Your brief: create a video ad that features the company logo in the middle of the screen for the full 30-second advert, without losing people's attention.
Placing your company logo so prominently for so long in a video ad is rare – it's hard to find an excuse to leave it there for the full ad. But it works in Apple's Stickers ad here.
The video ad reads both as an invitation to get creative with the space on the back of your laptop, and as an optimistic style guide handed down from above: “by all means shove stickers over your MacBook, but – hey – if you're going to do that, they may as well interact with our logo in a fun way instead of covering it up!” (Clearly, my own MacBook contravenes the suggested guidelines: http://d.pr/i/iGOa )
> by all means shove stickers over your MacBook, but – hey – if you're going to do that, they may as well interact with our logo in a fun way instead of covering it up!
To their credit, this is something that a lot of Macbook owners do already; I've seen more cases of the logo being highlighted by users' adornments than covered up. As an example, here's an ugly website from 2009[1].
Apple here isn't trying to push people towards highlighting the logo, they're showing how people do it already.
Mc Donald's has ran several ads where the logo was in the center for a full 30 seconds so when you fast forward on a DVR you still see the logo as you fast forward. I imagine this ad will play on tv and again when you fast forward on a DVR you'll still see the apple logo.
Didn't the Hisenburg sticker cover the logo? Sure it didn't cover it up completely, it used the circular shape of the apple, but still it didn't quite look like an unadulterated logo. I think the message of the commercial is pretty clear, while the macbook airs aren't as "customizable", they're still "yours" & people love them. You'd have to take mine from my cold dead hands (even though it could really use some more ram)
To each their own of course, but I find these plastered laptops kind of childish. I can't be the only one right?
I don't really understand why I'd broadcast different brands that might align with what I do professionally everywhere I go. Then again, I am not one to like things on Facebook either, might be a similar tendency.
This seems more of a trend in America than it does here in Europe. Maybe it is similar to the more American custom to communicate 'witty' things on t-shirts?
This seems like a complete paradigm shift from the Jobs-days of so closely holding and protecting their brand. Refusing to dilute it with Home Simpson and poorly drawn Golden Gate bridges...
...Or maybe they could just want to increase accessory sales.
Is Apple actually selling these stickers? I saw it more of a "this is what people do with our product because they love it so much" kind of thing, as opposed to Apple directly diluting their brand by selling notebooks with Homer Simpson on them.
I agree but the Mac has also always been pushed as a platform for 'creative' people. For a lot of them that probably extends to customising their device so Apple taking advantage of that isn't too strange - particularly when most of these stickers are built around the glowing Apple on the MacBook, the hallmark of Apple's brand.
Don't know if it can really be considered "interesting" or not, but at the very end the logo flickers between the new style single shade and the old style rainbow colours. Might we see a return of the old logo?
I've done work in animation and I see this intentional imprecision as referencing back to analog stop motion techniques. Of course today they could manipulate the individual stills to perfectly align with each other and make the whole spot look more slick, but the point of the ad is to emphasize the manual individualization of their products by customers. You can see scratches and wear on a few of the laptops. The subtle shifting increases as the ad comes to its climax adding more motion to an otherwise still plane which, to me, cements the idea that this is intentional.
As a videomaker, I was a little stunned by how 'imperfect' it was, for a few of the shots.
It has to be a conscious artistic decision, because it would be trivial to 'nudge' the frame around in an NLE (we'll assume Final Cut here, right?) to make sure the Apple logo never moved.
There are also some shadow inconsistencies that could've been skipped, there's no need to actually swap out the entire laptop for each shot, could just use the logo/sticker area.
Also, as other commenters have pointed out, it gives the ad an organic, hand-made feel. It is something that you could put together at home with some nice lighting, a camera, and iMovie.
The technique is called stop frame animation and inherently has a bit of camera/object jitter. Apple could have eliminated this but it is more authentic to keep the retro-styling and hand made vibe together with the theme of the creativity. For a great stop frame animation example check out Gondry's music video for the white stripes made with legohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTH71AAxXmM
I actually know a couple of PC users who use it as their primary video player. I don't understand that, since I've never successfully played a single video with it. Granted, I gave up trying and switched to VLC about 6 years ago.
What stood out the most to me is that some laptops are actually dirty, you can see the dirt on them. Guess they went with the "Ok, get the as raw as you can, we want machines that have been used". Kinda cool, especially from Apple since they are normally so strict and 'clean'
That's a pretty interesting move from Apple, I know a few people who are part of the stickers-on-laptop set (myself included) and those that refuse to besmirch the looks with stickers. I'd always assumed that Apple would fall into the second group, but it's nice to see them showing off a small cottage industry.
