Why do the new Apple commercials feel non-Apple-like?

[Tozovac]

I'm managing to cling on as an Apple consumer even after Jony & Tim have tried really hard to push me away:

1) Every iOS since iOS7 has utterly destroyed my enjoyment of my iPhone due to all the forced changes for the sake of change. RIP "it just works."
2) iTunes 12 and every version since has made me want to throw my monitor to the ground weekly.
3) iOS Music app has forced me to buy an SDD iPod classic. Congrats Jony.
4) The new User Community Forum's white-space-wasting format is downright awful and much less user-friendly. (See #7)
5) The dumbified-down OS's after Mavericks has forced me to stick with Mavericks on my MacBook Air for the past few years since I detest the look/feel of the flat interface.
6) I've almost come to peace with how my iPad Pro wastefully uses the available real estate to arrange icons no differently than an iPad mini.
7) MAKING EVERYTHING SO ALL-WHITE AND BORDERLESS WITH LIGHT GREY HARD-TO-READ LOW-CONTRAST FONT IS UTTERLY MADDENING. (See #4)
8) Killing one of Apple's most impressive (IMHO) functions. RIP Magsafe. #changeforthesakeofchange #formoverfunction (hate hate hate that!)
9) I could go on but why bother. Apple. Doesn't. Care. What. The. Consumer. Thinks.

But there's something about the new commercials (the guy screaming "ghosts" or the girl being accused of job-hunting at work, etc. LINK) that feels so un-Apple-like and even amateurish that I can't watch them without wincing each time. Plus, not all of us are obsessed with tweeting our every thought; thus, the Twitter angle is further distancing to someone like me.

And it's not just how the message is delivered but also the message itself: Trying to convince the consumer that it believes iPad Pros are better than a computer is asinine, since Apple....still sell laptops, while...overlooking the absolute importance of having a trackpad/mouse option since touch will never fully replace them while...still not introducing a combo-iPad-Pro-MacBook with 15+ hour battery life but instead clinging to introducing more thin, more fragile, and more user-unfriendly products every 12 months, which...are slowly but effectively convincing me that tomorrow's Apple will just not be for me at some point.

But does anyone else hate or love the new ads, and/or see a distinct difference from the ads of old? I feel like these commercials are what a snarky 17 year old might come up with in the 30 seconds an hour his face isn't buried in Facebook/twitter, while also revealing Apple's further inability to know what the customer wants by calling the iPad Pro as being better than a computer.

 

[EnderBeta]

The new ads are trying to sell the iPad as a replacement for the computer. It is going to be a tough sell, in my opinion.

 

[C DM]

I kind of feel that these recent ads are somewhat more of a connection to the "I am a PC. And I'm a Mac" type of ads. Nothing necessarily directly related or anything like that, but something about them that kind of brings up those memories for some reason.

 

[Tech198]

The new ads are trying to sell the iPad as a replacement for the computer. It is going to be a tough sell, in my opinion.

I reckon Apple's going down the war path that as well..

Its not about "selling it as a replacement" because it will never be a replacement. Apple says it is because of the screen size. I always fond a laptop to be useful, and iPad (regardless of the size) as a secondary device.

You go where the apps are, and if u have to make scarifies u depend upon that are not available on iOS but u can do it on the Mac, then you have your answer.

 

[maflynn]

that feels so un-Apple-like and even amateurish

It seems Apple uses different advertising tactics, some work better then others. I think the Christmas Frankenstein commercial was very Apple like, but these, yeah they definitely have a different vibe to them.

Trying to convince the consumer that it believes iPad Pros are better than a computer is asinine

They're trying to do something, since their iPad sales have been in free fall for many years and they believe the future is with tablets not computers so they're happy to cannibalize the Mac product sector for the iPad.

 

[EnderBeta]

That is a great point Maflynn. Apple believes the future is iPads. But what if they are wrong? It's a huge gamble to dismantle something not quite as profitable but always had slow and steady money coming in (when compared to the gold rush of iOS).

At what point does Apple, if the iPad decline continues, acknowledge that they are killing off their bread and butter portion of business to keep something going that people really don't want. (Not making blanket statements, just saying if the decline of sales continues)

If it continues will Apple go right off the edge or will they cry uncle and get back to doing what made them great?

 

[Phil in ocala]

I'm managing to cling on as an Apple consumer even after Jony & Tim have tried really hard to push me away:

1) Every iOS since iOS7 has utterly destroyed my enjoyment of my iPhone due to all the forced changes for the sake of change. RIP "it just works."
2) iTunes 12 and every version since has made me want to throw my monitor to the ground weekly.
3) iOS Music app has forced me to buy an SDD iPod classic. Congrats Jony.
4) The new User Community Forum's white-space-wasting format is downright awful and much less user-friendly. (See #7)
5) The dumbified-down OS's after Mavericks has forced me to stick with Mavericks on my MacBook Air for the past few years since I detest the look/feel of the flat interface.
6) I've almost come to peace with how my iPad Pro wastefully uses the available real estate to arrange icons no differently than an iPad mini.
7) MAKING EVERYTHING SO ALL-WHITE AND BORDERLESS WITH LIGHT GREY HARD-TO-READ LOW-CONTRAST FONT IS UTTERLY MADDENING. (See #4)
8) Killing one of Apple's most impressive (IMHO) functions. RIP Magsafe. #changeforthesakeofchange #formoverfunction (hate hate hate that!)
9) I could go on but why bother. Apple. Doesn't. Care. What. The. Consumer. Thinks.

But there's something about the new commercials (the guy screaming "ghosts" or the girl being accused of job-hunting at work, etc. LINK) that feels so un-Apple-like and even amateurish that I can't watch them without wincing each time. Plus, not all of us are obsessed with tweeting our every thought; thus, the Twitter angle is further distancing to someone like me.

