Former Apple Ad Man Slams 'Genius' TV Spots as "Landing With A Thud"

[AZREOSpecialist]

While not Apple's greatest marketing achievement, these ads work. They are similar to the Progressive auto insurance ads with an attractive, young person as the face of the company offering personalized assistance to customers. Apple can offer personalized, one-on-one assistance with your Mac purchase - something nobody on the PC side, certainly not Microsoft, can provide.

I agree that some of the attempts at humor are over the top, but they have to be somewhat implausible and exaggerated in order to make the point. Nobody buys Progressive car insurance by taking a box off the shelf and going to a register where a pretty young thing checks you out. However the analogy works. While we all know that a man is not going to abandon his wife as she goes into labor in order to seek advice from his Mac Genius, the analogy works.

The fact that we are all here talking about the ads means they are working.

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

With the exception of 'Basically' (in which I can only assume you're not supposed to identify with the guy who buys a PC), I don't think the ads insult novice users—not unless people have completely lost the ability to laugh at themselves. The aeroplane ad is full of humour and warmth, and shows a novice user becoming empowered, as by the end of the ad he's ready to launch in and help the next guy! What's insulting about that?

Maybe working on a project that has a deadline while on a plane and trying to learn new software is not the smartest move on anyones behalf.

Would you risk working on a presentation or spreadsheet that you are not familiar with while on a plane heading for a meeting that the presentation you are working on at this very moment. Seems irresponsible, considering there is a help tutorial built-in iWorks and OS X. Maybe seeking help at the risk of others while a plane is about to land, is the least of your worries. Very selfish and self-centered.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

If these ads are a sign of the taste of Tim Cook and the direction he is taking Apple down then I want a new Apple to be born soon so I can switch to a computer that is once more a combination of art and science, rather than just a way to maximise profits.

I'm also pi55ed off my 18 month old Mac mini server (running Snow Leopard desktop) can't run Mountain Lion, which the new iPhone will most likely need which means I will have to carry on using my battered old iPhone 3G (not even the 'GS').

Apple needs to re-examine itself, and Tim Cook needs to loosen his collar a bit, he and his choices lack vision beyond a balance sheet.

Conclusions drawn from hypothetical assumptions are worthless, but thanks for playing.

 

[vpro]

Major Fails

Yeah...... Fail. Basically - really revealing:

"...we're not out to make money no not us, we're just like that kid with the tag in the ads, just trying to help in the most smart-alec way possible...."

Try-hard mainstream and trying too hard to be comical but now I can't tell between the best buy ads, not making me wanna get a mac for a long - long - long time now, gonna hold out on my early 07 17" mbp for a little longer yet.

THESE seem desperate ..

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

While not Apple's greatest marketing achievement, these ads work. They are similar to the Progressive auto insurance ads with an attractive, young person as the face of the company offering personalized assistance to customers. Apple can offer personalized, one-on-one assistance with your Mac purchase - something nobody on the PC side, certainly not Microsoft, can provide.

I agree that some of the attempts at humor are over the top, but they have to be somewhat implausible and exaggerated in order to make the point. Nobody buys Progressive car insurance by taking a box off the shelf and going to a register where a pretty young thing checks you out. However the analogy works. While we all know that a man is not going to abandon his wife as she goes into labor in order to seek advice from his Mac Genius, the analogy works.

The fact that we are all here talking about the ads means they are working.

This is an Apple dedicated forum, what else are we going to talk about Cisco or maybe Linux.

These ads portray a selfish husband, and two passengers on a flight without regard for anyones safety and to make matters worse the flight-attendant is encouraging with a time-limit. My presentation is more important than the safety of the rest of the passengers on this flight, safety is over-rated.

"Basically" reinforces the Mac elitist mentality. Instead of advising, to return the PC and get a real Mac with all the extras, the "Genius" decides to play along with a potential customers intelligence. Rude behaviour.

 

[Mothra's Wing]

Bland. The "Mayday" ad is charming enough, but the other two aren't very good.

Looks like they aimed straight for middlebrow and got exactly what they wanted. The ads do not introduce a memorable character or spokesperson and have that corporate sheen where everything is executed too perfectly.

Thankfully the people making these commercials aren't the same people making the computers.

