You might have caught Apple's new privacy-oriented ad, but on a casual viewing, it's easy to miss something nuanced about the spot from TBWA\Media Arts Lab.
Without ever mentioning any product features, the ad is one long list of humble brags about product features.
At first, the ad appears to just be a bunch of humorous scenarios in a satirical world where no one has privacy, and their private thoughts and information are blasted out to the masses.
But each scene actually is based on a specific product benefit or privacy pledge that Apple has made with its apps and devices. Is the ad too subtle for mainstream viewers to catch it all? Probably—but that's not to say the cumulative effect isn't still beneficial in how consumers see the brand.
Let's take a look at some of the details you might have missed:
• “I browsed eight sites for divorce attorneys today.” This scene is a reference to Safari’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention aimed at keeping advertisers from tracking your browsing data for use in retargeting.
• “I hate Lee, though. Puke emoji.” Your Slack and Zoom messages at work aren’t nearly as private as many think. While Apple is not specifically referencing a work chat feature here, it’s reminding viewers that iMessages feature end-to-end encryption and can’t be reviewed by your boss.
• “My home is in 1,000 feet.” Per Apple, Maps doesn’t associate your location with your Apple ID or keep a history of where you’ve been.
• “I purchased prenatal vitamins and four pregnancy tests.” The brand says Apple Pay and Wallet protect all information about your purchases, meaning Apple doesn’t know what you’ve bought, when it was purchased or how much you paid.
You can learn more about the spot and what it says about Apple's products in my writeup on Adweek.com.
Wishing you a short, productive and private week,
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
david.griner@adweek.com
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