And it's not just how the message is delivered but also the message itself: Trying to convince the consumer that it believes iPad Pros are better than a computer is asinine, since Apple....still sell laptops, while...overlooking the absolute importance of having a trackpad/mouse option since touch will never fully replace them while...still not introducing a combo-iPad-Pro-MacBook with 15+ hour battery life but instead clinging to introducing more thin, more fragile, and more user-unfriendly products every 12 months, which...are slowly but effectively convincing me that tomorrow's Apple will just not be for me at some point.

But does anyone else hate or love the new ads, and/or see a distinct difference from the ads of old? I feel like these commercials are what a snarky 17 year old might come up with in the 30 seconds an hour his face isn't buried in Facebook/twitter, while also revealing Apple's further inability to know what the customer wants by calling the iPad Pro as being better than a computer.

_______________________________
The apple computer company that loved simplicity is GONE....the OS that had simple to use applications like iMovie is GONE....I have a power pc that is 17 years old and the imovie is the only one I used for my home made video...the current one requires an 8 hour course to figure out how to use it and translating all the icons...Apple is something else now...

 

[Tozovac]

The apple computer company that loved simplicity is GONE....

There are so many of us that feel this way yet so little in response by the company, that it's just astounding. But Apple is not alone here with misdirection right in the middle of achieving greatness...in my opinion, the auto industry's obsession of forsaking any brand-image originality and instead just copy-catting Audi's blacked out badge grille ad nauseam (like google/apple/microsoft/android turning everything into similar-looking flat design non-intuitive low-contrast hard-to-read white-outs), and the auto industry's focus on things that add questionable long-term value like overpriced jewelry-looking light clusters and wrinkled/odd sheet metal designs that (to me) no longer look beautiful and won't stand the test of time but are different for the sake of being different (like most everything Apple's done, even commercials, since Tim & Jony Ive awfully gained power), are maybe signs that once something has reached "near perfection," the only thing you can do from that point is fiddle with the recipe until you stray so far that you ruin it.

As for (back to) the commercials though. Aside from how the message is being delivered, which I think is awful and so un-Apple-like (like most everything they've done since 2013), that Apple is trying to sell the iPad as being better than a computer suggests either they're insultingly trying to pull the wool over consumers' eyes and/or they're surprisingly overlooking the importance of what's missing with the iPad interface - no mouse, no usb ports, a completely different desktop interface....it's obvious that sometimes (often) touching a screen is just not as productive as remotely working with a mouse and also hard-wiring into a network or external drive or cd drive, etc.

That Apple is pushing "form" and so, so overlooking the "function" end of things....ugh!!!!!

 

[C DM]

There are so many of us that feel this way yet so little in response by the company, that it's just astounding. But Apple is not alone here with misdirection right in the middle of achieving greatness...in my opinion, the auto industry's obsession of forsaking any brand-image originality and instead just copy-catting Audi's blacked out badge grille ad nauseam (like google/apple/microsoft/android turning everything into similar-looking flat design non-intuitive low-contrast hard-to-read white-outs), and the auto industry's focus on things that add questionable long-term value like overpriced jewelry-looking light clusters and wrinkled/odd sheet metal designs that (to me) no longer look beautiful and won't stand the test of time but are different for the sake of being different (like most everything Apple's done, even commercials, since Tim & Jony Ive awfully gained power), are maybe signs that once something has reached "near perfection," the only thing you can do from that point is fiddle with the recipe until you stray so far that you ruin it.

It's quite possible that there are many many more Apple consumers that don't feel that way or really even care or think about anything related to that aspect of it all.

 

[Tozovac]

It's quite possible that there are many many more Apple consumers that don't feel that way or really even care or think about anything related to that aspect of it all.

Possible, and pretty sad if so. Sad as in, I guess anything will work for some people. After all, a few thousand people purchased Pontiac Azteks. I can't argue others' preferences & taste for style/form as much as I can argue function. There is no arguing that the majority of the reinventions starting with iOS7 did not improve function but actually reduced it, and I'm talking about the flattening of once-intuitive UI elements that had clear distinctions between actionable & info-only functions, the hiding of controls behind screens so it takes 3 taps to do what used to take one tap, the use of low-contrast grey/tan text on blinding white backgrounds on a device that was already known to be unreadable in the bright sunlight... May sound silly but give me one good reason for dumbing down the three red/green/yellow control buttons in OS to where they, at worst, now look like info-only and not something to press, and where, at least, they just don't look that good & interesting & enjoyable to use.

I'd further argue that folk like you & me have no hard facts to go on. Had Jony Ive's brave new Apple permitted users to choose between "downgrading" back to an ios6-esque artful/intuitive interface, or at least choosing between things like black text instead of grey text, black backgrounds for the Photos app instead of white, and/or real looking buttons instead of colored text, and if they provided real statistics of usages, then maybe we'd both have some facts. For now we just have feelings, including my strong feelings that today's Apple commercials and products and strategies do not at all feel like the Apple I preferred from 2005-2013 and are just "still better than the alternatives" and no longer the unquestionable best.

 

[Tech198]

Maybe Apple would rather focus in products than fancy commercials? As log as u get the point across, no one really cares what a commercial looks like. You say say that's bad, but u can't say "I didn't know what it was about" if it was clear.

 

[C DM]

Maybe Apple would rather focus in products than fancy commercials? As log as u get the point across, no one really cares what a commercial looks like. You say say that's bad, but u can't say "I didn't know what it was about" if it was clear.

It's not about just getting the point across but getting people interested (even if on subconscious level). That aside, the ad and marketing departments are different from product departments so one set of people working on ads doesn't really change another set of people working on products.