Apple may be known for its advertising prowess, but this little marketing coup is going to go down as one of the most hilarious ad placements in recent history. doubleTwist, the company co-founded by renowned software reverse engineer DVD Jon, has managed to place a banner for its product directly next to the main entrance to Apple’s flagship San Francisco store.
The ad invites passersby to try “The Cure for iPhone Envy”, which they can use to access their “iTunes Library on any device. In Seconds”. It’s clearly a message that Apple doesn’t want anything to do with. We’re hearing that Apple employees are currently scratching their heads as to how this appeared. So how did this wind up only a few feet from the store’s entrance, and directly beneath a giant Apple logo?
Apparently the window technically belongs to BART, the Bay Area’s commuter transit system. doubleTwist got in touch with an ad agency that BART deals with and leased the window, giving them the chance to plaster their ad just below the Apple logo in its full glory. This is apparently the first time the window has been used for this purpose (before it just sat bare). And because everything was done legally, Apple’s going to have a hard time getting rid of it.
While DVD Jon has a long history of reverse engineering digital media security, doubleTwist is a perfectly legitimate software application that makes it easy to manage media files for a variety of hardware devices. It’s sort of like iTunes, except it works for nearly any device — not just your iPod and iPhone (you can find an extensive overview here, and the app now supports both Windows and Mac). Given that one of the iPod’s biggest advantages over competitors is the seamless experience it offers to users, Apple probably isn’t a big fan.
Update: The ad has apparently been taken down, as noted by a few commenters, but Jon Lech Johansen (AKA DVD Jon) has tweeted that it will be back up soon.
Thanks to Chester Ng for the tip.
wow a banner next to a store! amazing im sure people around the world that dont live in sf really give a crap!
Yet you spent the time to respond …
I’m the co-designer of the ad. I got some more pictures on my blog: http://blog.coc...9/big-icon-day/
I’d hardly call lifting someone elses design elements, typeface and overall look ‘co-designing’, more like ‘plagiarism’.
Great job on getting that ad spot though.
You mean like the ‘plagiarism’ of creative in making the ipod and it’s interface, or of most apple product they often claim design credit for ?
The ad borrows elements because it’s targeting those already familiar with a product and it’s campaigns.
However even with the familiar themes it’s unlikely Apple could make a case for damage to their brand except to a judge who favours that particular brand.
It’s ironic that Apple decided to splash MS’ product all over their WWDC presentation, which do you feel does more damage to which brand?
Hypocrisy at best.
Hm. A shame the icon sucks like a relic from the early 90s, because otherwise, the design around doubletwist (ad, Website, UI) is quite nice.
ZING!
must be a slow day at techcrunch…they will do anything to update this page.
lance
People with a sense of humour will have found this funny. Why don’t you go troll somewhere else?
well, this one is interesting.
I enjoyed this article.
Yeah, count me in for “not giving a crap about an ad in a city that smells like urine and crap.”
I get it. I just don’t get why it’s supposed to be perceived as clever. It’s a caricature of clever marketing, at best.
will admit the banner is kind of funny thoug
haha! That’s hilarious. Great prank, probably cost alot though.
It’s not a ‘prank’ so much as guerrilla marketing. There’s a real product being advertised here.
lol. @ guerilla marketing.
Worth. Every. Penny.
Earlier I read some people talking about how it was a waste of money and I was like are you kidding me this is total ownage. Absolutely worth every penny, priceless!
And BART will have a hard time not justifying selling it to MicroSoft, LOL
Here we go…
Incoming call from Redmond, WA
“Hello, Titan? We’d like to lease the window space below Apple’s store in perpetuity. Thank you!”
This should be really hilarious!
Titan Outdoor is the ad agency Bart uses.
Someone was a total genius to do this. Oh, wait, this is DVD Jon we are talking about…
Awesome coup. Reminds me of the Audi vs. BMW Check Mate billboards war.
Just for reference …
http://www.blog...arketingdpo.jpg
Touchdown!
This is too funny, what a great job at legal guerilla marketing I guess.
hilarious!!!
i guess apple from here on out will be buying out that space
too late !
Wow… what a pwnage… NOT.
Exactly. It’s a free product being advertised.. and i doubt Apple cares what you sync your iPhone with. Either way, you bought an iPhone or iPod, so they got their money.
No, with this product you don’t have to use an iPod or iPhone. It lets you play your iTunes music on all kinds of devices. That’s exactly the point.
nice burn steve marlin! when you said “NOT” i laughed so hard. man. so funny. wow. i knocked over my dvd box set of natuto.
/takes a sip from bawls energy drink
ah, the good life
it is!
Microsoft did this last year in the UK.
http://www.crun...on-ad-campaign/
FTW!
He he, what a genius move! I wonder how long before Apple figures out a turnaround. Till then, we enjoy the irony
yay for dvd jon!
Let me get this straight. Apple with 30 billion dollars in the bank is “pwned” by a banner than most people won’t be able to figure out how to use?
You guys are fucking nerds.
Damn right we are. Now buzz off to Perez.
I’d rather have the cure for the new BART ticket hikes which will make taking the train comparable to just driving into the city.
Word x 100!
Preach on.
Just went to check it out and… it’s GONE! First thing I thought: it was never there – it was photoshopped into the picture. But people in the street said they saw it! Be this a lesson, boys and girls: Apple’s ruthless.
Better to be ruthless then toothless.
Better to be ruthless than roofless
Better to be ruthless than Rufus
http://www.yout...h?v=_YlV8Drv7pE
Did you not read the article. The ad is down right now but will be put back up shortly.
