are more hip than the previous Mac ads were. I really have to say some of those old ones were positively dreadful, no music and voice overs done by what sounded like a cheap imitation of what the voice of a corpse might sound like.

Oh come on. The G5 PowerMac ad was hilarious. And the Mini-Me Yao Ming 12"/17" PowerBook ad was witty. Both of which do make an impact on a viewer.

I just hope they use Jeff Goldblum again. :D

Deefuzz

Jun 14, 2005, 01:30 PM

cool, I was hoping to see some new Mac commercials! Looking forward to it!

rxse7en

Jun 14, 2005, 01:37 PM

Power Computing had the best print ad campaigns.

http://www.macdesktops.com/images/1280x1024/Sluggo1280x1024.jpg How appropriate :D

poundsmack

Jun 14, 2005, 02:14 PM

"hey guys switch to mac now"
"ok sure that sounds good"
" by the way, now that u boughtthis nice new mac we are doing an achatecture change....Suprise!!!"

that would make a lot of people angry

SiliconAddict

Jun 14, 2005, 02:31 PM

"hey guys switch to mac now"
"ok sure that sounds good"
" by the way, now that u boughtthis nice new mac we are doing an achatecture change....Suprise!!!"

that would make a lot of people angry

No because first off 90% of switchers are moving away from Windows because they don't understand tech AT ALL = What is an architecture?

Secondly only hardcore Mac zealots care.

Third, and most important, and something everyone TIME AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN keeps missing - These apps are going to JUST work on both platforms! :rolleyes:

MontyZ

Jun 14, 2005, 02:35 PM

This is great news! Errol Morris is an award-winning artistic genius. And his style of filming matches so well with Apple's branding.

Can't wait to see the new ads!

MontyZ

Jun 14, 2005, 02:39 PM

Secondly only hardcore Mac zealots care.
This hasn't been my experience. As I posted in another thread, two non-techie friends (one a PC user, the other a Mac user) who plan to buy new Macs asked me if they should wait because they saw the Apple/Intel stuff on the news. They didn't understand exactly what the change means, but they had the feeling they should wait before buying a Mac. I advised them to just buy the computer they want now, it won't make much of a difference.

Dagless

Jun 14, 2005, 02:48 PM

ooo i like the sound of that room. but i bet the ads are shown once every month in the UK. ho hum.

Zigster

Jun 14, 2005, 04:11 PM

Morris must need the money for a new documentary.

Well, even Lynch whores for commercials (outside US of course)

tex210

Jun 14, 2005, 04:34 PM

Morris must need the money for a new documentary.

Well, even Lynch whores for commercials (outside US of course)

Well it's not a commercial, it's a 30 second haiku. :D

oingoboingo

Jun 14, 2005, 04:40 PM

Wow, the amount of nerd humor on this thread about women is more than a little nauseating... Y'all sound like half a dozen Comic Book Store Guys from The Simpsons.

Didya maybe stop to think that a discussion forum about Macintosh related rumours and news might not be the best place to be hanging around if you didn't want overexposure to nerdy humour? It's like complaining "about all those damned geeks on Slashdot".

LaMerVipere

Jun 14, 2005, 04:57 PM

Alright, have a Tiger on the 'big' side licking its chops and ready to pounce on a poor little Longhorn on the 'small' side.

That would look hilarious. :D

jimsowden

Jun 14, 2005, 04:58 PM

Bengt77

Jun 14, 2005, 05:32 PM

Well its tuesday, whres my Powerbook G5!.. Oh, it melted. too bad
Oh, man! This sheer, how to call it, ignorant or cynical humor is excellent stuff! First implying to be mad, then to be baffled, and then, ultimately, to be completely ignorant. Hilarious!

:D

bLiss

Jun 14, 2005, 05:57 PM

... There have been recent claims (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2005/05/20050504112959.shtml) that Apple will launch a new ad campaign centered around Macs. ...

I hear/read this all the time. It is impossible to center around something. You can either revolve around something, or center on it.

