Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I saw the "Basically" ad for the first time yesterday while watching the Olympics. It looks like something a freshman multimedia class put together. Terrible acting, and a ridiculous premise. I really can't believe that ad made it to air.
 
I think people need to calm the hell down and realize what it is they are all in a fluster over..


T.V. Commercials.

Really, this all seems pretty ludicrous to me, even for MacRumors. I can see why people would panic about a possible new dock connector for new iOS devices because that eliminates a ton of 3rd party accessories, but T.V. Commercials, seriously?

They are just advertisements to put a product in your face and to take up air time, with the intention of having you purchase something. That's it. It doesn't dictate the quality of a product that the company puts out.

As far as mocking the Apple Genius thing, people have been doing that way before these commercials aired, so everyone is basically beating a dead horse.

The point is, stop taking commercials so seriously. :rolleyes:
 
At the end of the day It's the products we should care about, not the ads.

I'm waiting till I see the new iPhone, what happens with iOS and next year, what will follow Mountian Lion before I start clucking like a chicken.
 
While not an ad man, I have done advertising for my company in the past....

I work for a camera store, so like the Genius ads - I understand the support issue. Folks want things on the cheap, but don't realize the benefit AFTER the fact...
 
I think people need to calm the hell down and realize what it is they are all in a fluster over..


T.V. Commercials.

Really, this all seems pretty ludicrous to me, even for MacRumors. I can see why people would panic about a possible new dock connector for new iOS devices because that eliminates a ton of 3rd party accessories, but T.V. Commercials, seriously?

They are just advertisements to put a product in your face and to take up air time, with the intention of having you purchase something. That's it. It doesn't dictate the quality of a product that the company puts out.

As far as mocking the Apple Genius thing, people have been doing that way before these commercials aired, so everyone is basically beating a dead horse.

The point is, stop taking commercials so seriously. :rolleyes:

The criticism is about the unrealistic overacting and actually you see very little of the product being featured. It's just talking.

Lots of people absorb visually and many can't follow verbal explanation past 3 sentences.

We just expect better from Apple!

Don't care about the guy who criticizes Everybody is a critic:)

The only thing missing in those commercials was a blue EASY button.

Wait , that sounds familiar.............
 
Looks like Apple don't even know what their staff do, most of the adds call the guy a 'genius' when they are being asked to teach people how to use stuff. So that would make them creatives.

sorry, fan boy moan....

While you're correct, "Creative" would mean nothing to the masses. This would be where marketing comes into play.
 
First post in ages!!

I have not posted for ages but I have to say.......... I hate these ads! *****! Take them off air!
 
Horrible ads. Nothing to do with Apple's mentality and esthetics. Feels like the beginning of the end :(
 
Yeah these ads aren't all that great, but at least they are advertising something besides iPhones and iPads for a change. So I'll give them that.
 
While I do think they are not as good as the usual campaigns, I don't find them thaaat bad either. The "plane" one reminds me a bit of the iBook G3 Ad ("Middle Seat"). It's actually pretty similar, though now they don't show the Mac in action. That is the main thing that's wrong IMO. Apple normally shows their devices being used, something other companies (weirdly) don't.

However, I have to give some credit to the "Genius." These ads could be incredibly snobby and petulant. Specially the "Basically" Ad. But instead, he seems nice, well spirited and charming. A bit dorky... but in a cute way. So props to him. It gave me a slight chuckle.


:p
 
the ads are not THAT bad. The WORST ad I ever saw was the Microsoft ad where they give a person some money to buy a computer and the person heads to the Apple store only to find that the money they were given is just short of the price of a Mac, so being disappointed they settle on some generic Windows notebook PC.

The message was "of course you want a Mac. It would be everyone's first choice but you can't afford one. But's that's OK because this PC is not so bad after all".

I'm not kidding. It was as if Ford said "We know you want a BMW but we are cheaper and almost as good."

MS pulled those ads quickly.
 
The ads don't undermine the idea that Macs are simple to use or "just work." In fact, that's the very point of the ads: that using Macs are incredibly simple. In Basically, the idea is that Macs are simple and imitations are not, which is why the guy should've bought from the Apple Store instead of a shady reseller. In Mayday, we have the Genius giving instructions that reveal just how easy it is to use iMovie to make a movie--drag and drop. In Labor Day, it's the same thing with iPhoto.

What the ads do, which is wrong and a strange departure from prior Apple ads (even the pretentious and obnoxious iPhone ads in recent years), is pander to the notion that computer users are complete idiots rather than tout the simplicity and novelty of the Apple product. It's like every Best Buy or cell phone ad you've ever seen.

But compared to Apple ads of recent (besides iPad ads), they're mostly more of the same, and I'd argue they take the same tone as the "If you don't own an iPhone, well, you don't own an iPhone" ads took: If you don't buy our products, you're an idiot. Not a good message, but one that has been around for years now. It's just arrogance, which, to be honest, is basically what the "I'm a Mac" ads became before they too were cancelled.

Off-putting arrogance has been a mainstay in Apple advertisements for a while now. These feel like the evolution of those iPhone ads I mentioned, i.e. If you don't buy Apple, you're an idiot, and here's why: they're very simple to use.

Apple needs to stick to good ads, like for the iPad and the Retina Macbooks. They are simple and effective without being preachy: This product is cutting edge. It does things no one thought was possible.
 
I thought that was a horrible ad, very condescending and insulting to potential customers.
 
I would take ANYTHING Ken Segall says, with a grain of salt.

All Ken is trying to do is SELL BOOKS with his comments. Nothing more.

His comments are an ADVERTISEMENT for his book.

Yep, I specifically find his last point, about not questioning whether or not this is because of Jobs' absence hilarious! Can't find a comment more directed at selling his books than that.

To that, I say, What would Jobs do?
 
These commercials aren't that bad. It shows that 2 out 3 Mac users do not know how to use a Mac and 1 out of 3 are brainwashed into buying a Mac they won't know how to use. Good job Apple! Mission accomplished!
 
They're not great, but they're not THAT bad. Raised a little chuckle, which is more than most ads do.

Make no mistake about it...the ads are terrible. The message conveyed says that either 1.) you need a genius close by to properly operate a Mac or 2.) that Mac users are generally stupid.

The response has been so negative because the ads are so bad that you have to double take to make sure you were correct in seeing that were actually green lit by Apple.

Describing them as terrible is honestly an undersell.
 
The adds are bad and to the casual consumer, I doubt they understand who the guy in the blue shirt is or what product they were trying to sell.

You want to sell MacBooks? Showcase the product. Imagine if Mercedes Benz, or Lexus had a commercial like this.

Apple has plenty of cash on hand to produce bad commercials without even missing a beat.
 
I've seen tech illiterate people that embody the characters in these commercials, and then some. This ad sells Apple Retail to them beautifully. You see it everyday in an Apple store.

But why not sell Apple products to smart people?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.