We aren"t sorry actually.
It isn"t the first time, and it won"t be the last that a major company wishes they could turn back time and erase something they thought was pretty cool at the time, only to be reminded by regular consumers that it was in fact, pretty dumb.
Apple is the latest victim of a PR clanger, as it would appear that they have set the three "Genius" videos that were uploaded to YouTube and the Apple website at the start of the Summer Olympics to private.
As reported by MacRumors, they suggest that Apple wasn"t happy with the reaction to the ads, which was largely critical of the fact that the ads appeared to paint Mac users as completely "clueless."
Apple"s ad agency did point out that the ads, which were also televised, "were intended only for a "first run" during the Olympics", but MacRumors also points out that even though it"s not uncommon for older ads to be removed, an ad from November 2010 is still available to be viewed.
If you missed them the first time around, here"s a recap of all three:
The three commercials uploaded to YouTube in July showed Apple"s (probably now dismissed) Mac TV mascot; an unnamed Apple "Genius" employee who apparently never took off his blue Apple Store t-shirt, no matter what the time or setting is. One of the ads had the "Genius" on a passenger plane trying to help a fellow traveler with editing a clip in iMovie. just before the plane is supposed to land.
The second clip showed the "Genius" being told by a random person on the street that he has just bought a Mac, but the "Genius" has to let this person know that his new Mac isn"t a Mac at all. We do have to wonder about the intelligence of this random PC consumer.
The oddest TV ad in the collection is the one where the "Genius", asleep in his apartment and still wearing his blue Apple t-shirt, is woken up at 4AM by a neighbor. The neighbor"s wife is apparently about to give birth but, instead of taking his suffering spouse to the hospital, he wants to get info from the "Genius" on how to announce the birth of his baby via an iPhoto card.
You probably get the picture.
Source: MacRumors