Original Ad: Life is Easier on iPhone

Taken from https://www.apple.com/lae/switch/

I chose an Apple iPhone advertisement for this culture jam assignment because it emphasizes how much society relies on the usage of smartphones in their everyday life. Apple used this advertisement to remind the world about the iPhone’s functional simplicity so loved by modern-day consumers. This corporate image targets both its existing customers and competitors’ customers by underlining the iPhone’s user-friendly interface and data-processing technology that allows any consumer to use it with ease. Since the creation of smartphones over a decade ago, people have had the ability to communicate on a global scale and reach vast amount of information in a matter of seconds. The invention of the smartphone has formed a strong foundation in which people can benefit, develop, and improve their own lives through the exponential uses of applications and functionalities. With this newfound power to access the world in the palm of our hands, our lives have naturally revolved around the use of technology and social media. To capitalize on this, many of today’s technological advancements and advertisements produced by the likes of Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone giants are focused on maintaining the global demand and reliance for their smartphones. Although smartphones do have their benefits, they have also shortened our attention spans and hindered our ability to spend quality time with other people. In a research study surveying 2,000 participants in Canada, results have shown that the average human attention span has fallen from twelve to eight seconds (Watson, 2016). Furthermore, other studies have discovered that teens can spend up to nine hours a day on social media platforms, which is more than the average amount of time people spend socializing in-person, caring for their personal needs, and eating and drinking (Asano, 2017). Smartphones have played a major role in developing this problem as 60% of the time spent on social media is facilitated by a mobile device (Asano, 2017). With this issue on the rise, I will be using this culture jam assignment to address the problem of anti-socialness caused by the constant usage of phones and social media in social settings.

New Ad: The iPhone Takes Over your Life

Jammed version of Apple’s Ad

Similar to Adbusters’ Calvin Klein Obsession image from the 1900s, I changed the words of Apple’s original ad to push consumers to reexamine the dominant brand message. My jamming philosophy is to combine a few new changes with aspects from the original ads to invoke viewers to take a new perspective on the effect of smartphones on their everyday life.  With a simple change to the advertisement’s main tagline from “Life is easier on the iPhone” to “the iPhone takes over your Life,” consumers’ original good view on the iPhone is reversed to a bad view. Consumers are forced to take a second look at the iPhone and the potential negative effects it can have on their lives. In addition, the original ad’s second line, “and that starts as soon as you turn it on,” further emphasizes the issue that smartphones consume your life the moment you begin to use it. As the spearhead of the smartphone, iPhones have been pioneers of the “easier” life since 2007. This life has led society to have shorter attention spans and caused people to struggle with spending quality time with each other. By jamming the original ad, I hope that consumers no longer blindly purchase smartphones, but begin to use them more wisely. Though it cannot be denied that smartphones have made our lives easier, I believe that it is important to be conscious consumers of ads and products that are placed into the market. In conclusion, my jammed version of the ad is a more accurate portrayal of the smartphone in that although that life may be easier with an iPhone, life isn’t necessarily always better.

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Link to Original Ad: https://www.apple.com/lae/switch/

References:

Asano, E. (2017, January 04). How Much Time Do People Spend on Social Media? [Infographic]. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/how-much-time-do-people-spend-social-media-infographic

Watson, L. (2016, March 12). Humans have shorter attention span than goldfish, thanks to smartphones. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/12/humans-have-shorter-attention-span-than-goldfish-thanks-to-smart/