It's really interesting that there's dirt on some of these MacBooks. Presumably they must be real machines used by Apple employees or customers, and they intentionally didn't clean them.
it's the idea that people love their macbooks air so much, they adorn them with flair to personalize them, to incorporate the laptop into their own personality
It has little to do with macbook airs. People will put stickers on anything. Years ago, my college gave out lenovo think pads, and people stickered the crap out of em.
I didn't really like the way the laptop judders slightly (especially in the opening 10 seconds or so) because the images don't quite line up. I'm not sure whether it was a conscious decision to do it that way - obviously taking identical pictures is hard, but not impossible, though doing the whole thing digitally would probably be easier. Odd choice, if you ask me.
This is a keen observation that make a surprising conclusion. I made the same observation but had a completely different reaction.
The stuttering was actually a motif to show this are pictures of different laptops of real people. It also completely tied into the music which was of a stuttery and impactful tone. It was obviously an intentional technique. You will notice that the laptops were also scuffed and looked used.
The whole ad was about how personal a macbook is to its owner. I think apple have been concerned mac's are now so 'mainstream' they want to encourage the view that you are your macbook.
You wouldn't see it on the Apple web site, but are there any good stickers that take advantage of the fact that an apple (often with a bite taken out of it) is the universal symbol for sex store in many countries? It's a reference to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, of course.
I liked the cute flashing of the old rainbow-colored Apple logo at the end, almost as if they were sort of going back to that kind of colorful style with the stickers.
Isn't going through great lengths to cover the logo up only adding to their brand identity? It means you attribute so much value to it that you need to contrast it to one's (or 'your') own identity. I don't have a strong emotional reaction to the Apple brand and just like my macbook to be clean and professional.
[+] [-] modernerd|11 years ago|reply
Placing your company logo so prominently for so long in a video ad is rare – it's hard to find an excuse to leave it there for the full ad. But it works in Apple's Stickers ad here.
The video ad reads both as an invitation to get creative with the space on the back of your laptop, and as an optimistic style guide handed down from above: “by all means shove stickers over your MacBook, but – hey – if you're going to do that, they may as well interact with our logo in a fun way instead of covering it up!” (Clearly, my own MacBook contravenes the suggested guidelines: http://d.pr/i/iGOa )
[+] [-] danudey|11 years ago|reply
To their credit, this is something that a lot of Macbook owners do already; I've seen more cases of the logo being highlighted by users' adornments than covered up. As an example, here's an ugly website from 2009[1].
Apple here isn't trying to push people towards highlighting the logo, they're showing how people do it already.
[1] http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/11/11/10-cool-apple-ma...
[+] [-] kator|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Killah911|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kayoone|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mosselman|11 years ago|reply
I don't really understand why I'd broadcast different brands that might align with what I do professionally everywhere I go. Then again, I am not one to like things on Facebook either, might be a similar tendency.
This seems more of a trend in America than it does here in Europe. Maybe it is similar to the more American custom to communicate 'witty' things on t-shirts?
[+] [-] afs35mm|11 years ago|reply
...Or maybe they could just want to increase accessory sales.
[+] [-] speg|11 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] evaneykelen|11 years ago|reply
Would the clip look too polished (not real) if the logo remained at exactly the same position for the duration of the clip?
There must be a 'movie-technical' reason for this because it deviates from an otherwise pixel-perfect Apple ad.
[+] [-] mmcwilliams|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] philmcc|11 years ago|reply
It has to be a conscious artistic decision, because it would be trivial to 'nudge' the frame around in an NLE (we'll assume Final Cut here, right?) to make sure the Apple logo never moved.
There are also some shadow inconsistencies that could've been skipped, there's no need to actually swap out the entire laptop for each shot, could just use the logo/sticker area.
[+] [-] k2enemy|11 years ago|reply
Also, as other commenters have pointed out, it gives the ad an organic, hand-made feel. It is something that you could put together at home with some nice lighting, a camera, and iMovie.
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi
[+] [-] chadyj|11 years ago|reply
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I'm also amazed they managed to get the rights for all those characters (Disney was probably easy, but the Simpsons and Warner Bros.?)
[+] [-] circa|11 years ago|reply
http://www.karenhealey.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/colorf...
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it's the idea that people love their macbooks air so much, they adorn them with flair to personalize them, to incorporate the laptop into their own personality
[+] [-] normloman|11 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] lukeholder|11 years ago|reply
The stuttering was actually a motif to show this are pictures of different laptops of real people. It also completely tied into the music which was of a stuttery and impactful tone. It was obviously an intentional technique. You will notice that the laptops were also scuffed and looked used.
The whole ad was about how personal a macbook is to its owner. I think apple have been concerned mac's are now so 'mainstream' they want to encourage the view that you are your macbook.
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