You must have heard about the scandal last October when Apple was rightly accused of plagiarism because of their new iPod commercial art directed in an extremely similar way to the Lugz footwear spot from 2001. The Mac community and many geek news channels were boiling. Hundreds of posts and thousands of comments everywhere. Everyone has seen the new iPod ad.
Early this year Apple unveils the new Intel chip with a television commercial that features the same art direction as a The Postal Service video. Scandal again? Yes, hundreds of posts and thousands of comments everywhere again.
One must wonder if this is just a major screw-up from Apple’s marketing department and their agency TBWA\Chiat\Day or a rather genius move to associate Apple with pop music and gain free press attention. At first fans raise their voices over the issue. They talk about it on the net. They talk about it in real life. Some just hear half the story. With time all people will remember is that Apple had to do stuff with Eminem and The Postal Service and some other cool bands. What remains in the unconscious is that pop music is part of the Apple brand.
I say Apple doesn’t do a mistake like this twice. I say this is a strategy. A rather brilliant one. What do you say?