In 2019 most people under 65 probably know what that means. My mom is over 65 and she knows what it means
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Shares Humorous 'Bokeh'd' Ad Highlighting iPhone Depth Control Feature
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They literally explain and then demonstrate it in the ad, then repeat it a few times.
The explanation: Who’s that blurred in the background? Did you bokeh my child?
Then they demonstrate what bokeh is: bokeh, unbokeh, bokeh, unbokeh.
I can see you wanting to know more about the effect or why it’s called bokeh but I can’t see how someone comes away from watching the ad and not knowing that bokeh is blurring the background.
It’s the internet. Some people just want to naysay.
I think I understand it pretty well, and am certain I’m being neither literal nor reading it as too negative. That said, I didn’t communicate well regarding how well the user understands the feature. She does—it’s more like she’s not aware of the unintended consequences. So she’s either bokehing a child accidentally, which makes the feature look bad, or she’s doing it intentionally and she’s kind of a jerk. If the kid in the background was presented as somekimd of a demon seed, that might justify it and exonerate her, but they don’t do that. Just kinda wierd to present it as a mistake, or unintended, or hurting another mom’s feelings. Why go there? So many other situations you could protest that would create more powerful and positive associations.
It’s a common mistake in modern advertising, where they think making an ad “funny” is all that’s needed, with no regard to how they’re funny. After 20 years working as a creative director for some of the biggest ad agencies in the world, and also performing at two well-known comedy theaters, I’ve seen this play out way too much. Execs see other ads out there that use humor and have success (or at least garner attention) but they don’t understand the why, and so their own “funny” ads aren’t effective. I guarantee that if we put that spot up against the one I proposed, not only could the one with Fred be funnier to most audiences, but it would test higher in focus groups and drive considerably better recognition, comprehension, and sales in the real word.
Not saying that you or anyone else is wrong for laughing at it. It’s kinda funny. But it’s just not nearly as strategic as it could or should be. And it’s not gonna play particularly well with people who don’t already own iPhones and know that feature. I am generally a huge fan of Apple’s marketing, but for the amount of money they spent making this particular commercial and buying media for it, it could be much better.
Last edited:
A $1500 device which is build for 1 purpose only is better at its job than a $750 device built for multiple purposes?
Wow, this is unheard of.
I will officially never sleep again
The $750 iPhone Xr is good for 2-3 years and then questionable after that. The $1500 body plus lens will be good for at least 7-10 years. In that time we've spent probably $3K on phones.
I do. Then again, I own a few DSLR bodies. I may be in the minority with that.People still print photos?
I hope you get the opportunity, I’d love to see the Photobombing Fred spot
You’re not considering purpose and expectations of the product. If you bought a $1500 body and lens in 2019, yes, you expect it to last 7-10 years, but you’re also not expecting any change.
But I also see nothing strange with a person buying a $750 phone/computer/portable entertainment device in 2019, then replacing it with another in 2022, another in 2025, and another in 2028. Yes, that’s $3K vs the $1.5K, but the user experience and capabilities will be drastically different over that 10 year period.
I'm surprised Apple had someone even jokingly suggest someone hated their child. I'm surprised any Apple commercial used the word "hate" at all in this way.
And since when does the age of the phone decreases the quality of the picture?
iPhone slows down because of upgrades and deceased battery performance.
I am not aware of any impact on camera part of the phone.
That said, we are still using iPhone 5s at home and taking pictures with that.
1. Bokeh'd is not a verb...
2. what these phones are doing is NOT BOKEH. it's selective focus.
/me grumbles off into the distance.
2. what these phones are doing is NOT BOKEH. it's selective focus.
/me grumbles off into the distance.
Ah, I see you watched it too!
[doublepost=1550439535][/doublepost]
If you were Apple's target audience you'd be justifiably mistaken in thinking the camera was a professional one through watching Apple's keynotes and marketing videos. That's exactly how they position it.
I don't believe this was a case of snobbery, it's just that some people are more knowledgeable than Apple's target audience. They see through the marketing and understand that what they're doing isn't what they say it is.
Last edited:
It's a silly word. So is meme, selfie, tweet (woofer and tweeter have been silly and been around since loudspeakers), peek, poke (old Apple ][ commands), and lots of other things people say with completely straight faces nowadays. If you want to get all technical, I thought of boca burger and Boca Raton while watching the video, knowing already what it meant (since I read the blurb before I saw the clip) but the pronunciation struck me as amusing and made think of the aforementioned terms, made me giggle, and I started typing. I suppose I could have gone into great detail to explain what I knew and did not know at various stages of absorbing the article and video's content, but a short blurb seemed about the effort it was worth to express the point. I now feel compelled to attempt to try seriously explain my silliness. Which means I am far from immune to online society being a strange strange place, and, imo, sometimes taking itself (myself?) way too seriously.
Me too!I hope you get the opportunity, I’d love to see the Photobombing Fred spot
I wish the original iPhone X could do this. I understand why Apple does it but as far as I can tell there is no physical hardware limitation that would prevent the iPhone X from having the background Bokeh blur slider also. Your only option is to downgrade to the XR (sure a bigger screen but it’s not OLED). It just irks me that they’re getting so desperate to get people to upgrade their phone every year that they feel the need to lock out new features on a 1 year old phone. Sorry, just felt like ranting about this