After the Ellen DeGeneres iPhone dust-up, does Apple need to lighten up? | Hacker News Reader

After the Ellen DeGeneres iPhone dust-up, does Apple need to lighten up?

csmonitor.com

28 pointstelemachos21 comments

They probably do need to lighten up but I can see their point here. Ellen's poking fun at herself but Apple's afraid it will translate into "the iPhone is hard to use". Apple's now looking to target the Computer Illiterate folks and the fake commercial could be seen as a sign that it's hard to use. Which is why Colbert and Stewart (who mocked the company and not a specific product) didn't get calls.

It's reactionary but not illogical.

It's a classic Streisand blunder.

Not really. The Streisand effect would be if Apple's reaction caused the joke ad to be viewed more, and those views hurt them. The ad's harmless though; they just look stupid because they overreacted.

What was the Streisand blunder?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

Well, looking at the spot, I wonder myself about Ellen's "thick fingers" compared to the size of the buttons at the bottom of the screen. It looks like it requires a control pen (like the one from the Nintendo DS) to properly operate. And I bet my fingers are actually easily 50% thicker than hers.

It's not Ellen's jokes that makes me wonder, it's just the video itself. Ellen's text just highlights what I was wondering.

And judging by the applause at the end of the spot, it looks like she hit a nerve.

They use capacitive touch screens (so you would need a special stylus) and there is in emphasis on multi-touch which is awkward to do with a stylus.

didn't both colbert and stewart mock specific products as well as the company as a whole?

Yes, and SNL mocked it for (potentially having) poor battery life the week the first 2G was announced.

Do we know what Apple's relationship is with the show? Are they paying for positive product placement? According to one reference I found online the Ellen show employs a product placement team that solicits in-show sponsorship. If that is indeed the case here I don't blame Apple for wanting clear cut good PR.

if they wanted good PR, they totally screwed it up.

Why would you even think for one second that this "dust-up" isn't fully orchestrated by Apple in the first place? Are consumers really that dumb? That's two days in the running that Apple got (seemingly free) advertising on her show.

Less laughably transparent plugging of products, next time.

Phone, or cult?

Reasoned argument, or naked hyperbole?

Ignorant, or informed?

I like this game, let's do it with candy:

Swedish berry, or fuzzy peach?

Wish I could double-upvote that one. well played.

cult or culture?

Apple has such a stick up their ass. Every day I read a story about them, like this one, that makes me cringe. WTF is wrong with this company?

money does strange things to people. couldn't agree with you more though.

Do we even know for a fact that Apple contacted the show? She just said they weren't happy about it, which I took as a follow-up on the joke. They never mentioned Apple insisting on a formal apology, it just got reported so that it was implied.

If they contact them and say they're unhappy, it's generally considered an indication they'd be less likely to spend their ad buy with the show.

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