From Daft Punk to ODESZA, there’s a legacy of great electronic music in Apple’s commercials. Last month, Flume and Toro y Moi dropped a new single – The Difference. With over 7 million views to date on Spotify alone, the song certainly pleased fans. Let’s see how Apple integrated this song into their latest advertisement.
The Difference
Flume and Toro y Moi’s The Difference marks the next chapter in Apple’s love affair with electronic music. In a new advertisement for “transparency mode” and “active noise cancellation” for AirPods Pro, the brilliant LA-based Matilda Sakamoto navigates through a crowded street. With the click of a button, all the noise dissipates and the music takes her into a private world.
In this private world, Sakamoto demonstrates insane charisma, personality, and jazzy dance moves. All in all, the commercial perfectly captures that feeling of losing yourself in the music. In an interview with We Rave You, Flume explains:
I’ve just seen it as a great opportunity. And especially with a brand like Apple, man, you can see the quality of the work that they put into the ad and the show, and it, it just looks excellent. So, um, yeah man, I couldn’t be happier.
I don’t know about you, but this new video has us feeling nostalgic for the creative ads of yesteryear. We’ve collected the five most memorable Apple ads featuring electronic music for your enjoyment.
The legacy
Apple’s early 2000s iPod advertisement featured Daft Punk’s iconic song Technologic. Celebrating sleek new technology, this catchy song from a still relatively unknown French duo complimented bold color blocking. Daft Punk obviously rose to global fame, but the success of Technologic might have played a role in that journey. The song was also featured in Motorola’s E398 mobile phone ad.
A decade later, Apple featured Mura Masa‘s When U Need Me. The commercial began featuring Anderson Paak’s Come Down, before one character explains “it’s never too late to discover new things.” The music cuts to this strange new beat; the sound of underground electronic music.
In 2017, Louis the Child‘s Go was featured in an iPad Pro commercial. The commercial features a young girl using an iPad Pro as she moves around the city. At the end, the women next door asks, “What are you doing on your computer?” to which the girl responds, “What’s a computer?” Love it or hate it, the commercial paid unusually close attention to the younger generation, something that has helped make Apple successful throughout the past few decades.
In September of 2018, Apple introduced their iPhone XS, XS Max and XR, as well as the Apple Watch Series 4. The massive announcement featured local electronic powerhouse ODESZA with their single Loyal. This big news obviously warranted a massive budget, and the final product captivates.
2019 brought the introduction of “Slofies” or slow-motion selfies. Featured in Apple’s first Slofie ad, French DJ Madeon‘s ephemeral Dream Dream Dream created the perfect soundscape for the slow-motion vibe. A young woman attempts to take the perfect “slofie” when her face begins distorting in strange ways. A cut reveals a young child pointing a hairdryer at her face. The commercial’s self deprecating humor takes the edge off of something as silly as a slow-motion selfie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r6XE7ODVDg
What’s next?
Video production across the globe seems to have stopped due to quarantine limitations. Large crews and fancy sets just aren’t realistic right now. It might be a while before Apple drops another high budget, creative ad. On the flip side, we might see Apple get creative during this unusual time.
Someone in Apple’s marketing department clearly keeps a close watch on the happenings of the electronic music scene. With numerous live streams taking the internet by storm, perhaps Apple will take some inspiration from these events. If we had to guess, we’d suspect that Apple’s next ad might feature a more intimate setting and low budget production – but with some live element.
Apple’s already begun to experiment with low-budget video productions, such as their clever “shot on an iPhone” campaigns. This technique will most likely become a trend for tech companies, but Apple might be the first to use this technology to create some sort of live-stream commercial.
What electronic music would you love to see in Apple’s next commercial? Let us know in our comments section on Facebook, and Twitter!
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