In spite of the fact that nothing is really needed to sell the technological yay-o that is Apple products, Mr. Steve Jobs (in all of his black-turtlenecked spookiness) has had his ad people come up with a campaign that gets all up in there with a warm and fuzzy feeling.
We do have to begrudgingly give Apple credit for possessing the uncanny ability to maximize the emotional impact of a thirty second commercial. The scenes depicted range from a grandfather laying eyes on his newborn grandson from (presumably) miles away to a cutesy exchange between a young couple after her new haircut.
The centerpiece of this campaign is the iPhone's "facetime" feature, which utilizes the phone's new front camera to provide a mobile "skype"-esque experience.
If we were less classy journalists, we'd make a joke here about, say, ATT dropping the call before granddad even gets to see little junior. However, we're better than that. You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking we'd stoop so low.
The most obvious reason that these commercials have so much appeal is that they are specifically designed to skew wide and hit home with a varied audience. The actors are diverse in both age and race, and the scenes shown seem plucked right out of your life. Or the life of someone you know. Because you have friends. We swear we typed that with a straight face.
On an unrelated note, a quick follow-up on our geriatric sleeper cell story of an earlier post. We invite you to look at most of the U.S. Congress. Enough said. Be ready.
While we do concede that Apple's ads are expertly crafted and affective, the eternal question of whether or not the blatant emotional manipulation present in them is ethical still exists. We invite you to comment on the issue as always, dear reader. One of the ads is posted below.
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