Apple not amused by Steve Jobs parody on Twitter

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
A Twitter account parodying Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs with phony statements about the company's products has prompted a complaint from the iPhone maker to the popular social networking service.



The account @ceoSteveJobs is one of the most popular parody accounts on Twitter, with more than 370,000 followers. The author of the account was contacted by Twitter this week to let him know that he is in violation of the service's parody policy.



According to TechCrunch, Twitter received a "valid report," or complaint, on behalf of the person being parodied, or someone legally authorized to speak on their behalf. The service was notified that the @ceoSteveJobs account is in violation of Twitter's official parody policy.



Twitter's policy requires that a username make it clear the account is not legitimate, using words like "not," "fake," or "fan." It also suggests that the bio for the account state that it is a parody, something the owner of the account did after receiving the complaint.



"More than meets the i," the revised bio now reads. "As you should expect from a parody account."



The owner of the account identified himself as Christof, and reportedly said he will also revise the name of the account to comply with Twitter's rules. But he also said they believe a name change on the account would make it less funny, as "most parody doesn't blatantly label itself."







The phony account lampoons Apple stories in the news, including the iPhone alarm clock bug that made headlines this week. "All mobile phones have alarm problems," the fake CEO said on Monday. "Press conference Tuesday."



Commenting on Thursday's launch of the new Mac App Store, the account proclaimed that Apple has "created for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology." Another post this week reads: "The iPad 2 will blow you away. Literally. It has a shotgun built in."



Apple's legal department has been protective of the company's CEO, and last month halted the sale of figurines using Jobs' likeness on eBay. The items showed Jobs, in his trademark blue jeans and black mock turtleneck, holding an iPhone and standing atop a white Apple logo.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 65
    Wise man once said that a sign of maturity is whether or not you can laugh at yourself.
  • Reply 2 of 65
    auclaucl Posts: 19member
    i might have an odd sense of humor but i don't think it's funny
  • Reply 3 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hezetation View Post


    Wise man once said that a sign of maturity is whether or not you can laugh at yourself.



    Nother wiseman once said "don't f*ck with someone using their name especially if they are woth many billions of dollars!".
  • Reply 4 of 65
    msuberlymsuberly Posts: 233member
    Everyone needs to lighten up.
  • Reply 5 of 65
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by msuberly View Post


    Everyone needs to lighten up.



    Not necessarily.
  • Reply 6 of 65
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    it is parody, after all. and good for christof.



    i have resisted following twitter. but since the top free app in the new mac app store was twittier, i downloaded it. i think this will be the first twit i follow.
  • Reply 7 of 65
    370,000 followers for something that sounds quite stupidly unfunny?



    Wow, the power of Apple/Jobs's brand name never ceases to amaze....
  • Reply 8 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple's legal department has been protective of the company's CEO, and last month halted the sale of figurines using Jobs' likeness on eBay. The items showed Jobs, in his trademark blue jeans and black mock turtleneck, holding an iPhone and standing atop a white Apple logo.







    I am NOT amused. These guys think that they can pretend to be me?



    NOBODY is as great as ME! I got lawyers up the ass!! I'll sue you miscreants!
  • Reply 9 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NotSteveJobs View Post




    NOBODY is as great as ME!



    Ha ha. (NOT).



    Jobs would probably say it correctly: "...as I AM."
  • Reply 10 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ****_Its_Hot View Post


    Nother wiseman once said "don't f*ck with someone using their name especially if they are woth many billions of dollars!".



    That an exact quote?



    I don't see the twitter stuff as much different than some SNL skits, Steve needs to lighten up a bit. I doubt anyone out there would describe him as laid back & good humored, he seems pretty tight wound. Just cause they wear jeans & Ts, don't let it fool you, those are uniforms. They uniformly try to look cool by all dressing like Steve Jobs.
  • Reply 11 of 65
    onhkaonhka Posts: 1,025member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hezetation View Post


    Wise man once said that a sign of maturity is whether or not you can laugh at yourself.



    William Arthur Ward is a wise man?



    There is a difference between laughing at someone and laughing at yourself
  • Reply 12 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Onhka View Post


    William Arthur Ward is a wise man?



    There is a difference between laughing at someone and laughing at yourself



    Nope, not who I was quoting, another wise man once said that even fools can speak wise counsel.



