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.
Apple does not. Some of us find the stickers out there anyway. I have a "Ice Age" one (not what was shown in the ad) to differentiate my Air from my wife's.
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.
And yet it's still very natural for this to be an Apple ad. It has the hallmarks - product front and center, minimalist, catchy music that isn't as mainstream.
I 'll probably get down voted to oblivion, but I loved this ad and strongly disliked the "Here's to the crazy ones" campaign.
To elaborate; The here's to crazy ones feels very hypocritical. Here's to the crazy ones, to Armstrong, Einstein, Monroe... Buy a computer! Oh come on. It makes me cringe - it is everything that is wrong with marketing, and the fact that people tout it as the pinnacle of advertising is everything that is wrong with people that are into marketing!
Whereas this, this is awesome. It's down to earth, personal. Apple's logo and apples product is in the centre of attention without becoming an annoyance. It actually made me want to customise a bit my macbook
...Or maybe they could just want to increase accessory sales.