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Former Apple Ad Man Slams 'Genius' TV Spots as "Landing With A Thud"
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Lots of yelling in these ads, which I always equate to a creative team that's out of ideas. No sign of using animals in their ads yet, which is the next lowest rung on the ad cliche ladder. If a monkey unveils the next iPhone, then it's time to panic. 
All I know is I found myself relating to the Genius. I can't count how many times people have come running to me in a panic about how to quickly create a movie, slide-show, or presentation and then they ended up being amazed at how simple it actually is once they see it done.
These ads really aren't that bad. They are simply demonstrating simple tasks that can be done on a mac that many users may not know about. They are aimed at switchers and designed to be comical, not demeaning.
This won't be noted as one of Apples great ad campaigns, but they aren't bad. The fact that these are considered poor is really a testament to the strengths of their other ads.
This won't be noted as one of Apples great ad campaigns, but they aren't bad. The fact that these are considered poor is really a testament to the strengths of their other ads.
I agree with an earlier comment about these ads... You shouldn't need a "Genius" to help you do simple things like make you a slideshow. Isn't the whole point of Apple that it's simple enough to figure out all alone? I know that the point is to make it seem like you're not just sold a product (but also a support network), but the ads go a little far.
Not only are the ads awful, but they belittle users as idiots who can't do anything without an Apple employee holding their hand.
The new adds have zero appeal to me. Not terrible but they don't get me interested in the product. I loved te Mac vs Pc adds including the music. Those adds disappeared when Windows 7 was released which was also when I made my move and switched to Mac. I still remember those adds as well as the pleasant music. These adds are not memorable or fun to watch - at least not for me.
I have to agree. I find a lot of creative people (designers, advertising people, etc.) always feel that if they didn't do it, it just isn't good. It seems to be an ego thing.
I loved the Mac Vs PC and liked both characters. I hate the Genius in these ads and hate the consumers even more.
Same here, I was watching the olympics and saw the first mac ad and i was like OMG!!! was that real? then I see 2nd ad and started to get addicted, 3rd add made me LOL a lot hahahaha with the woman about to give birth, anyways, first time I see an Apple ad on TV so just the fact that its an apple comercial makes it good hahaha. Not the best comercials, but again its an apple comercial, just that makes it good.
I was trying to think back on the apple ads and figure out which ones I thought were worse then these, I couldn't think of any. The mac vs PC ones were funny and entertaining. These are just awful.
I think the problem is it points out that the Mac is difficult too, and that you need a "genius" to help you make a greeting card. They would be better off showing someone make a greeting card in 30 seconds on a Mac.
So you advertise to stupid people by telling them they are stupid, and making fun of them for it?
That's sure to bring them in to spend their money on your product.
Watching that "genius" talk down to those people like that made me want to write a complaint letter. Not to mention the premises of the ads were so blatantly impossible...you don't show off how good your products are by pretending they can do something they can't.
Same here. The Genius comes off as very helpful. I took the meaning of the airplane one as It is really easy to get things done on a Mac.
My least favorite is the basically a Mac ad.
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.
Dear Phil Schiller & Tim Cook,
It is clear that you guys have suffered a severe lapse of judgement when it comes to advertising Apple's products throughout 2012.
First, you failed miserably with the creepy celebrity-Siri ads. Then, the Retina MacBook Pro ad which was straight out of Dell's generic playbook.
But now, this?? Is this a late April Fool's joke???
Apple ads are supposed to appeal to people emotionally, are supposed to be simple, are supposed to be iconic, are supposed to be clever, are supposed to be award-winning, are supposed to appeal to all Apple users (both new & veteran).
Instead, these ads are ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE and they only say one thing: "Mac products are so incredibly difficult to use that you need a Mac Genius to help you use them."
You might think that because you are personally worth hundreds of millions of dollars that you don't need to learn anything in life anymore. I would strongly disagree with that mindset. I think you still have lots to learn.
I strongly recommend that you read the book "Insanely Simple" by Ken Segall. In his book, Ken Segall outlines, step-by-step, what made Apple's ad campaigns a success under Steve Jobs.
It is so incredibly clear that:
(a) Neither of you have read this book.
(b) Neither of you learned anything from Steve's ad campaigns in the past.
Please read the book "Insanely Simple" by Ken Segall, and try to focus on turning Apple's ads around.
It really baffles me WHY you guys are taking a company like Apple and treating it like the Titanic. Why are you guys purposely trying to run your ship into an iceberg over & over again?? It just boggles my mind at what you are doing.
Do you simply not care anymore?
If you don't care, then please resign and let people who DO care step to the top.
Thank you.
It is clear that you guys have suffered a severe lapse of judgement when it comes to advertising Apple's products throughout 2012.
First, you failed miserably with the creepy celebrity-Siri ads. Then, the Retina MacBook Pro ad which was straight out of Dell's generic playbook.
But now, this?? Is this a late April Fool's joke???
Apple ads are supposed to appeal to people emotionally, are supposed to be simple, are supposed to be iconic, are supposed to be clever, are supposed to be award-winning, are supposed to appeal to all Apple users (both new & veteran).
Instead, these ads are ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE and they only say one thing: "Mac products are so incredibly difficult to use that you need a Mac Genius to help you use them."
You might think that because you are personally worth hundreds of millions of dollars that you don't need to learn anything in life anymore. I would strongly disagree with that mindset. I think you still have lots to learn.
I strongly recommend that you read the book "Insanely Simple" by Ken Segall. In his book, Ken Segall outlines, step-by-step, what made Apple's ad campaigns a success under Steve Jobs.
It is so incredibly clear that:
(a) Neither of you have read this book.
(b) Neither of you learned anything from Steve's ad campaigns in the past.
Please read the book "Insanely Simple" by Ken Segall, and try to focus on turning Apple's ads around.
It really baffles me WHY you guys are taking a company like Apple and treating it like the Titanic. Why are you guys purposely trying to run your ship into an iceberg over & over again?? It just boggles my mind at what you are doing.
Do you simply not care anymore?
If you don't care, then please resign and let people who DO care step to the top.
Thank you.
I though it was a done as a funny way to say yes all these things are very doable..... but maybe you should be focused on something else.