Apple's In-House Advertisements Scoring Lower Than Its Outsourced Ads

Apple's in-house advertisements are scoring lower than those created by TBWA\Media Arts Labs, a unit of Apple's longtime ad partner TBWA\Chiat\Day, according to Ace Metrix ad-watching data compiled by Bloomberg.
ifWRirb7l3q0

Image via Bloomberg

So far, ads made by the in-house team have received a cooler reception from viewers on average than those made by the agency. Ace Metrix gathers data from hundreds of TV watchers to discern how persuasive and entertaining an ad is.

"Chicken Fat" is the Apple in-house team's biggest ad success so far, scoring a 611 from Ace Metrix. However, the ad scored lower than two Media Arts ads, "From the Heart" and "Gigantic", since late last year. "Gigantic" is Apple's highest scoring ad since late last year. The highest ever score for an Apple ad was 696 for a 2010 FaceTime commercial.


The lowest scoring ads for Apple include its "Your Verse" campaign, showing off how people are using their iPads in various parts of the world doing different activities, like traveling the world, climbing mountains or directing a Bollywood dance number. None of those ads scored higher than a 600 in Ace Metrix's scale.

Comparatively, Samsung and its agency have had better luck, netting a 739 score for a Samsung Galaxy S5 commercial showing the water-proof phone being used during a water fight. The ad is the second Galaxy ad to top the 700 mark for Ace Metrix.

Rob Siltanen, an advertising consultant who wrote the ad copy for "Here's to the crazy ones" told Bloomberg that Apple's struggles may be coming from trying too hard to represent themselves.

"The hardest ads I've ever worked on were ads for myself," Siltanen says. "There's a truism out there that applies: 'The lawyer who represents himself in court has an idiot for a client.' It's very hard to have the necessary perspective to do the job right."

Alternatively, Boston University ad professor Edward Boches says Apple could be struggling selling itself as a leading company and may be more comfortable playing off other companies, like Microsoft.

Apple has found it difficult to find its footing with advertising recently, expanding marketing efforts and creating its 1,000 person in-house ad team in recent months. While the Cupertino company has taken greater efforts to control its advertising, it is still collaborating with TBWA\Media Arts Labs.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...

Top Rated Comments

Burger Thing Avatar
147 months ago
Kick out the in house Ad-Team, employ more software engineers and use the facilities to develop Pro-Software and stick to your legacy :apple:
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kas23 Avatar
147 months ago
I'm thoroughly unimpressed with Apple's in-house advertising people. This "chicken fat" song is disgusting. I don't care if it has nothing to do with "chicken fat" but the song is just a turn-off. Second, the "what would your verse" narrator, whoever he may be, sounds like he's about to die. Just a very grating, unpleasant voice. I don't know what they were thinking.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chocolatemilty Avatar
147 months ago
I find this really interesting, because even though I own quite a few Apple products, I don't consider myself an Apple fanboy. I really like all the major mobile and PC players and am well-versed in all of them. However, I feel the "Verse" campaign is quite compelling. Of course, I am biased being a music graduate student, but Esa-Pekka Salonen's commercial is quite remarkable. When the initial Your Verse commercial first premiered, I felt it was the most compelling Apple ad in some time. I guess not all felt the same. What Apple is most likely counting on is all of their different ads resonating with different factions of people instead of one with all.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
147 months ago
Don't be too hard on yourself, Apple, I'm just happy when I see a commercial from you that doesn't feature the condescending Genius guy.

(it's fun to give immensely successful companies consolation messages from the comfort of my chair)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SchneiderMan Avatar
147 months ago
Nothing will ever match up to Apple's old Mac vs PC ad campaign.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mKTank Avatar
147 months ago
Really, "Gigantic" rated that high? I couldn't stand that commercial for one reason: the music. that irritating refrain over and over again. I'm so glad they don't play it anymore, because I was at the point of muting the TV when it came on and occasionally changing the channel.
Not to mention, the actual song is about large black penises (seriously, go look it up). When the internet noticed this, that helped give the ad more attention.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)