Apple Injects Star Power In Its iPhone Ads

For the first time in many years Apple has replaced their popular and celebrated products as the prime focus in their advertisements and substituted them with popular and celebrated names. Two new iPhone featuring Samuel L. Jackson of Pulp Fiction and Zooey Deschanel of Elf and Yes Man are being aired.

In the commercial Zooey Deschanel is shown willingly and lazily confined to her home on a rainy day. She is shown asking Siri questions and having an eccentric conversation with the iPhone digital assistant. She first asks if it’s raining and when Siri, says “it seems so?” verifies by looking at the gloomy weather outside her window. She asks Siri, if there are any food-outlets that would send tomato soup to her, inspite of the rain, Siri to her delight finds not one but many places close by who’ll fulfil her desire. She returns to her bedroom, that has books and other things lying around and asks Siri to remind her to clean the room tomorrow, which it does. She ends by asking Siri to play the song “Shake, Rattle and Roll” so she can dance, which it does.

The other advertisement shows a romantically inclined debonair looking Jackson attempting to cook a meal for a date night and asks Siri pertinent questions regarding cooking. He asks for directions to the nearest store where mushrooms are available and how many ounces in a cup. He asks Siri to remind him to put the gazpacho on ice in an hour and it says it will. In high spirits and mighty pleased with Siri, he magnanimously concludes by asking Siri, his personal assistant,  to take the night off and Siri responds with a “if you say so.”

Both the ads are extremely effective and uphold the high marketing traditions of the company. By sticking with one individual, it forcefully sends the message across how handy and useful a service it is. Both, Deschanel and Jackson are well chosen, the first a current heartthrob celebrities and the other a Hollywood icon.

Incidentally this is the second time that Deschanel has been featured in an iPhone advertisement. Earlier her band, She and Him, was featured in an ad for the iPhone 3GS.

The new ads were created by TBWAMedia Arts Lab. Its CCO Duncan Miller says, “Apple ads are always grounded in the product. We try to demonstrate the newest technology and how to integrate it into your life. Using celebrities allows us to do that in a fresh, innovate way, which is also very Apple.”