Copyright Infringement - The New Hype Machine - no comments
Thursday the 16th of February, 2006 | Articles | Ideas | Marketing |
How Apple Takes Advantage
We all know that Apple is the poster child for brilliant marketing as well as being the most powerful hype machine known to man. Recently however, Apple has stepped on a few toes while promoting their products.
First Apple launched a new, long awaited iPod ad featuring Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” Turns out the ad is ghostly familiar to an older Lugz shoes ad.
Months later they released their new Intel iMac ad. Again, this commercial is almost a shot for shot reproduction of The Postal Service’s 2003 video “Such Great Heights.”
Both Lugz and The Postal Service made public statements that they were disappointed in Apple or were in the process of filing legal action. However, the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” video made an unprecedented jump to #1 on iTunes two years after being filmed. The financial numbers for Lugz is unknown, but I have a feeling their free press didn’t hurt. Either way, Apple, Lugz and The Postal Service all got plenty of news commentary thanks to Apple’s little stunt.
Nike’s Threat
I can’t give Apple all of the credit for what I believe are intentional publicity stunts. Early last summer, Nike began sponsoring a skateboarding tour and released a promotional poster to generate buzz. The problem is that the poster is almost indistinguishable from Minor Threat’s (an early 80’s indie rock band) 1984 self-titled album.
As would be expected, Minor Threat made a lot of noise and Nike issued a formal apology. Personally I’ve never heard of Minor Threat, however the first thing I did was preview some of their songs on iTunes after the news was released. I can’t say I was a fan of the music, but one would have to be pretty thick to believe the story didn’t generate a bump in sales for Minor Threat.
Who’s Next?
I have a sneaking suspicion we will begin to see more stories similar to the ones discussed above. Once a successful new marketing idea is figured out, everybody jumps on the bandwagon. Just look at Alex Tew’s Million Dollar Homepage, that site has spawned countless copycats. My theory is that the age old bell curve will come into play. Nike and Apple were the “innovators” of this marketing ploy, next will come the early adopters then the masses. Don’t believe me? Take a look at 37signals’ brand new Campfire logo and compare it to the Feedburner logo.
The quote provided by Feedburner President Dick Costolo on campfirenow.com makes this little nugget even more interesting to me.
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