    Edit: not a jab at Arthur Ward by the way, I actually know nothing about whom you speak of.
  • Reply 13 of 65
    Wow, twitter has a "fake" policy? I guess ya have to, after all, so many legit stars use it.



    Twitter. The fact that it is popular speaks volumes of our society.
  • Reply 14 of 65
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hezetation View Post


    That an exact quote?



    I don't see the twitter stuff as much different than some SNL skits, Steve needs to lighten up a bit.



    Anyone watching an SNL skit can see they are watching a parody and not the real person as most of their stuff uses actors. But given that a number of actors and celebs are on twitter it is possible for many to think he is Jobs. That is the concern since he didn't label himself clearly as a joke. And his comments could do a lot of damage.
  • Reply 15 of 65
    xsamplexxsamplex Posts: 214member
    Apple not amused? What a bunch of up tight, control freak dicks.
  • Reply 16 of 65
    onhkaonhka Posts: 1,025member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hezetation View Post


    Nope, not who I was quoting, another wise man once said that even fools can speak wise counsel.



    Edit: not a jab at Arthur Ward by the way, I actually know nothing about whom you speak of.



    Quote:

    To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity. William Arthur Ward



    So who is your (first) wise man?



    Quote:

    Fools laugh at others. Wisdom laughs at itself. Osho



  • Reply 17 of 65
    noirdesirnoirdesir Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    370,000 followers for something that sounds quite stupidly unfunny?



    Wow, the power of Apple/Jobs's brand name never ceases to amaze....



    Although in this case it might be more the size of the number of Apple detractors that is highlighted by this. There are enough funny Jobs parodies for the Apple fans to follow, the unfunny ones can be left to its determined critics.



    (Individually most of the tweets can be seen as funny, taken together they are getting old.)
  • Reply 18 of 65
    veblenveblen Posts: 201member
    AI saying that Apple is not amused implies some kind of emotional involvement. I don't think the facts stated in the article show any emotional involvement. At least one news organization has mistakenly taken this account for the real Steve Jobs a fact which was omitted from the AI summary.



    "Last time the @ceoSteveJobs account made headlines it was because it had confused the UK?s Daily Mail enough to publish a post quoting it as the real Steve Jobs account. So perhaps Apple?s concerns are valid."



    You'd think with CES going on we could get some better articles here from AI.
  • Reply 19 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hezetation View Post


    Wise man once said that a sign of maturity is whether or not you can laugh at yourself.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NotSteveJobs View Post


    I am NOT amused. These guys think that they can pretend to be me?



    NOBODY is as great as ME! I got lawyers up the ass!! I'll sue you miscreants!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hezetation View Post


    That an exact quote?



    I don't see the twitter stuff as much different than some SNL skits, Steve needs to lighten up a bit. I doubt anyone out there would describe him as laid back & good humored, he seems pretty tight wound. Just cause they wear jeans & Ts, don't let it fool you, those are uniforms. They uniformly try to look cool by all dressing like Steve Jobs.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by xSamplex View Post


    Apple not amused? What a bunch of up tight, control freak dicks.



    What all you genius' are forgetting is that Mr. Jobs was okay with "Fake Steve Jobs" (another seriously lame, unfunny parody), and it went on for years. He is even quoted as saying he thought it was (occasionally) funny.



    So everyone jumping on the obvious meme of Apple being "over-controlling," or Steve Jobs being "wound too tight" are just wrong. This meme is what *really* wise people used to call a popular misconception.



    It's more likely that someone posting a tweet about Apple products having shotguns in them, is the root of all the commotion. That's not only not funny it's directly disparaging and defamatory.



    If this idiot "christof" had any real talent, he could get a laugh without resorting to stupidity, violence and insults. If it really *was* a "parody" account, it would be more intelligent and, you know ... actually parody the guy instead of just saying a lot of dumb stuff.
  • Reply 20 of 65
    chiachia Posts: 713member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by veblen View Post


    it had confused the UK?s Daily Mail enough to publish a post quoting it as the real Steve Jobs account.



    The Daily Mail can get confused (and that's putting it politely). Only in November they mispelt a guy's name, got his nationality and that of the police force investigating his murder wrong!
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