Indie band cries foul over Apple's new Intel ad!!

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Indie band cries foul over Apple's new Intel ad!

Apple’s new Intel-based Macs are shipping, and with it, the company has started a new television promotional campaign to advertise the systems. The ad has caught the attention of indie rockers The Postal Service for their similarity to the band’s video for its song Such Great Heights, which, ironically, is available for sale from the iTunes Music Store.

Apple’s advertisement for its new line of Intel Macs features technicians in a “clean room” facility overseeing the manufacturing of CPUs — a theme also present in the Such Great Heights video. The composition and elements used in both ads are similar — in fact, the ad and music video were both created by the same filmmakers.

A side project of Death Cab for Cutie front man Ben Gibbard and Dntel’s Jimmy Tamborello, The Postal Service produces synth-pop songs evocative of 1980s new wave. The band released a full-length LP in 2003 entitled “Give Up,” which featured the single Such Great Heights —. The song has since been licensed for a movie soundtrack and used in television shows and advertisements.

Ben Gibbard has posted a statement regarding the controversy on the band’s Web site.

“It has recently come to our attention that Apple Computers’ new television commercial for the Intel chip features a shot-for-shot recreation of our video for ‘Such Great Heights’ made by the same filmmakers responsible for the original,” said Gibbard. “We did not approve this commercialization and are extremely disappointed with both parties that this was executed without our consultation or consent.”

This is the second time in recent months that Apple has been accused of imitating existing work a bit too closely for its advertising. Late in 2005 Apple introduced television ads to promote Eminem’s music on the iTunes Music Store. The spots featured a silhouetted Eminem singing against a starkly detailed urban landscape colored in orange and white.

It was noted that the ads were very similar to a campaign developed in 2001 for Lugz Footwear. Lugz thought so too — enough to provoke Lugz a cease and desist letter following the ad’s airing.

An Apple spokesperson was unavailable for comment as Macworld posted this article.

― gear (gear), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:11 (twenty years ago)

http://www.mackron.com/random/oschrist.jpg

― Dom iNut (donut), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:16 (twenty years ago)

Hmm -- do the Postal Service actually have ownership of the visual elements of their video (the ones that don't directly involve their images)?

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:16 (twenty years ago)

big companies in appropriating indie aesthetics shocker

― Dom iNut (donut), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:17 (twenty years ago)

"Just Betray"

― Dom iNut (donut), Saturday, 21 January 2006 01:17 (twenty years ago)

Apple in horrible, offensive ad campaign (see: Picture of Ghandi "think different") shocker

― ((((((((((, Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:10 (twenty years ago)

We did not approve this commercialization

"Now about that name of ours."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:11 (twenty years ago)

Ben Gibbard in whiny emo bitch shocker

― adam (adam), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:19 (twenty years ago)

Gibbard's gunna drive out to Hillsboro to fuck shit up

― kingfish kuribo's shoe (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:20 (twenty years ago)

The Postal Service for their similarity to the band’s video for its song Such Great Heights, which, ironically, is available for sale from the iTunes Music Store.

Is that really ironic?

― musically (musically), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:23 (twenty years ago)

not ironic, since just about every tune you can think of is available on itunes

diff topic:

why is "such great heights" the most listened to tune on lastfm/audioscrobbler? it has been at the top of their chart for several months.

― jed_ (jed), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:30 (twenty years ago)

Emxbee: I was gonna post the same thing. And what the fuck, Gibbard? You're on the OC— thereby, you've approved ALL commercialization. It was in the fine print, dufus.

― js (honestengine), Saturday, 21 January 2006 02:54 (twenty years ago)

Uh it's real simple as this link informs

http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=1391048

It's the same directors for the video and the commercial. So is it Apple's fault or some lazy directors who thought they could get paid for the same work twice with nobody noticing?

― Particle Ranger (particle ranger), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:03 (twenty years ago)

We did not approve this commercialization

But they did approve of the Honda Civic commercial!

