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Apple's Worst Ads -- Before The Unfortunate 'Genius'

This article is more than 10 years old.

Apple ads are almost always compelling and buzz-worthy. Its iconic “1984” and "Silhouettes" spots, for instance, are named among the best commercials of all time. But they haven’t always been great. Apple has had some serious flops over the years—and its most recent campaign has been subject to some of the harshest criticism yet.

Apple rolled out its latest campaign during the Olympic Games last week with three spots, “Basically,” “Labor Day,” and “Mayday”—all featuring an Apple Genius. People are decrying it as one of Apple’s most disappointing campaigns of all time, dubbing it “cheesy,” “cringe-worthy,” “intellectually cheap” and “poorly executed.” (You can see all three ads here.)Former Apple creative Ken Segall even took to his blog to critique the new spots, writing, “these ads are causing a widespread gagging response, and deservedly so. I honestly can’t remember a single Apple campaign that’s been received so poorly.”

Charles R. Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova School of Business, said his knee-jerk reaction to the commercials was that they are “problematic.”

Apple's "Genius" campaign appears to be “a well-intentioned attempt to appeal to a broader group of consumers who are older and less technically savvy,” Taylor says. But those aren’t Apple's core users, and “it's pretty clear that the campaign is a flop,” he says.

“It makes sense that many of Apple's best customers would find these ads to be irritating as the apps and functions being explained are something they have known how to do for years and regard as simple. When trying to expand the user base it's really important to not alienate core customers, and I'm afraid this ad does that. It's particularly unfortunate that it is being launched during the Olympics, which is one of those rare events with huge viewership that cuts across virtually all demographics,” Taylor says.

Apple is wise to advertise during the Olympics to counter the attention Samsung gets from its position as an official global sponsor, Taylor says. But Samsung's ads position it as an innovator while Apple's spots are focusing on customer support for using basic functions. This runs the risk of eroding some of the excitement key users associate with the brand, he explains.

Some argue that Apple’s advertising initiatives have gone downhill since the late Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO in 2011—but its biggest flops date back to the 1980s.

Worst Apple Ads Ever

Lemmings

“The biggest flop for me is ‘Lemmings’ because of the stark contrast it had with ‘1984’ where Apple was the hero,” says Derek Rucker, associate professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. “’Lemmings’ made Apple seem like a passive observer…totally off the promotion-focused nature of the company.”

Taylor agrees. "’Lemmings’ was a truly unfortunate Super Bowl ad that showed a long line of blindfolded ‘businesspeople’ walking toward a cliff and then falling off of it. The 1985 ad introduced Macintosh Office, a product that did have some good features. However, the ad was simply too dark and struck many viewers as spooky and overly exaggerated.”

Future - Highway

"Future - Highway" was also too dark and exaggerated for consumers, Taylor says.  “It may have been born out of its creators having some superior features but lower market share than PCs at the time. But showing an elegant couple driving down the road into the future in a dark manner was not a good way to get this across to consumers.”

Zooey Deschanel iPhone 4S/Siri commercial

The Siri ad with Zooey Deschanel had issues somewhat similar to the Genius ads, Taylor explains. When introducing a new technology such as voice recognition, it is usually a good idea to demonstrate it in the ad.  However, these ads likely came across as too simplistic for young, sophisticated Apple users. “The ads may have resonated more if they emphasized how new and cool the technology was. That said, they did at least get the word out about the technology.”

What is Newton?

"I did not like the Newton ads very much, although the product was the bigger issue than the ads," Taylor says.

"This ad is actually very un-Apple-like, if you will," says Greg Smith, Chief Creative Officer at The VIA Agency. "It is totally focused on product features, rather than the benefit these product features provide the consumer. While the ads that launched the iPad were product demos, they did not just spit out features, they created a sense of wonder and awe, they showed you how the product could enhance your life. This Newton ad does not."

Fruit

"This is just a terrible ad," Smith says. "It uses forced and obvious metaphors (Bill Bernbach and VW used the lemon to much greater effect decades earlier) that tell us more about the competition and their woes than what Apple offers us. Unlike 1984, which went at the 'big guys' but also promised us liberation, this spot just takes cheap shots and offers us nothing."

The Power To Be Your Best

This ad proves that there really is a fine line between a great ad and a clunker, Smith says. "It wants to be 'Think Different,' but it isn't. First, power is too broad of a claim or an idea, and I'm not sure it's something that a challenger brand like Apple should have ever been promising. Secondly, the copy and imagery is inconsistent and at times lazy."

"The one thing that Apple has (for the most part) been wildly effective with is making Apple users (no matter how many millions of us there are) feel smart, creative and independent," says Sara Rotman, CEO and chief creative officer of MODCo Creative. "As consumers, we all feel as though we're part of the 'cool kids club.'"

This is the crucial communication point that is either supported or lost through all the campaigns that Apple has been successful or failed with, she adds. "In each of the examples where we are looking at 'bad Apple' ads, they fail because they make the audience feel stupid, common or just plain mean-spirited. The new 'Genius' ad campaign is at the very top of this list because not only does it pander to the masses who are apparently too dumb to drive their computers, but it also looks awful from a creative standpoint."

Readers: What do you think was Apple’s biggest advertising flop of all time? Tell us in the Comments section below.

See Also:

Viewers Give Apple's 'Genius' Olympic Ads A 'D' For Dumb

Marketing At The London Olympics: Three Commercials That Deserve Medals

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