I noticed Special K has ads for their walking step thingy that they put in their cereal, it's very similar (but not as cool).

There are also print ads at the pottery barn (or is it pottery barn kids?) that are similar.

Shows how people see something that's working and try to copy it.

You'll notice that the the fuse.tv ads also use the slogan "watch different". Remind you of a slogan previously and famously used by a well-known computer company?

Quote

Guest wrote:
feeding a man beer from a can through a funnel.

Yup, not being up on jargon concerning over indulgent beer drinking apparatus and practices is certainly moronic!

Heh, Mr. Gibson should consider attending a few frat parties to get caught up on the current vernacular.

After all the trade names Apple has lifted including "Apple" itself from Apple Records because old Steveo was a Beatles fan, claiming infringement for an ad using silhouettes and the word different is pathetic. Looks like Apple is getting desperate.

While some of the take offs are, in effect, good advertisement for Apple, these are in pretty bad taste and are not in Apple's interests. Hope they shut them down - who ever thought they were cute was just plain dumb.

I doubt Apple will even find this comparable - but it is. Isn't expropriation without compensation of another person's ideas wrong in any sense? Hmm, Watson and Konfabulator come to mind

Current? Try as old as beer and funnels. The author simply described it so that readers unfamiliar with the technique would have no problem understanding him.

Must we bring up Konfabulator every day? It's a dead horse. Leave it alone.

Usually I think Apple needs to chill out about these things, but this time I think they're 100% right to go after these ads. I saw one for the first time at a bus stop just yesterday, and naturally I thought it was an iPod ad at first glance. Apple's silhouette compaign has some of the most recognizable ads out there at this point, and I think that's a big part of Apple's success. Apple cannot allow another company to piggyback on their hard work and blur the line of their brand like this. Especially when the ads are in such questionable taste.

They even took Apple's (old) slogan. "Watch different"? Yeesh.

It's one thing to use the silhouettes. It's one thing to use the "--- different". But combining the two of them together really does make it seem like Apple is somehow endorsing this.

If they bagged the "Watch Different" part, I think they'd be okay. But the two together? Nope--sorry.

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Guest wrote:
Current? Try as old as beer and funnels. The author simply described it so that readers unfamiliar with the technique would have no problem understanding him.

It's pathetically clear that you only seek to bash Apple on any perceived transgression, real or not.

This has nothing to do with any other issue. It is clear that the Fuse ads are a violation of trade dress laws. Someone stated earlier that if they (Fuse) lost the "different" phrase or lost the silhouetted figures in the ads they might be able to get by with it. The combination of the two is what makes the complaint with the Fuse campaign actionable.

In other words: it's too close. Apple is doing nothing here that any other company would/should do. "Seeking protection against trade dress infringements can be vital to the survival of a business."

So shut your mouth.

It's also called funneling moron.

Just a bit of background on Fuse...

Fuse was once known as MuchMusic, a Canadian outfit that while played more videos than MTV was very amateurish.

Since being bought and rebranded as Fuse, they have become more professional while still keeping the non-mainstream prevalent in their programming.

Just thought I would add that here, since barely anyone seems to realize that Fuse has been around for quite a long time (almost ten years) in one form or another.

Whatever

It doesnt matter Silouhetting is a form of art anyone can use just because apple used it first doesn't mean other people can't

Morons.

I don't think it's the silhouetting that's the issue here. It's the sum total of the elements of the ad that matter.

For example, suppose I create an ad with an overly happy tan chihuahua, with the tagline 'Smaller is Better - MiniMints' No problem there. But the same ad with the slogan 'Yo quiero MiniMints' would raise a stink with Taco Bell. (Just the phrase 'Yo quiero MiniMints' might be enough as well given trade dress - not sure here)

In this case, the ad uses the same colors as Apple's, the same silhouetting style, and a close variant on an Apple slogan. Eliminate two of those three elements and Apple would likely not have a case. But as it stands the ad could easily be mistaken at a distance (or even possibly at closer range) as an Apple iPod ad. Therefore I feel Apple is justified in complaining about this one.

[Obligatory IANALBIRILD Disclaimer] (I Am Not A Lawyer But I Read Interesting Legal Decisions)

Jason

This is the most stupid complaint i have ever heard of. Companies have been using silhouettes in their campaigns since the year dot. Apple (the great plagariser) has come up with a useful, cool ad and when others pick up on the (old) idea of using the silhouette, the cry like babies.

This kind of complaint would be laughed out of court in the uk, but in the US you can sue smith and wesson for shooting yourself in the head!

stupid white american crap.

ps. apple should give back the name and logo to the british phonographic company that it has 'leased' it from for the last 30 years.

wankers

Do you not think that ripping apple off was the intention? Just look at the respones here and the place you linked to here from - people, no matter how many, are talking about it. Is that not the point of advertising? So what they get a slap on the wrists and a load of free advertising.

Apple lifted Apple from apple records... Yeah, but did not Andy Warhol and Co. invent Pop-Art in the sixties/seveties, which incidently is the style that both ad campaigns ape. Also, I believe that I have seen many examples of block colours, silhouettes and cheap slogans, perhaps the perpetrators of these previous examples should now sue Apple. As the saying goes in Hollywood "there's no such thing as an original story"

How could anyone mistake that for an Apple ad? It's got a whacking great TV in the top corner. It's also crap.

http://apple.weblogsinc.com/entry/0411742428673731/

The characteristic sihouette ads for iPods are noticeable and successful. 'Bout time Apple started some successful Mac ads, ain't it?