 

[DoofenshmirtzEI]

I like the idea, but either the actor or the direction he is being given is poor. Plus the situations need to be really "over the top" so as to be unreal and comedic. The one on the plane and the father having a baby fit that (although the actor could have helped push that a little better without the halting delivery), but the "Basically" ad is a real turd.

 

[4509968]

Forget about what Steve Jobs would have thought about these ads, think yourself. Would you ever let such ads go on the air? I wouldnt.

Someone's not there to really curate Apple anymore. Thats what happening.

 

[musicofmelkor]

almost as bad as those dell commercials

ipad 3 and macbook retina were the best commercials i can remember from recent times
these new mac ones are just too damn campy

 

[entatlrg]

I just hope the general public has bombarded Apple with negative feedback and Apple pulls the ad's ASAP.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if their promo people did take a moment and wondered 'what would Steve do' .... couldn't turn out any worse than these ads ... they suck.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

This is an Apple dedicated forum, what else are we going to talk about Cisco or maybe Linux.

These ads portray a selfish husband, and two passengers on a flight without regard for anyones safety and to make matters worse the flight-attendant is encouraging with a time-limit. My presentation is more important than the safety of the rest of the passengers on this flight, safety is over-rated.

"Basically" reinforces the Mac elitist mentality. Instead of advising, to return the PC and get a real Mac with all the extras, the "Genius" decides to play along with a potential customers intelligence. Rude behaviour.

I think you're a little too wrapped up in all of this LOL ... do you also stalk soap opera stars?

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

do you also stalk soap opera stars?

I have others to do that for me.

 

[CFreymarc]

Only one thing worst than a failed writer turned movie critic. An ad man that lost a job criticizing the firm that got it.

 

[SAIRUS]

More cracks showing in the Apple foundation?

First they started using celebs in the iPhone commercials, then this guy showing people how to do things. What ever happened to talking about the product?

With the subtle framerate issues cropping up with the iPad 3 and MBP-R, I'm wondering if something is starting to slip at the Apple HQ?

I can't place my finger on it, but something is amiss.

 

[macingman]

Insulting to Macintosh users, I would have expected this out of Windows users.

If you need help with a keynote or editing pictures, maybe its time for an iPad or not use computers period. Seriously it might be time to just use paper and pencil and send it via snail mail, since technology cannot help for a mental handicap.

Most people don't know how to use keynote or edit photos, they're advanced things (for most people) that most people don't need to use. Just because you do know how to use it doesn't mean everyone does. I help atleast 1 person with keynote/photo editing every day.

Infact it is insulting to say that just because someone can't edit photos they have a mental illness.

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Maybe working on a project that has a deadline while on a plane and trying to learn new software is not the smartest move on anyones behalf.

Would you risk working on a presentation or spreadsheet that you are not familiar with while on a plane heading for a meeting that the presentation you are working on at this very moment. Seems irresponsible, considering there is a help tutorial built-in iWorks and OS X. Maybe seeking help at the risk of others while a plane is about to land, is the least of your worries. Very selfish and self-centered.

Your taking these ads way to seriously.

 

[faroZ06]

These ads weren't good, but they weren't terrible. The older ads with the white background and the personified PCs were very good, so good that even haters made spoofs of the ads (except with the Mac guy getting shot or something).

If they aren't going to continue the old ads, a video of someone doing cool stuff in Mountain Lion and using their iPhone with their Mac in perfect harmony would be pretty convincing. I mean, the iPad and MBPR ads were just shots of the awesome design. Half of the advertising is done by the designers.

 

[Mak47]

As a concept they're not bad, but the execution wasn't great.

First, the genius kid. Sorry, but he doesn't come off seeming like a genius. He pulls of the warm and welcoming vibe alright, but something just seems off.

Second, the ads make it seem like doing all this stuff is really complicated and therefore unless you're a tech genius you'll need help. Not really a great message to send.

With Mountain Lion a success and Windows 8 just around the corner, I think it's time to bring back the "Get a Mac" ads. I know they've been done before but they were great and they worked. I'm sure the concept could be updated with more timely characters or actors, but it could work again. Especially with YouTube, people would take the ads viral every time. Lots of free play, lots of buzz.

If Windows 8 goes smoothly, so be it, they'll still be great ads for a still superior experience. If it ends up being disastrous, they'll be even more effective.