Let's get it straight, okay? So many of us try to persuade our friends to switch to Macs, we should at least sound intelligent. :cool:

Xtremehkr

Jun 14, 2005, 06:09 PM

I hear/read this all the time. It is impossible to center around something. You can either revolve around something, or center on it.

Let's get it straight, okay? So many of us try to persuade our friends to switch to Macs, we should at least sound intelligent. :cool:

I don't think you are looking at it in the right way. If you think of all the claims as individual positions on a map, where they cluster is a center, and if that is a particular idea, then the claims are centering around something.

bLiss

Jun 14, 2005, 06:42 PM

That's silly. They are collectively centering on something (in this case, an idea), and they surround the center point.

The verb to center implies a linear directionality from possibly more than one point due to an implied radial origin. We add "on" to emphasize this action. But to "center around"... that's messy. It blows the implication of linearity to bits.

iDrinkKoolAid

Jun 14, 2005, 06:48 PM

i wonder what the ads for ?

"Don't buy PowerPC Macs until Apple goes MacIntel"

Anyone read that article regarding the Pentium M in Tom's Hardware? Wow, I can't believe how good this chip is!

Don't flame me for this, but I was at a suburban American mall yesterday and stopped by one of those DELL kiosks where I was looking at their 12-inch notebook offerings. And aside from the VGA-only video out options, I have to admit that the DULL laptop was good feature wise. The Sony-like high-quality wide screen and the Pentium M processor are good calls.

I want that 12-inch widescreen and the Pentium M in my PowerBook!

SeaFox

Jun 14, 2005, 08:20 PM

Power Computing had the best print ad campaigns.
(Sluggo1280x1024.jpg)

I wish someone had made T-shirts out of all those ads.

Daveway

Jun 14, 2005, 08:48 PM

I wish someone had made T-shirts out of all those ads.

I didn't think it was great.

bignumbers

Jun 14, 2005, 09:09 PM

What happened to Chiat-Day?

I am betting 98% that these commercials will involve people who use macs. I was contacted about 2 months ago by Apple marketing to share my switch story.

Think about it. Why has Apple been asking for "switcher" stories on their website? ;)

Chiat/Day is Apple's ad agency. Ad agencies come up with the concepts, write the copy, etc. Agencies frequently go outside for some creative services (video, photography, etc.). So in this case Apple has hired Chiat/Day for the full ad campaign, and Chiat/Day has hired Errol Morris for some of the specifics.

If they're more Switch ads, they'll certainly look different than the last go-round with that Ames room!

winmacguy

Jun 14, 2005, 10:25 PM

Wow this one got a few hits! Glad I posted it :) Good to see Apple finally getting into mass media advertising.

balconycollapse

Jun 15, 2005, 01:08 AM

I remember a couple months back they opened the floodgates and there were all kinds of switch ads with Will Ferrell (something about being at a baseball game and passing ipods down like hotdogs) and even Christopher Guest (which I reeeeaallly wanted to see) but the E Morris site got so clobbered that they took them down. Anyone? Feast for my eyes where where?

dejo

Jun 15, 2005, 01:14 AM

winmacguy

Jun 15, 2005, 05:04 AM

An Ames Room is a fantastic idea as a marketing concept for the Mac Mini!
I'm sure the ads will look great. I doubt we'll see them on TV here in Australia though :( - i'll just have to download them from somewhere. ;)
I think you might be surprised. Most of the iPod ads show up on NZ TV about 2 weeks after they start showing on US TV. Being that Apple is a global company I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing goes for the Mac ads

iMeowbot

Jul 10, 2005, 06:33 AM

Just an update on this: The Errol Morris work involving an Ames room was for Quaker Oats, not Apple.

http://www.errolmorris.com/commercials/quaker_ames.html

djdarlek

Aug 9, 2005, 08:53 AM

Let's not forget that Errol Morris is now an Oscar winner, last year for Best Documentary for The Fog Of War. And a few years before that, directed what I think is the best documentary ever, The Thin Blue Line.Maybe he'll bring Ellen Feiss Ellen Feiss (http://www.ellenfeiss.net/) back!

Was that a UK show? I used to love it, starring Neil Pearce or someone?