MON, MAY 13
NimishAndAkriti
The past few days have seen a fair deal of hue and cry in the advertising world over Apple's "Crush" ad. The featured a number of objects including pianos, books, clocks and computers being crushed and then finally being compressed into a super slim iPad Pro. Apple has since apologised for the ad, which had offended many people for its destruction of objects that are revered and considered part of art and culture, saying with typical Apple simplicity: " We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry." What Apple had tried to do in the ad was to show how everything around us could be compressed into a single device. Almost twenty years ago, Motorola had gone with the same message in an ad for its iconic Moto Razr. And unlike Apple, it offended no one and played a huge role in the phone becoming a cult hit.
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youtu.be
The ad is incredibly simple and spans just thirty seconds or so. It begins with a young lady sitting in a comfy chair, watching TV and working on a notebook. She gets up and shuts the notebook by putting down its lid. That is the signal for everything in the house to start folding inwards. Everything from cameras to the television to carpets to walls to doors keeps folding inwards, until it all folds into one phone, which the lady picks up to take a call from a friend. You can see the ad here: https://youtu.be/N7BaJ6AQc2s?s…
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Motorola was trying to say the same thing with its first RAZR that Apple was with its latest iPad - that a single device could contain everything you used and had around you, from books to cameras to music. However, while Apple took a slightly more destructive and potentially offensive approach to the ad by showing everything being destroyed and then being replaced by an iPad Pro, Motorola simply opted to show everything folding into a slim Moto RAZR. Of course, it is highly unlikely that anything could have survived such a folding process, but no actual destruction was shown. There were no bits and pieces flying around, only music playing as everything just seemed to fall into place.
Motorola was able to convey the whole idea of convergence without showing any destruction. If anything, it actually gave the RAZR a zen-like feel of a small object that could contain your entire world. And do so without seemingly harming any of the objects you use and love. As one of our marketing teachers told us, "Whenever possible, try not to show that you are good by making something look bad" We suspect Apple erred in that regard.
Which is why we think that Apple, and other brands in the future too looking at a similar message, should keep Motorola's thirty second classic in mind. It delivers the message, and proposes to replace the existing with something different, but without giving any offence whatsoever. Or even uttering a word - there is no spoken word in the ad, apart from the 'Hi!' at the very end from the lady's friend. Classic!
TUE, MAY 14
omkar
Even though Apple apologised, the ad is still up on Youtube. 🤔
THU, MAY 30
NimishAndAkriti
Omkar Arora
Even though Apple apologised, the ad is still up on Youtube. 🤔
It was a decidedly odd ad from a company that champions creativity!