 

[snowleopard48]

I think the problem with these ads is that if you were viewing it from the perspective of a company that doesn't have a past reputation for brilliant ads, they're fine. Good, in fact. But Apple has that reputation, and these ads abolish it.

 

[charlituna]

They're not great, but they're not THAT bad. Raised a little chuckle, which is more than most ads do.

Yep. The gagging is by Apple employees, generally put off by the mixing up of job titles.

The ads are to sell the stores and their services to get folks buying their apple stuff from Apple. It will be hard to codify success quickly to judge if these ads are a hit or a flop

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Something was unmistakably off after viewing these ads. I prefer the Job-era advertisements, simplicity is captivating.

Steve Jobs is dead. And even he told Tim etc not to do everything by asking how would Steve do this.

It would be nice if folks would all the Steve wouldn't and Steve would hate and just face the fact that **** is going to change. And in the end we have already bought in and ads aren't for us, so really what does this issue really matter

 

[e-coli]

These ads are so pedestrian it's embarrassing..almost as bad as it gets.

 

[charlituna]

I agree^^^ They're made to target people who have had problems (using windows) using computers for the easiest task. Windows is so horrible that the average computer user EXPECTS a simple task to be very difficult. I think the commercials are pretty decent. It doesn't describe the end user to be as "stupid" as most would think. It realy just points out the preconceived notions that all computers are difficult - except the mac.

People read into this stuff way too much...

Well the one ad basically says you are stupid if fall for a 'basically' and frankly I dont like that one.

But the other two are more about their retail services. A 'don't worry we can and do show you how' what they don't mention is that it is generally way cheaper than places like Microsoft where apparently you are changed for even 5 minutes with their gurus. Ouch

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Not only are the ads awful, but they belittle users as idiots who can't do anything without an Apple employee holding their hand.

Guess what, that is the truth about their target audience for these ads. They are the grandmothers etc that are basically tech stupid and need their hands held. Go in an Apple store and look who is at their workshops. The average age to most is like 65. They need the sweet kid that reminds them of their grandson etc.

 

[Mr. Monsieur]

Huh?

"Basically" doesn't even make sense...unless the message Apple's trying to get across is "Don't be fooled by someone selling you a fake Mac." If that's the message they're trying to get across, then they nailed it...otherwise, huge fail.

 

[charlituna]

..you don't show off how good your products are by pretending they can do something they can't.

and what pray tell were they showing that cant be done.

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I think its a Creative's job not a Genie's to teach dumb people video editing

Geniuses are the tech support ie iphone swappers

get a new ad agency apple

For all we know, starting next week, they will be calling all Apple staff, Geniuses. Some in tech support, some in teaching, some in sales. But all are Apple Geniuses.

 

[jbolden1517]

We can nitpick all of the things that are so bad about these ads, which it seems everyone is doing all over the internet, but the bottom line is that they're just in bad taste. Even now, all of the new products and software coming out of Apple, like Mountain Lion and the iPhone 5, still belong to Steve Jobs, but the ad campaigns are new, and at some point along the way, Tim Cook had to greenlight these. This really makes me worry about the future of Apple. One of Steve's most admired heroes was Edwin Land of Polaroid. And look what happened to that company after Land left.

Tim Cook has been handling logistics and manufacturing for years. If you look at the problems
Apple had when Jobs first returned
NeXT and the problems they had with logistics,
Apple had prior to Jobs leaving the first time

his competence is clear. The latest generation of hardware, the rMBP is only possible because of Cook, the iPad line only possible because of Cook and getting the iPhone volumes as high as they are only possible because of Cook. Cook is not an advertising guy.

So lets say for the next 20 years Apple has terrible commercials and goes further than any other computer company ever has in the hardware manufacturing department. I can live with that.

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"Basically" doesn't even make sense...unless the message Apple's trying to get across is "Don't be fooled by someone selling you a fake Mac." If that's the message they're trying to get across, then they nailed it...otherwise, huge fail.

Yes that is the message. The add is aimed at the new Vizio computers that will be coming out.

 

[Chase R]

No, getting people to talk because they cannot stand your ad is not good advertising. That is a cliche that is totally wrong.

While it might be "wrong," bad ads still work if they get people talking... It's a subconscious thing.