Apple seeks to lure teens with new Facebook iPhone ad

[AppleInsider]

In a likely bid to draw a larger audience of teenagers towards its iPhone, Apple Inc. recently began airing a new television spot highlighting a customized version of the widely popular Facebook social networking site running on the touch-screen handset.

The ad, which began airing on network television Tuesday evening, features a close-up of the iPhone browsing the Facebook website while a narrator presents a voiceover.

"If you love Facebook so much that you check it every time that you're at the computer, just think about how great it would be to check it every time you're nowhere near your computer," the narrator says. "Right on your phone."

Meanwhile, a second spot dubbed "Cars," touts the advantages of having the internet in your pocket when negotiating to purchase a new car and wanting to check out prices on Kelly Blue Book before striking a deal.

"Say you're out shopping for a car, and the salesman says, 'this is the best deal in town, guaranteed.' Sounds good," the narrator says. "But say you want a second opinion. That's when having the entire internet on your phone sounds even better."



The two new ads represent the 16th and 17th iPhone television spots aired by Apple since the handset went on sale late last June.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

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[nagromme]

I guess I don't get what use Facebook is (I do have an account) but that ad almost convinced me not to get an iPhone!

They should do a MySpace iPhone ad. Knowing how badly the average monstrous MySpace profile behaves on a full computer with Flash, I bet it's extra exciting on an iPhone!

[JonasLondon]

Help! Just as we're getting Apple iPhone into the enterprise (SAP apperently had very favourable remarks about the ease of Software-on-demand delivery) we don't need people to think it's related to the dreadful timewaster of facebook or MySpace.

I do love my iPhone though, best phone ever bar none.
J.

[auxio]

oh no, here goes the Facebook/MySpace/social networking wars again...

I personally can't wait until my iPhone app launcher screen is filled with YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, etc applications.

[yama]

Didn't someone just quit from Apple because they felt that they didn't care enough about social networking

[teckstud]

Just what every teen needs- a $400/$500 internet phone with no parental controls!!!

[macFanDave]

Apple seeks to lure teens with new Facebook iPhone ad

I hope Apple doesn't get busted by Chris Hansen on Dateline!! Luring teens could be a trap -- be careful, Apple!

[Professor P]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Just what every teen needs- a $400/$500 internet phone with no parental controls!!!

I've never understood parental controls... if you don't trust your kids, don't get them a computer, or iPhone in this case, or anything for that matter! Why not just lock them in the basement with just a Bible and a collection of Classic Disney DVDs until they're 21?

[iPhelim]

Why do you assume that this ad is to lure teenagers to buy the iPhone? Most of the people that use facebook are in their 20's, as are the people in the photos featured in the ad. If the ad was showing a site like Bebo, then it would clearly be targeted at youth. I think the ad was just all about showing off the good webbapp that facebook have created for the iPhone.

[iPhelim]

Originally Posted by Professor P

I've never understood parental controls... if you don't trust your kids, don't get them a computer, or iPhone in this case, or anything for that matter! Why not just lock them in the basement with just a Bible and a collection of Classic Disney DVDs until they're 21?

Exactly, you need to have a trusting relationship with your children, instead of being their enemy.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Professor P

I've never understood parental controls... if you don't trust your kids, don't get them a computer, or iPhone in this case, or anything for that matter! Why not just lock them in the basement with just a Bible and a collection of Classic Disney DVDs until they're 21?

It's not about trusting your kids. This is no longer the '50 or '60s and we don't live in Shangrila. Just ask those parents whose kids are the faces on milk cartons. It's about stalkers.
Personally, I would make them read Dianetics and watch Tom Cruise movies.

[mdotdubz]

Originally Posted by teckstud

It's not about trusting your kids. This is no longer the '50 or '60s and we don't live in Shangrila. Just ask those parents whose kids are the faces on milk cartons. It's about stalkers.
Personally, I would make them read Dianetics and watch Tom Cruise movies.

I'm pretty sure more adults use Facebook than teens. MySpace is more for the kids.

[Clive At Five]

Originally Posted by auxio

I personally can't wait until my iPhone app launcher screen is filled with YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, etc applications.

Uh... It's a website. Not an App. If you watch the video, you'll see he presses Safari.

Originally Posted by iPhelim

Why do you assume that this ad is to lure teenagers to buy the iPhone? Most of the people that use facebook are in their 20's, as are the people in the photos featured in the ad....

Originally Posted by mdotdubz

I'm pretty sure more adults use Facebook than teens. MySpace is more for the kids.

Exactly. Facebook was initially targeted at College-only, which is where they gained a huge user-base to begin with. Not until recently has it begun to be overrun by juvenility (it's a word now) and lame MySpace-esque "Applications" which amount to mainly clutter.

Still, it's easy to block out all the crap if you have your settings correct.

There's a biiiig difference between the MySpace audience and Facebook audience.

-Clive

[bluedalmatian]

i dont think they'll lure many unless they do away with the expensive contract

[Mr.Apple]

I was actually staring at that hand in the iPhone ad about Facebook and it looks fake. It barely moves at all! (the hand swing at the end can easily be faked) Freaky huh?

