It's possible to criticize ads that make a poor point but are still genuinely "Apple-like". All those ads had that Apple quality to them. You could tell they were Apple ads. These new Genius ads feel like Best Buy advertising Geek Squad. They definitely don't feel like Apple.

> It's possible to criticize ads that make a poor point but are still genuinely "Apple-like".

Based on what criteria? I feel like all these discussions are exercises in hindsight bias. They are "genuinely Apple-like" because Apple ran them. And now Apple is running the Genius ads.

Apple's device ads are elegant. When they show 'live use' of a product, it's low-key, straightforward, etc.

This service ad are ... kitschy. They're clumsy 'skits' trying to manufacture energy and emotion.

Consider the "guy on plane trying to make an anniversary movie". An Apple-y ad would stick with that set-up (junking the stupid 'on a plane' time constraint), but it would present the service in a sober manner and generate emotion from the husband's desire to produce the movie, clips from the resulting movie and the husband's relief at the finished product, or even the wife's reaction at seeing it.

If anything, the emotion should have leaned toward unearned cliche; more like how they advertise Face Time.

The tongue-in-cheek 'genius as superhero' tone is dripping with Geek Squad/Microsoft feel.

Yes, it is hindsight bias, but that doesn't make it invalid. They are Apple-like because Apple made them. Because Apple made them. They cannot be confused with any other brand. Apple is the only thing that comes to mind when you watch an Apple ad of the last 5 years. They have defined themselves on advertising, and their advertising has equally defined them back.

Now when the Genius ads come on, I don't immediately think "this is an Apple spot". It feels like Best Buy, or Dell, or Samsung, or Wal Mart, or... It's generic, it's uninspired, and it definitely doesn't feel like Apple the same way their old ads felt like Apple.

The old ads were Apple-like because Apple ran them, and Apple ran them exclusively. The new ads are un-Apple-like even though they're run by Apple because they don't define themselves. If you replace Genius with Geek Squad, the ad still holds true. Apple doesn't normally do that.

The hugely successful iPod dancing commercials were unlike anything Apple ever did before too. Times change. I think we'll continue to see a mixture of new and old style advertising from Apple like we always have. In advertising you have to stay relevant. It's almost like fashion. You can't keep doing the same ads over and over again. Sometimes you just have to mix it up for the sake of mixing it up.

And what is the problem with subjective personal opinions?

If you disagree with them, feel free to speak up, with your own subjective personal opinion.

Those ads done under the careful eye of Steve may have brought criticism (as Apple in general did), but they were generally very effective. And they had a feel to them that was pure Steve Jobs....like them or not.

Nothing is wrong with subjective opinions, but the Invoking of the Name Steve Jobs is a needless appeal to authority.

If someone thinks the ads are bad, fine, that is a valid and worthwhile opinion to share. We can talk about why we like or don't like the ads.

But how can we argue about whether Steve would have ok'd them? For all we know, he personally approved these scripts 3 years ago and they are only now being produced. Presumably someone within Apple knows the truth, but aside from that person, the rest of us are just going to be grossly speculating in an attempt to seize the moral high ground of Saint Steve.

Well I see no problem with speculating either. I mean it's a discussion forum, not a court of law. We're entitled to do so.

I lived for many years off my Apple stock, bought when I speculated that Steve Jobs was, essentially, the heart and soul of Apple and that his return , and his cohesive vision, would make a big difference.

If I held the stock today, or was considering buying some, or I was a competitor....this is the sort of speculating I'd be doing.