The origin of the iPod silhouettes, Apple’s most iconic campaign

Apple has closed an important chapter in its history. After 20 years and selling hundreds of millions of units, the iPod was discontinued. A few years before the release of the iPhone portable music player became one of the pillars of the company’s business and celebrated a generation. Having an iPod with white headphones was synonymous with being chilly and largely thanks to advertising silhouettes.

Although Steve Jobs appropriated the idea of ​​dancing silhouettes, The iPod campaign was the work of Susan Alinsangan.. The art director of the Chiat/Day agency created a series of original commercials that will become the benchmark for almost a decade.

To understand the success of this campaign, we must take a step back and look first ad for ipod in 2001. It depicts a young man dancing to the rhythm Take California from the Propellerheads with your iPod. Putting it in a shirt and leaving the house, the voice in off tells us iPod, a thousand songs in your pocket. Result it was so bad that he became the butt of ridicule Almost immediately.

in his book Crazy simple: the obsession that drives Apple’s successKen Segal names first iPod ad something uncomfortable to watch. “I was a young man trying to act chilly and did it rather pathetically,” says Segal, creative director of Chiat/Day and friend of Steve Jobs.

Another important point that Segall draws attention to is the use of a real person. “Steve (Jobs) avoided using people in his ads because the actor who looked chilly for one viewer, it can turn off another,” he says. The young man who danced in the first iPod commercial was nicknamed iClaudewhich translates into Spanish as iZoquete.

From “iZoquete” to U2: how the silhouettes of the iPod were created

To remove this bitter pill, Susan Alinsangan teamed up with Lee Clow, creator of the legendary ad, in 2003. 1984 and phrase think differently — and James Vincent, responsible for the most important media campaigns in the Jobs era. Alinsangan didn’t want another iClaude and for this he suggested anything out of the ordinary and violating Apple’s policies.

Prior to the 2003 campaign, Apple’s ads were traditional, using real photographs against a white background. 2D silhouettes dancing to the rhythm of different genres not only did “iPod” and “Apple” communicate well, but also they gave the product an unprecedented weight.

The Shadows danced happily with their iPod in hand, connected to the legendary white headphones. “Instead of asking you to buy this device, Apple was asking you to buy thrills,” Segal mentions in his book.

Best of all, the campaign could be adapted for both TV ads and huge billboards which were Apple favorites at the time. Colorful ads for iPod flooded all countries. Apple made sure to place them in strategic places, and the contrast was visible from miles away.

Although the silhouettes did not depict anyone in the initial announcements, Apple introduced some changes in later years. U2 filmed a video for their song Dizziness in this style as part of the iPod campaign. Eminem did the same with lose yourself in an ad that paired silhouettes with a posterized video. Paul McCartney opted for something more colorful, giving more importance to the artist, while Coldplay opted for new visuals.

After launching the iPhone, The iPod has lost relevance, as has the concept of shadows. created by Susan Alinsangan. Apple’s latest portable player announcements have ditched the silhouettes and opted for real actors and a white background.

Steve Jobs didn’t approve of the campaign at first

The success of the media campaign skyrocketed iPod sales and created a phenomenon that has so far been difficult to replicate. Curious, Steve Jobs didn’t like the silhouettes. “This is not Apple,” the co-founder of the company said upon first seeing the images.

Walter Isaacson wrote in Steve Jobs that Lee Clow and a young James Vincent were trying to run a more emotional campaign than traditional advertising. At a meeting with Apple executives, creatives from TBWA/Chiat/Day showed silhouettes, and when Jobs saw them, he replied, “They don’t show the product. They don’t say what it is.”

The commercials featured iconic silhouettes dancing to songs chosen by Jobs, Clow, and Vincent. “Searching for music has become our main attraction at our weekly marketing meetings,” Clow said. “We played a lewd version, Steve was like, ‘I hate this,’ and James had to coax him.”

When a new ad was about to go into production, Jobs often hesitated, calling Vincent and insisting that he cancel it. “Sounds a bit poppyor “Sounds corny,” he said. “Let’s cancel.” James was nervous and tried to convince him. “Wait, that’ll be great,” he protested. Invariably, Jobs gave in, the announcement was made, and he loved it.

Isaacson, Walter. (2011). Steve Jobs. Simon and Shuster

James Vincent was a key player, and he had one of the most difficult tasks ahead of him: convincing Steve Jobs that everything would work out. In the end, the campaign worked, and the rest is history.