Ever since the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch took the spotlight, most of Apple ads have been focused on those devices. So it’s always nice to see the company try new things for less important devices, such as the AirPods.
With today’s new ad, Apple is going back in time to the good old days of the iPod. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but I instantly thought about the iconic iPod ads. It’s probably the fact that this ad is all about seeing someone dancing like there’s no tomorrow with noticeable white earbuds.
The iPod was arguably the first mainstream device from Apple after Steve Jobs’ comeback. At the time, it was something new and insanely cool — something that was quite unusual for consumer electronics devices at the time.
The iPod hasn’t been updated for a few years now, but I always look back at the original iPod ads that started in 2004. The silhouette ads ran for a few years and were some of the most iconic Apple ads ever made. If you can remember an ad ten years after it aired, it means that they did something right.
Things have changed quite a lot. With the new AirPods ad, Apple has traded the colorful backgrounds for a black-and-white urban landscape — Mexico City. Freestyle dancer Lil’ Buck is the only one dancing in the song, and it’s a bit more sophisticated than your average iPod ad.
For instance, Apple found a way to show you many, many AirPods features without telling you anything. It shows that pairing your AirPods is as easy as opening the carrying case. It shows that you can dance and they won’t fall out of your ears — in my experience, this is only true if the regular EarPods work well with your ears, your mileage may vary. It shows that you can remove an AirPod and the music will automatically pause.
More importantly, it shows that you can finally move around without thinking about it. There’s no wire, so if you want to wave your arms like a mad person, you can.
This is by far my favorite feature of the AirPods and it’s quite hard to describe if you don’t experience it yourself. The ad visually shows you that the AirPods give you a sense of freedom as the dancer starts dancing on the walls of the buildings.
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