Apple’s New MacBook Pro Looks Spiffy

I’m sure I won’t buy one since Apple products are pricey. But the MacBook Pro with retina display looks great. And the commercial is snappy too…I love Peter Coyote’s narration.

John Malkovich Muses With iPhone’s Siri

Another two iPhone spots featuring a celebrity in a decidedly unglamorous situation. These are pretty low-key and amusing commercials with John Malkovich, but I bet a lot of the audience doesn’t even know who he is.

Zooey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson Use iPhone’s Siri For Boring Things Too

I guess that’s the point…that despite being much richer and more interesting than us, celebrities do mundane stuff too. First, Zooey Deschanel. This makes a lot of sense, since a lot of Apple’s core cult fans are hipsters, and Zooey Deschanel is like a goddess to hipsters. I find Zooey a little adorable, but mostly just annoying. And Samuel L. Jackson. He’s awesome, but this being a national commercial, he can’t be profane, which is a little unfortunate. Though “hotspacho” is a fun word he spouts off while preparing for date night. It’s also notable that both Zooey and Sam have tomato soup related plans.

Apple’s iPhone 4S Helps On Road Trips Too

For the wanderlusty types who might want to leave cold Boston for Santa Cruz, Siri is with you. Siri will tell you directions, good BBQ spots in KC, whether there’s a rodeo going on in Amarillo, and find a gas station when you’re in the middle o’nowhere. Also, it’ll remind you to take a cross-country road trip again. A fun and adventurous commercial.

Even Santa Uses The iPhone 4S With Siri

Has Santa always been in this many commercials, or is it just that I’m paying more attention this year? Anyway, in this nice new iPhone 4S spot, Siri helps out Santa. Your figure looks great Santa, keep on eating the cookies! 3.7 billion appointments…that’s cute.

What’s That Song? Part XVIII

Artist: Grouplove, Song: “Tongue Tied”

With cool/douchey (depending on your perspective) teenagers hopping around to a hipsterific song, Apple’s new iPod Touch ad hearkens back to the early days of iPod advertising. I find this song to be pretty obnoxious. Plus, the commercial is incredibly loud. I dozed off during Monday Night Football last night, and this jarred me awake. And I’m now realizing how old that makes me sound.

Artist: Brighton MA, Song: “Good Kind Of Crazy”

This holiday commercial from Jack Daniel’s is calm, relaxing, and looks great. This song by Brighton MA is calm, relaxing, and sounds great. The holiday barrel tree is a genius idea.

Artist: L.P., Song: “Into The Wild”

Pretty from Citi. And L.P.’s got a nice voice on her.

I “Love” Apple’s New iPad 2 Ad

I make fun of Apple quite often on this blog. But truthfully, I don’t have a problem with Apple. The products are good, the company is fine…but I find the Apple cult to be incredibly obnoxious. I wanted to give Apple some credit, so I’ll talk about this new iPad 2 commercial created by TBWA/Media Arts Lab. It’s the first since the death of Steve Jobs.

The copy is well-written and does a good job of conveying the messages of love and passion. And the art direction fits with the words. But the voiceover is what really makes this ad great. Narrated by Peter Coyote, probably better known as being the voice of National Geographic Explorer, there is such warmth and sweetness, but also a sense of mournfulness. It’s almost as if the voice work was done right after hearing the news about Steve Jobs.

Samsung Takes A Shot At The Apple Cult

Apple has some great, innovative products. But so do their competitors. This commercial doesn’t so much criticize Apple or the iPhone as it does the cultish following that Apple has. The Apple fanboys…the types who will camp out for days to get the newest iWhatever, while at the same time mocking Black Friday shoppers as brainwashed, consumerist sheep. “But that’s like different, because Apple speaks to my individuality as a person!” Give me a break. So now Samsung’s ad for the Galaxy S II. I love it.

The iPhone is never mentioned by name, but of course we know that’s what it’s about. There’s so much snark…I hope even Apple fans can look at this with a sense of humor. “I could never get a Samsung. I’m creative”….”Dude, you’re a barista.” That’s a late contender for exchange/witty retort of the year in the commercial world. And let’s be honest: the Samsung Galaxy S II will never overtake the iPhone, so they might as well have some fun.

Bonus videos: A few more “The Next Big Thing” commercials.

Apple’s iPhone 4S Ad

Siri…helpful computer reminder lady or another case of the human mind eroding? You decide.

Rerun: Apple’s Commercials: Some Sweet, Some Worm-Filled

In the spirit of summer reruns, I give you a re-post of something that I don’t think got enough views in its original version. Enjoy!

When I think about advertising campaigns that I hated, Apple’s “Get a Mac” is one of the first that comes to mind. “Get a Mac” ran from 2006 to 2010, and the spots compared Macs to PCs. In case you’ve forgotten, here’s is a video with all of the ads on Apple’s website.

I couldn’t stand these. The consumer is supposed to take away advantages that Macs have over PCs, but my reaction was that Justin Long is kinda an ass and should be nicer to that dorky middle-aged man. Justin Long is a big part of the problem for me. He just has that David Spade-esque quality that makes me want to smack him. He seems like the type who would hit on your girlfriend at a bar, or be a difficult customer that doesn’t tip at a restaurant (someone his character in Waiting would have hated). Otherwise, the campaign crystallized every negative stereotype I have about “Mac people”; that they are smug, elitist, and pretentious. People who go out of their way to be different, while being so self-unaware of how they are pigeonholing themselves. These views aren’t just mine, a recent study backs them up.

“Get a Mac” did have many fans though, as evidenced by it being named “Campaign of the Decade” by AdWeek. Maybe it did help the brand, but I just didn’t like it. However, there is a reason that Apple is such a hugely successful company, and they have had some great ads. In the mid-2000s, being featured in an Apple commercial was often a gateway to success for indie-oriented artists. Feist’s “1234″ was featured in an iPod Nano commercial, and climbed all the way to #8 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Yael Naim’s “New Soul” was used in a MacBook Air ad, and peaked at #7 on the Hot 100. It also happened that these songs became popular by people seeing the commercials and downloading the songs, mostly off iTunes. So Apple would pay for use of the music, and they ended up making money off the iTunes downloads. And they helped these artists in the process. Genius.

Another groundbreaking Apple commercial has a story behind it. In 2007, 18 year old British student Nick Haley created a commercial for the iPod Touch using the very catchy “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex” by CSS. He posted his video on YouTube, which was discovered by Apple. Apple then hired Nick to make a broadcast version of his video . Here’s the final cut.