Apple Stops Airing 'Genius' Ads on Olympic Television Broadcasts

Late last month during the Opening Ceremonies for the Summer Olympics, Apple debuted a series of three ads focused on an "Apple Genius" helping customers in unusual situations. The ads received a relatively poor reception, with some observers objecting to the portrayal of customers as clueless and others simply not finding the ads as humorous as they were clearly intended to be.

apple genius ad labor day
While Apple continues to feature the ads on its Mac site, a number of people have noticed that the ads have not re-aired on television since the opening weekend of the Olympics. In line with that observation, Mashable reports that Apple has indeed stopped airing the ads. But rather than the move being related to their mediocre reception, a representative for Apple's ad agency claims that the ads were only ever intended to run for that brief period of time.

A rep for TBWA/Media/Arts Lab, Apple’s ad agency, says the ads are not running anymore, but that was the plan all along. The ads were intended only for a “first run” during the Olympics, which meant just the first weekend of the Games, the rep says.

The new ads also remain on Apple's YouTube page, although the company quietly removed and reposted its Martin Scorsese iPhone ad to the channel late yesterday, leading to speculation that the company prefers to have that ad rather than the newer Genius ads at the top of its feed.

Top Rated Comments

Stewie86 Avatar
153 months ago
Complete BS. Those were clearly meant for a long run. They know they took them down based on negative reception.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tigres Avatar
153 months ago
Do not believe it.
They sucked, and Apple will not admit.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TimTheEnchanter Avatar
153 months ago
Gotta love marketing people when they spin their own spin. :D
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aajeev Avatar
153 months ago
Lots of people are pretty clueless about their product. This goes the same for both Mac and PC users. I don't mean it in a bad way, but there are people that never cares to learn anything about it. At the first sign of trouble they simply call up a friend to ask question.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DisMyMac Avatar
153 months ago
Can we please see an iMac ad? Or even a Mac Pro ad?
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tommy060289 Avatar
153 months ago
good. They were crap.

Apples products have always been about Elegance, beauty, simplicity.

These adverts were like the terrible adverts to come to expect from mere average companies selling junk at ten a penny. Not Apple
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iGBA Feature

Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations

Sunday April 14, 2024 9:22 pm PDT by
Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details. iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut's open-source GBA4iOS app. The emulator rose to the top of the App Store charts following its release this weekend,...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
iGBA Feature

Game Boy Emulator for iPhone Now Available in App Store Following Rule Change [Removed]

Sunday April 14, 2024 8:06 am PDT by
A week after Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators, a Game Boy emulator for the iPhone called iGBA has appeared in the App Store worldwide. The emulator is already one of the top free apps on the App Store charts. It was not entirely clear if Apple would allow emulators to work with all and any games, but iGBA is able to load any Game Boy ROMs that...