With Jobs having 1 foot in the grave, Apple management is slipping.
Way to go doubletwist.
nothing like a dude (chris) calling people nerds, when he’s the guy who’s dropping comments on a techcrunch post. I am nerdacus. this ad is a great idea. startups and smaller shops need to get creative to stretch their dollars. i love the guerilla marketing – here at PigSpigot call it “black ops.”
TechCrunch got absolute no Value, making news out of nothing…. c’mon guys grow UP
I agree. ??????
i personally like this one…
http://www.adve...9/05/05/306082/
Interesting…..
recent example of great billboard move:
http://www.37si...-bmws-checkmate
How cool is it that Apple products like iPhone are so popular that one could have envy for them. Apple need not respond.
Yeah… I just walked by and it’s gone. The window is now clean and empty.
I walked by this ad today, they fooled me – the colors, the typeface, the placement just about everything except the message. Also a really, really busy time for the store – WWDC is in a couple of days. Crazy!
it looks cool anyways. The logo is awseome
This brings to mind Audi’s “Your Move, BMW” billboard in California, which BMW trumped with an even larger billboard, saying “Checkmate.”
The power of visual dichotomy cannot be underestimated. Regardless of the quality or features of Doubletwist, what it says is that Apple does NOT control the world – something that a lot of forget sometimes in the face of Apple’s massive PR and advertising budgets.
guys, take a marketing class. get outside. read more billboards. this crap is everywhere. yawn. not pwned.
Very nice find. This guy is my hero now. Nice to know there are other people out there who get it.
Brilliant. I’m sure when doing the billboard rental cost/benefit analysis, DVD John factored in blogosphere impressions as well.
http://www.bmwb...a8f403233_b.jpg
Great article! I’m an iPhone owner and it’s total BS I have to use iTunes (NOT anymore). Good to see I now have CHOICE.
From their site:
“We feel that just like you don’t use a different browser for every web site you visit…” “… you shouldn’t have to use iTunes for Apple products…”
Rock on!
WTF does the Palm marketing team do all day? This should have been their idea.
Spend a shit ton of money on an awful commercial with a bajillion Chinese opera dancers?
Yep.
This is a great marketing stunt, for the guy who asked us to take marketing lessons…well I suggest you either do the same and don’t fall asleep during them this time around.
This simple ad is now getting world wide exposure, for the cost of a billboard, talk about bang for the bucks!
actually this is so funny and ironic. I mean here you go, you got one of the biggest apple stores in SF, and with all the investment they put in securing the sales of iphone at point sales, and right next door is cracks your “subsidised” iphone and make it work with any carrier at fraction of the original sale price, around 360 or 390 with no plan. Nice Shot and thank you tech church.
It’s not gonna stick.
It has clear trade dress problems. It’s clearly designed to mimic an Apple ad very closely, and it would be dead simple for any half-brained IP lawyer to make an argument that it is a deceptive and misleading practice, what with the location, typography, and style.
Any consumer that’s less savvy than the average TC reader is going to mistake it for a real Apple ad.
Clever, but it’s just going to get them sued. And in this case, justifiably so.
Actually no it wont. Falls right in line with the way Apple uses vista in their ads. Vista being a trademarked product of Microsoft.
No one will get sued.
Fanboi dreams.
That half-brained intellectual property lawyer would be half-brained only if he thought there was legitimate legal recourse in fighting the ad. There isn’t anything illegal about it.
doubleTwist deserves credit for a very savvy move.
Absloutely brilliant guerrilla marketing.
Wait… You work there! Hehehe
See you on monday
Wow nobody advertised on that window before this? Talk about taking advantage of opportunity.
Zzzzz…. get a life and a woman. (i.e., girlfriend.)
Songbird is easier!
Apple are a transcendent monopoly aimed at school kids – sad
Its a shame double twist sucks. They force you to sign up for an account even if you don’t want to use any of the social networking features. It didn’t recognize my iPod shuffle or my iPhone. Sorry, but I’ll stick with iTunes. Companies that require logging in for programs with complete offline functionalities are lame.
What? it doesn’t require you to join? Just hit cancel silly.
They force you to sign up for an account even if you don’t want to use any of the social networking features.<<<<
dude, you may at some point want to use dT to transfer (backup) your digital media from one of your machines to another of your machines. You can share with yourself if you don’t have any friends.
Here is the same window… but with zombies!
http://www.flic...N07/3600525685/
If Microsoft was smart, they’d buy doubleTwist, give it away, and let Apple chew on it.
I love apple…
Too bad they didnt invent the Electronic Cigarette
“Update: The ad has apparently been taken down, as noted by a few commenters, but Jon Lech Johansen (AKA DVD Jon) has tweeted that it will be back up soon.”
Oh, good! I was wondering what this story had to do with twitter!!!
Gruesome evidence: http://twitpic.com/6rrvg
total bullcrap. i downloaded it and it does not have the ability to play my itunes songs. granted i only have 90 of them from getting free gift cards.
but , from looking at the ad, you would assume that you could move your itunes music files around and play them on anything
Lol thats awesome! You should be able to just copy your stuff to any device anyway.
I downloaded the s/w.Not very impressive i say.
My motorazer is not supported.:(
World breaking news for local SF community of techno geeks.
There is more important news out there (further than the borders of the Bay Area – people do live there too).
Does the same company that owns the ad space own the land/building that Apple leases? If so, or if there is some kind of other partnership there, this does harm to Apple’s business and Apple will be justified in getting it removed.
If they are completely different entities with no ties to each other, then well, Apple did in fact just get PWN3D.