― naus (Robert T), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:04 (twenty years ago)

Did they have to approve Sam Beam selling his cover of "Such Great Heights" to M&M's?

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:16 (twenty years ago)

"We did not approve this commercialization..."

"We only like our brand of trendy alternative rock to be heard and endorsed by trendy Apple employees who work directly in the Apple stores, not by their trendy corporate marketers whose own hipness seems to have trickled-up through the workers...Indie rock's innocence and chastity is again in doubt because of corporate America...blah blah blah"

Apple in horrible, offensive ad campaign (see: Picture of Ghandi "think different") shocker

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/802/hensontn5ll.jpg

― Cunga (Cunga), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:26 (twenty years ago)

Safety Scissors should countersue.

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Saturday, 21 January 2006 04:20 (twenty years ago)

As if it matters - their music sounds like a 3rd-rate Clor anyway.

― misterpete, Saturday, 21 January 2006 06:09 (twenty years ago)

perhaps clor should use that as part of their marketing.. and then they'd sell more than 30 copies of their record

― jim p. irrelevant (electricsound), Saturday, 21 January 2006 06:23 (twenty years ago)

Did Ben Gibbard just say he was disappointed by the commercialization of the song? I guess he had final cut on that candy commercial.

― Doc Doom, Saturday, 21 January 2006 06:43 (twenty years ago)

postal service blows SHOCKAH

― lf (lfam), Saturday, 21 January 2006 08:51 (twenty years ago)

"Indie band cries foul over Apple's new Intel ad"

― Øystein (Øystein), Saturday, 21 January 2006 08:56 (twenty years ago)

"ilx poster repeats thread title with no discernible point"

― jim p. irrelevant (electricsound), Saturday, 21 January 2006 09:00 (twenty years ago)

― Øystein (Øystein), Saturday, 21 January 2006 09:05 (twenty years ago)

The thread title is, pretty funny.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 21 January 2006 09:09 (twenty years ago)

Indie band sonned in apple beef.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Saturday, 21 January 2006 14:24 (twenty years ago)

duh - just imagine how The Beatles feel... (only jo)

― Paul (scifisoul), Saturday, 21 January 2006 15:20 (twenty years ago)

no one mentioned that apple's ad has a moby song, NOT the postal service.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:21 (twenty years ago)

also, steve jobs called jonathan poneman of sub pop on thursday to ask if this is ok. a little late.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:21 (twenty years ago)

I think the irony is that a music video = an advertisement, right? maybe an elegant one, but to bitch that an aesthetic originally used to sell your record is now being used to sell something else seems pretty ripe

― Mr Straight Toxic (ghostface), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:22 (twenty years ago)

THE COMMERCIAL DOES NOT HAVE THE POSTAL SERVICE SONG IN IT. THEREFORE, IT CANNOT SELL THEIR RECORDS. U DIG?

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:23 (twenty years ago)

The ad has the same director doesn't it? Maybe Apple said, give us something like your earlier work and he did exactly that.

― Navek Rednam (Navek Rednam), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:35 (twenty years ago)

cutty who teh fcuk are you yelling at?

― Mr Straight Toxic (ghostface), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:47 (twenty years ago)

TEH EVERYDBODIES

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:59 (twenty years ago)

i'm just yelling because that news article is neglecting to mention the most important fact in realtion to why the postal service might be so angry.

i'm assuming subpop is the copyright holder, not the director, and subpop certainly has grounds to attempt an injunction against apple.

or, they could ask steve jobs to refurnish their office with shiny new intel imacs.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 21 January 2006 17:00 (twenty years ago)

Clearly this is Intel's revenge for the name "Dntel."

why is "such great heights" the most listened to tune on lastfm/audioscrobbler? it has been at the top of their chart for several months.

Because audioscrobbler is mainly comprised of high school indie kids?

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Saturday, 21 January 2006 17:49 (twenty years ago)

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