Does new iPhone ad pass the sniff test?
Life is good at Apple these days. Around 1.39 million iPhones sold. Soaring earnings. A new OS on the way. The Mac is gaining ground on the rest of the PC industry. The company can do no wrong. But that hasn't stopped a handful of critics from getting upset over one of the new iPhone ads currently running on a TV screen near you.
The ad in question is "Delay," which depicts an alleged airline pilot, Bryce, talking about how he used his iPhone's weather.com app to help avoid a major delay. The ads have gotten some of the folks over at FlyerTalk's forums pretty riled up.
Marathon Man, a poster from Massachusetts, started it all off by saying: "So I just saw for the first time this Apple iPhone commercial where a pilot (or some crew member that could be one) is standing there telling us that his iPhone was able to get a more accurate, quick, and up-to-date weather forecast than ground control... I find it all hard to believe. It's false advertising."
Jetskipper, a poster from Houston notes, "As mentioned in the ad, the pilot allegedly checked the weather with the iPhone while he was on a weather delay. He then (and this part is implied) called his dispatcher, who viewed the same weather info on his computer, and a new route was created. With the new route, ATC was then able to clear the flight for takeoff.
Of course, the pilot could've checked the weather before ever boarding the aircraft and resolved any route/wx discrepancies with his dispatcher at that time. Alternatively, the issue could have been quickly resolved by switching to a CDR after pushback. But neither of these scenarios would have made for a TV commercial that has surely bamboozled 99 percent of viewers..."
Some, of course, can't help giving Apple a sarcastic poke. "I was not aware that there was a way to speak to someone, real-time, over long distances before the iPhone," one poster remarks. Another adds, "I could do that on my three-year-old Treo."
The big debate is over which "real" people in the Apple ad campaign are indeed real--and not TV actors. The jury's still out on Bryce, who doesn't say which airline he works for. One angry poster, BEARX220, writes, "If you look closely you see the 'pilot' has no real airline insignia--his 'uniform' is a generic one from a costume shop--and, as discussed above, his anecdote is highly suspect."
He goes on to declare, "So the whole thing is fraudulent. Which makes one assume that the whole iPhone campaign, which has that same black backdrop set up in parks, malls, etc. so so-called 'real people' can share anecdotes in front of it, is fraudulent also. Which should make thinking people wonder if the whole darn Apple/iPhone proposition is fraudulent. And maybe all of human life itself."
Anybody agree/disgree?
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter. 
Why not bag on the commercials for being just plain BAD instead of picking nits?
for a long time now. This is nothing new. Like all advertising you have to take it
with a grain of salt. If people are really so gullible, we may as well fire all our
nukes and end our own suffering and stupidity now!
It's all too obvious this is just another phony, scripted commercial. It's not even
worth discussion, or posting on a tech blog site.
The iPhone owner was watching a movie on the iPhone. The FA ordered the
iPhone shut off.
The owner showed that the phone was in "Airplane Mode", similar to "Flight
Mode" on other smart phones.
The Flying Waiter was too dumb to get the point and called the ground police.
The cops talked to the guy and let him go immediately.
In Airplane Mode the iPhone's internal radios are switched OFF.
So even if you're silly enough to still believe the "cell phones interfere with
instruments" myth, with the radios off the iPhone is just a DVD player.
commercial in company uniform. It implies an endorsement by his employer.
Absolutely forbidden.
2) He doesn't say he contacted Air Traffic Control. He refers to his
"dispatcher." I infer this is his airline dispatcher.
3) if the delay was due to storms at his destination, not his originating
airport, it is his airline that decides whether or not to send him. If the airport
is closed when he gets there, the airline has to pay to divert to another
airport, then either compensate or reroute all the passengers. It's (usually)
cheaper to stay on the ground than add extra fuel for the contingency airport
(I think I read that if you need an extra 1000 pounds of fuel, you then add
another 100 to fly the extra weight of the fuel), pay for the gate at the new
airport, and then get the jet to the original destination or (worse) deadhead
back to the origin.
4) The airline dispatchers are monitoring hundreds, if not thousands of
flights around the world every day. They make a decision based on available
data. The dispatcher is likely too busy to revisit the decision until the new
departure time neared. The pilot took the initiative and checked it himself.
5) Considering the half-truths, insinuations, and misinformation flying
around in this one obscure web site, you can be almost certain Apple vetted
these ads before broadcast (they're not the Republican Party attacking a 12-
year old).
Also, noting the lack of any disclaimer that this is a paid endorser or
reenactment, I'm convinced these ads are true.
I wrote my own experience as an airline pilot with a two-week-old iPhone
into the Apple "tell your story" website, and they cast "Bryce" for it. I was
actually bummed they didn't even offer to fly me in to see if I could play the
part. I signed a NDA but really wasn't involved in anything, so there is nothing
to tell. In reality:
1. The flight was Dallas/Ft. Worth to NY La Guardia
2. I accessed our intranet-hosted company weather site, WSI, from the
cockpit while waiting to be released to takeoff
3. I fly for AA
4. I got three calls from people involved with the ad campaign...the first
wanted more info. They were "intrigued" by my story. I told them all the
details. Then an ad guy from NY called, faxed a non-disclosure agreement,
and never called back.
My wife and I get a laugh about it all, and I guess I missed my fifteen minutes
of fame.
recorders, I record everything I wish to watch so as I can hyperdrive through the
commercials.
Second of all, there's no question that Apple has changed the landscape in mobile phone companies. Expectations and capabilities have been shifted from the carriers, manufacturers and the general public. And that's exactly the point. There's no question that other companies will come out with competitors with similar format and features, but that's exactly what we should be looking for. It's ironic that a non cellular company is the trend setter for a whole generation to come.
Finally, the iPhone is not perfect. It has its flaws, but it does what is supposed to do better than anything else in the market, and for those who concentrate on its shortcomings are missing the boat.
- Not only is it true... it works on a Blackberry!
- by flyboy7700 November 27, 2007 6:51 PM PST
- Technically, it's completely believeable. After all, as a professional pilot, I do the same thing with my Crackberry all the time. Now, whether it was legal (he bypassed dispatch, which... in the airlines... is a big no no) is a different question. But, for those of us without dispatch, we have used the trick for years.
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