Critics Blast Apple's Cheesy New Ad Campaign

theodp writes "BetaBeat reports that people are pretty much falling over themselves to mock Apple's cheesy new Genius ad campaign, using zingers like 'intellectually cheap,' 'cringe-inducing,' 'borderline smarmy,' and — perhaps the unkindest cut of all — Microsoft-worthy — to describe them. Apple's trilogy-of-terror ad lineup includes Mayday ('An Apple Genius shows a fellow passenger how easy it is to make great home movies with iMovie. All before the tray tables are returned to their upright position.'), Labor Day ('An Apple Genius shows a soon-to-be father all the amazing things he can make with iPhoto.'), and Basically ('An Apple Genius points out there are a lot of things that separate a Mac from an ordinary computer, like great apps that come built in.'). The Atlantic's Jordan Weissmann says Steve Jobs would be appalled by the new ads, which certainly don't fare well in a head-to-head comparison with Think Different."

Comments

Successful ad campaign is successful

[drinkydoh]

They even got their ad campaign freely detailed on Slashdot and by all those different critics. Can't be more successful than that.

Re:Successful ad campaign is successful

[mwvdlee]

but if apple had filmed a turd for 20 seconds and published that as an official advert it would have the highest viewcount on youtube - however I really doubt that would mean it's a successful advert for them in building of their brand image.

People would have said they liked the new fully cornerless design and swirly textures. Brown is obviously the new white (or black) and you have to be impressed by the new smell feedback technology. It's soft and warm to the touch as well, making it comfortable to hold.

Re:Successful ad campaign is successful

[Enderandrew]

People say that there is no such thing as bad publicity. That isn't the case. Ask BP what it was like to be in the news constantly for the oil spill.

Microsoft is in the news for losing market share in just about every key segment since Ballmer took over. Apple is in the news for failing to meet sales expectations for the iPhone and a disappointing earnings statement.

These ads suggest that Apple may have lost their touch when Jobs died. Consumers and stockholders might have reason to question the future of the company under Tim Cook.

Re:People are talking

[chispito]

It is generating buzz. Bad or good, that is the goal of an ad campaign.

You don't want to generate buzz by destroying your hard-earned brand identity. Let's compare:

1) Old campaign "You can intuitively and effortlessly do cool things with our products."
2) New campaign "You will find yourself in tech emergencies while using our products, from which only a trained professional can save you (even though we used to tell you this only happened to customers of our competitor)."