Years ago, my friend Greg's father established himself as an advertising genius. He is, to this day, considered the father of children's television advertising. It was his innovation that rocketed Barbie and Mattel Toys to superstardom. I was impressed as hell at the time with his celebrity: After all, he knew Barbie on a first name basis and, even at the tender age of nine, I knew a good lookin' self-absorbed, augmented, anorexic when I saw one.
All these years later I'm not so crazy about direct advertising to kids. Fast food, toys, clothes, television, movies, music-- no need to enlist the parents. Go for the gusto; set your hook in the kid. We limit Ev to PBS and dvd's in an effort to dodge all the b.s.
Tonight I realized Apple is not to be left behind or outdone. With all the iPads floating around these days it didn't take long before Evan came to realize games, pictures, videos are all better experienced on the iPad. And, thanks to the Native User Interface (NUI), it's super easy to use. Even for a 4 year old.
How well does this work in marketing the iPad? Well, tonight when Ev's Grampa and Gramma told him they had a surprise for him next time he came to visit he guessed, "Is it candy?" "No." "A toy?" "No." "Is it an iPad???!!" The answer was "no" but kudos to the late Steve Jobs and company. Well done you bastards.
Now, how young is too young for an iPad? On second thought, just forget I asked.
No comments:
Post a Comment