[hezekiahb]

Originally Posted by Professor P

I've never understood parental controls... if you don't trust your kids, don't get them a computer, or iPhone in this case, or anything for that matter! Why not just lock them in the basement with just a Bible and a collection of Classic Disney DVDs until they're 21?

Trust is earned, not freely given, & that is a very important lesson for anyone to learn.

Thanks for taking a needless stab at Christians, cause we're all a bunch of over protective Bible thumping fools.

I'm sure anyone who has had their child victimized on myspace would find your comments hilarious.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by Mr.Apple

I was actually staring at that hand in the iPhone ad about Facebook and it looks fake. It barely moves at all! (the hand swing at the end can easily be faked) Freaky huh?

It's real

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by teckstud

It's not about trusting your kids. This is no longer the '50 or '60s and we don't live in Shangrila. Just ask those parents whose kids are the faces on milk cartons. It's about stalkers.

It's better to teach them how to be safe than it is to put blocks in and assume they're safe. Besides, some of that should be pre-teen knowledge.

[JupiterOne]

Every time I see one of those iPhone ads, I get pissed that Apple left out (STILL!) that one simple "phone-sounding" ringtone.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Professor P

I've never understood parental controls... if you don't trust your kids, don't get them a computer, or iPhone in this case, or anything for that matter! Why not just lock them in the basement with just a Bible and a collection of Classic Disney DVDs until they're 21?

Trust isn't a black and white issue, and there is also trusting everyone else on the internet.

I have no problem with my 5 and 8yo niece and nephew using the Mac I sent them. The excellent parental controls in Leopard prevent them from receiving IMs and emails from strangers. The locks of Safari prevent thme from accidentally going to a website that they may not be emotionally ready to see.

However, they already have the experiences of using a computer for learning and fun. They can do email and Video iChat to chat with family. The 8yo already has a firm grasp on computers and the internet and often asks intelligent questions about how it all works. Usually, he's directed to do a Google search with what he thinks he should input. Usually, he's spot on.

Even the 5yo knows more computers than amy adults I know. After i showed her how to zip a file for emailing once she doesn't need me to walk her through it every other time. I don't know many adults that can do that without a battery of question. She can scan in pictures she drew and email them without anyone's help.

And the best part is, their parents don't have to shield them from its use, hover over them while they use it or worry about unsolicited strangers trying to make Chris Hansen's shit list.

Originally Posted by Clive At Five

Uh... It's a website. Not an App. If you watch the video, you'll see he presses Safari.

WebClips in v1.1.3 allows for putting a webpage on the Homescreen as quick link icon. FaceBook, like many of the well designed sites, has a special WebClip icon for it.

Originally Posted by JupiterOne

Every time I see one of those iPhone ads, I get pissed that Apple left out (STILL!) that one simple "phone-sounding" ringtone.

They have "old phone" which it "phone-sounding'.

[bigdaddyp]

Originally Posted by Professor P

I've never understood parental controls... if you don't trust your kids, don't get them a computer, or iPhone in this case, or anything for that matter! Why not just lock them in the basement with just a Bible and a collection of Classic Disney DVDs until they're 21?

I trust my children its the rest of the world I have to watch out for. Have you never miss spelled something when typing in a url and been transfered to a porn site? Recently I was going to topgear.com and misspelled it by one letter and was floored by what came up. To keep them safe I monitor what they are doing when on the computer. As a parent who loves his children that is not only my job but my duty. And believe it or not people who are not religious are capable of loving their children and being proactive in their safety.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by bigdaddyp

Recently I was going to topgear.com

Such a brilliant show. If not for torrents I never would have discovered the show across the pond. BBC-America is too far behind to satisfy my Top Gear needs.

[libmanj]

I can't get Scrabbulous (an online version of Scrabble) to work on Facebook on an iPhone. So you can't do everything on there without Flash.

[todddixon]

If you look at the ad frame by frame you will see on one facebook page that 'Alix Hamilton just wants to get home, and not be stuck in Auckland a wee bit stinky!'

As a (albeit Australian-resident) Kiwi I am wondering is it Alix or Auckland that is a wee bit stinky?

Now a conspiracy theory would go that 'Steve Jobs is still pissed off about the iTunes NZ store being pre-announced before he got a chance to tell us, and slipped this in to the ad after all these years to get even.'

[mr O]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

In a likely bid to draw a larger audience of teenagers towards its iPhone, Apple Inc. recently began airing a new television spot highlighting a customized version of the widely popular Facebook social networking site running on the touch-screen handset.

MySpace= 15 - 24

Facebook= 24 - 30+

[tonton]

Originally Posted by libmanj

I can't get Scrabbulous (an online version of Scrabble) to work on Facebook on an iPhone. So you can't do everything on there without Flash.

Yes, I use Scrabulous and Texas Hold 'Em on Facebook. The Traveler's IQ Challenge is brilliant, though I don't think the iPhone would be suitable for such precise pointing without a stylus.

[bigdaddyp]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Such a brilliant show. If not for torrents I never would have discovered the show across the pond. BBC-America is too far behind to satisfy my Top Gear needs.

I hear ya there. I use the torrents to download new shows instead of waiting forever for BBC America to get around to airing new episodes. The other problem is that I am now hooked on Doctor Who and Torchwood as well. Not sure how but I think the BBC has embedded some sort of brainwashing in their shows that makes me crave weird British scifi.