As iPhone 6 launches we look at some of the best Apple spoofs

Date
10 September 2014

Last night Apple launched the iPhone 6, the iWatch and Apple Pay amid more fawning than a Tumnus family gathering. We may have reached peak mania around Apple’s launches, but then I’m sure I thought that last time. Because of the tech giant’s insane success, many have studied the (winning) formula by which Apple seem to conduct their public pronouncements, and this in turn has led to many spoofs skewering the Apple approach. IKEA were the latest to produce a spoof Appple ad – coincidentally released just days before yesterday’s press conference – but as you’ll see below they certainly weren’t the first to go down that route. My money’s on them not being the last either…

Ikea must have known that Apple spoofs were nothing new when they launched their Experience the power of a bookbook spot last week, and you can see they have heeded the lessons of some of those who have gone before. It’s well-observed, well-written (“There is no lag”) and the music is perfectly chosen. For my money it goes on slightly too long but nine million people have watched it so I may be wrong!
www.youtube.com

Back in September last year KitKat jumped on the bandwagon with this ad called The Future of Confectionery. There are some commonplace touches such as the background piano and the festishistic obsession with thickness plus some groan-inducing puns around “megabites.” It’s perhaps not quite as sharp as some of the others but I do like the line, “You can take it literally anywhere” and there’s a good website for a more holistic spoof experience.
www.kitkat.com

To lampoon something, it has to be well-known enough for people to get the joke. So when Fold7 launched Somersby Cider with this neat take-off of the Apple Store experience, it reflected the fact that this was now a cultural touchstone which most would recognise. What makes this is the staff in the shop, the perfect combination of cloyingly enthusiastic and cultishly earnest.
www.itsnicethat.com/articles/fold-7-somersby-cider

Wieden + Kennedy released this Mintacular spot more than two years ago and for my money it’s one of the best written Apple spoofs out there. If you only half listen to the talking heads (shot against pure white backgrounds, another Apple spoof staple) their utterances almost sound reasonable, but when you really pay attention they’re quickly outed as nonsense. Expect to hear about intelligicity (intelligence + simplicity) at a trend briefing near you soon. Sadly the only video of this I can now find is this slightly odd Vimeo version, which makes it impossible to see the pitch perfect fake job titles I enjoyed so much first time around.
www.itsnicethat.com/articles/wieden-plus-kennedy-mintacular

This spoof from Adam Sacks caught me completely unaware the first time I watched it. The set-up seems familiar but it careers off in a very weird direction, celebrating the iPhone’s ability to help you keep tabs on your ex. There’s a great comic rhythm to it as it pushes the idea to breaking point and maybe even beyond. Sterling stuff.
www.youtube.com

The gag at the heart of this is pretty cliched – that people like taking photos of their food with their phones – but the execution makes it really, really good. It’s another offering from Adam Sacks, and again it runs with this idea to a surprisingly thought-provoking ending. On the way Adam has a lot of fun, riffing on the “dimly-lit, exposed brick, no-reservation, basement restaurant your friends care about more than each other,” having Siri suggest “funny captions” such as “Chickpea salad. Nom nom nom. I am happy” and filleting the ways in which we’re encouraged to use social media to turn our lives into “a seemingly enjoyable lie.”
www.youtube.com

Not strictly an Apple parody this one but it’s still well worth a look. The College Humor team have an astonishingly high hit-rate and this is them at their very best spoofing Every tech Commercial. It takes apart the conventions of tech adverts in a way that adheres to every sin they identify, and the result is tremendous. Also “I’m a wicker-weaver” is just a magnificently weird line.
www.itsnicethat.com/articles/every-tech-ad

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Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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