Apple Intel Factory Seen From Such Great Heights
Apple has launched its new product, the MacBook Pro, with a promotion of the Intel chip in a Sci-Fi ambient TV spot featuring the voice of Kiefer Sutherland and the music of Moby.
Titled ‘Factory’ the spot was launched at the San Francisco MacWorld by Steve Jobs.
The ad begins with the dazzling white floors of a computer assembly factory in which workers are dressed in white space suits. This has the feel of a surgical implant or IVF for computers carried out in a ‘clean room’.
The voiceover, provided by Sutherland:
“The Intel chip. For years it’s been trapped inside PCs, inside dull little boxes, dutifully performing dull little tasks, when it could have been doing so much more. Starting today the Intel chip will be set free and get to live life inside a Mac. Imagine the possibilities.”
Moby Soundtrack
‘God moving over the face of the waters’ was released as track 12 on Moby’s 1995 album, Everything is wrong and also on the soundtrack of the 1995 movie, Heat. The track was played during the death of Robert De Niro’s character Neil McCauley. It is the last track on the album, Heat: Music from the Motion Picture. The title of the Moby track is a reference to Genesis chapter 1, verse 2, from the Hebrew Scriptures. “New Dawn Fades”, another Moby track, played as Pacino’s character Lt Vincent Hanna travels by helicopter.
Download ‘God moving over the face of the waters’ on iTunes
Credits
The Apple campaign was created by advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles.
Postal Service Similarities
Pundits have raised eyebrows over the similarities between the Apple Intel ad and the Postal Service’s 2003 music video for “Such Great Heights”. The music video was directed by Josh Melnick and Xander Charity. The album ‘Give Up’ was released by label Sub Pop.
In fact, the coincidence is no coincidence. The directors of ‘Such Great Heights’ were also the directors of Apple ‘Factory’. The directing duo Josh & Xander work with Tight Films and screen the music video in Flash (29 mb) on their site.
Postscript: Josh & Xander are now at Streetgang Films. They are represented in Canada by Circle Productions, who host the Apple ad in quicktime.
See my post at Duncan’s Music Videos for more details on the Postal Service video.
Lastminute Blog is hosting the Postal Service music video as a 44 mb mpeg file. For a graphic view of the similarities see http://popcorn.euniceproductions.com/
Both the Apple ‘Intel’ commercial and the Postal Service music video were filmed on location at a Skyworks factory. Skyworks online host the Postal Service music video as a Realplayer video, as a promotion of their wafer fab and assembly/test plants.
Here’s the two videos together, using the Moby soundtrack…
Neighbouring Posts
« « Emerald Nuts Myths Challenged | Postal Service in Skyworks factory for Such Great Heights » »
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