Seems like Apple can’t do anything right these days. Already taking a beating at the stock market, the iconic tech company is now having to contend with a slew of negative comments about its latest TV commercial.
The ad, the latest in the “Designed by Apple in California” series has been taking a beating on social media and according to data from television analytics company Ace Metrix, it is one of the worst performing Apple ads in recent history. Now one has to take Ace Metrix’s numbers with a grain of salt, since one of its main clients is none other than Apple arch enemy, Samsung. However, people are still calling it “joyless” and “uninspiring.” Fast Company even devoted an entire post titled, “In 20 Years, We’re All Going To Realize This Apple Ad Is Nuts.”
Take a look for yourself.
Here’s what a report by Bloomberg Businessweek had to say:
Apple’s new ad scored poorly with male viewers, particularly those over 21 years old, though it fared better with women. Some viewers described the music as “sad,” and said the spot was too long.
So basically its boring. And apparently devoid of joy.
“Apple was never a company that bragged about itself,” said Edward Boches, a professor of advertising at Boston University. “In a manifesto ad, it’s hard not to come across as self indulgent. And even though it suggests the wonderful things Apple products can do, the ad lacks joy.”
Boches also said the ad had some more sinister undertones:
Boches, the BU professor, said the final seconds of the ad may strike some viewers as inappropriately political. The words “Designed by Apple in California” appear as the voice says, “This is our signature, and it means everything.”
“Is this a subtle way of saying we’re not a Korean company? That’s not the way a leader like Apple should talk,” said Boches, who also described himself as a “huge fan” of Apple.
The mistake here is that Apple has chosen to focus on itself as a company, rather than what it makes, which comes off as a little self indulgent. But at the end of the day, what’s really killing Apple isn’t the ad. Although the company was known for high energy, humorous and eye-catching visuals in its previous commercials, they all were backed up by amazing products whose features the company could flaunt. Those products haven’t been around for a while and Apple’s struggling to hold the public’s imagination. The ads aren’t that bad, but unless there’s a new, exciting product to sell, people are going to start hating on Apple for a lot more than its commercials.
