With
their familiar creative elements -- white background, innocuous piano music and hands-on demos -- Apple's iPhone ads have over the years become an easy target for parody, from Verizon's
"There's A Map For That" ads to viral fodder like this. That hasn't stopped Apple from rolling out the same motif again in a
new trio of iPhone 4 ads separately highlighting iBooks, iTunes and the App Store.
Enter Mr. Hand and cue annoying piano
music and affectless voiceover. The new thematic wrinkle in this series of TV ads posted on YouTube is that if you don't have an iPhone, you simply can't enter the magical realm of digital
media wonders it offers. It's not just music, or books or apps, but the whole (closed) Apple ecoystem. That's summed up in the ending tag line, "If you don't have an iPhone, well, you
don't have an iPhone."
The tone is a tad more defensive and elitist than prior Apple ads, perhaps betraying more concern about heightened competition from the likes of Android and
Amazon. It's the closest Apple has come to saying if you don't have an iPhone, you're a loser. In short, the benefits of the iconic Apple device are self-evident -- if you don't get
it, you just don't get it. Or so the company seems to be saying.
When it comes to apps, the App Store ad spotlights mobile commerce and 2D codes, with demos focused on using Delta's
iPhone app to get a boarding pass and the Starbucks Card Mobile app to buy a cup of coffee by holding its barcode up to a companion reader. Come to think of it, I've never noticed anyone actually
using the app to pay for anything at Starbucks (at least in New York).
If the coffee chain suddenly sees a surge in downloads, it can thank Apple for the plug. Other brands whose apps are
pictured on the phone screen in the ad include Chase, eBay (fashion app), The Economist and IMDB. But if you don't have an iPhone, well, you just don't know what you're missing.
In fact, you probably shouldn't even show your face in public.