Smarter Online Ads

Online ads annoy me. The passive ones are never very effective. They’re all formatted the same, packed with as much information as possible. The “guerrilla” ones are even worse, bombarding the screen with flying objects and making it impossible to look at a site. Leave it to Apple to find a better approach. While the subject matter of this ad is nothing revolutionary, the idea is brought to life in the context of the New York Times, camouflaged by the format and design of the online paper. Part of the strength comes from Apple’s established Mac Guy/PC guy roles. If you’ve ever seen any Mac ads in the past few years, you know the routine. Even without sound, it’s successful. Better yet, the ad doesn’t continue to play. It simply cycles through once, leaving you to read the paper without further distraction. In all, a refreshingly witty approach to online advertising.