Advertising Apple: How Plakatstil Sold the iPod

When you think of Apple and the debut of the iPod, one of the first things that comes to mind is the famous silhouette advertisements. The ads are very simplified: a black silhouette of a person against a brightly colored background with a white iPod and headphones in stark contrast in the forefront of the poster. This style was used for the print and video media for the new launch, and contributed to the popularity and exposure of the item. It is heralded in some literature as being "groundbreaking" and "iconic", but it obviously owes its inspiration to the Plakatstil movement of the early twentieth century.

Source: AdMadness.com

In a fascinating twist, the iPod ads share not only the Plakatstil style, but also a similar reaction upon their first introduction to the decision makers at Apple. Graphic artists at TBWA/Chiat/Day, Apple's ad agency, created the designs in 2003, along with a number of other possibilities. Although the agency was pushing the silhouettes in particular, Steve Jobs, head of Apple, did not like the idea and "dismissed it outright" (Fiegerman, 2012). Jobs' biggest complaint was that he felt the ad "doesn't show the product...[and] doesn't say what it is" (Doyle, 2011). However, the ad agency pushed back and managed to convince him of the merits, changing his mind and causing him to move forward with the design. This mirrors the reaction to artist Lucian Bernhard's early Plakatstil poster for Priester matches. When he entered it into a competition, it was rejected outright, but one juror convinced of it's genius convinced the others to move forward, sparking a movement,

Source: Britannica.com

The Priester poster and many other works of the Plakatstil movement followed "the Bernhard formula: flat background color; large simple image; and product name" (Meggs, 2006). The iPod designs fall under the same formula but with a small twist. They are described as "never more than three distinct colors on the screen at any one time, and black and white are two of them. What makes it so bold are those vast swaths of neon monochrome" (Stevenson, 2004). In Apple's case, this formula paid off. According to one source, "the distinctive marketing art used in these ads also helped Apple to sell tens of millions of iPods...[and] in some ways, helped Apple move its business to another level" (Doyle, 2011). The iPod designs are really just a Bernhard poster with a more vibrant background color, and evidence of how old methods can prove to be incredibly successful inspirations for modern graphic designs.

Cited Sources:

Doyle, J. (2011). The iPod silhouettes: 200o - 2011. Retrieved from 

http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/tbwachiatday-advertising/

Fiegerman, S. (2012). Steve Jobs almost killed one of Apple's biggest ad campaigns. Retrieved from 

http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-hated-ipod-silhouette-ad-2012-4

Meggs, P. B., Purvis, A.W. (2006). Megg's history of graphic design. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons.

Stevenson, S. (2004). You and your shadow. Retrieved from

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/ad_report_card/2004/03/you_and_your_shadow.html