I think we've all seen these commercials. They're played on every television station, seen in every website ad, and printed in every computer magazine. They are usually advertising a useless, yet seemingly simple product that is always better than Microsoft. They showcase catchy, and slick looking products like the Mac Air, or the iPod Touch. In fact, I don't think they're one person in this whole country that doesn't know what an iPod is. But in case you've never seen an Apple commercial, here's a brief guide to let you know if the commercial you're viewing, is indeed one advertising for Apple. If you have then identified a positive match for an Apple commercial, I would highly suggest switching the station.
White Background
This is the holy grail of Apple advertisement. The totally white background with a person standing in the foreground is a sure sign of an Apple commercial. Why does Apple do this? It provides their commercials with a postmodern, clean, sterile look that makes people say "Wow, look how pure and simple their products are, they have a white background, they must be better than Microsoft."
Random Person in Foreground
Much like the white background, no Apple ad is complete without a seemingly random person telling you how great and simple the Mac or iPod is. These people are usually dressed in regular, everyday clothes like jeans and t-shirts, yet you will sometimes see people in more dressy clothes like suits and pants to show clothing diversity. The variety in people is also made to give the effect of, "Wow, you just pulled 15 random people just like me off the streets, gave them an Apple product to test out, and now they're telling me how simple and easy it is! If plain Jane over there in the jeans and t-shirt thinks it's simple, then I bet will too".
Random Hand Gestures
For some reason, everyone that owns an Apple product also likes to talk with their hands. In every commercial for an iPod or Mac, the "random" people are always expressing their great joy in buying an Apple product with their hands more so than their voices. Once more, I think this is telling me that since I use hand gestures, I have to own an Apple, because people that own PC only talk with their mouths.
Random Indie Music
No Apple commercial is complete without its soothing indie background music. But we can't have well known indie musicians like Death Cab for Cutie or Radiohead, no, we need random, underground indie groups that only the most diverse, and open minded people have heard of. I think every indie band dreams of one day having their single played on an Apple commercial to show their true underground power, yet once it's played on the commercial, then that band loses any sort of credibility since they're now considered "mainstream", and that's just not cool in the Apple world.
Random Objects
This is the newest edition to the Apple commercial family traits. These commercials usually involve someone pulling out something like an manila folder, then suddenly, like magic, a super slim Mac is pulled out of it! It truly is the coolest thing I've ever seen, and makes me want to run out and buy a Mac laptop that is so slim that it doesn't even have a CD drive. But just imagine the awesome conversation starters you can have by showing off your new laptop by pulling it out of a manila folder! Here how I think one would play out...
Friend: Hey Mike, nice party isn't it?
Me: Yeah, but you know what it needs? Some music.
Friend: Yeah, you're right, it does, but how are where are we going to get some tunes? Say, why are you carrying a manila folder?
Me: Oh, don't worry, this manila folder will solve all of our problems.
Friend: *Strange look*
Me: *Pulls out Air Mac*
Friend: Whoa! I had no idea they made laptops small enough for manila folders! That's so cool! Here's my CD, let's get this party started!
Me: Oh, sorry, it doesn't have a CD drive...
Okay, so the Air Mac kind of sucks for parties, but hey, at least you can stun your friends for 10 seconds.
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