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Haley Bourne

WRC Senior Seminar

Gary Deaton

iPhone 5? u2Cool: A Uses and Gratifications Analysis of the iPhone 5 Commercials

When one thinks of iconic things in our culture, many thoughts automatically turn to

celebrities, dance crazes, popular foods, or toys, but one thing that has truly been a shaping

mechanism in our society is Apple Inc. This company has been responsible for molding a brand

new culture filled with simplicity, stainless steel, and those now famous smooth corners. The

corporation is prized for the recognizable and iconic products such as the iPod, iPad, iPhone, and

Mac, as well as the top online music store, Itunes Store. Since its creation in 1977, Apple Inc. is

made up of 364 stores in thirteen countries (Apple.com) and has become the most publically

traded company by market capitalization (Ycharts.com).

As Apple has created a new technological revolution in our society, this revolution has

not only yielded new products, but a new group of followers. These devotees are unlike any

other, but at the exact same time, they reflect a feeling very similar to something that has been

established in most every culture since the dawn of time: religion. These proclaimed “Mac

Evangelists” are a group so devoted to the brand, that they are often compared to a cult or

religion. Russell Belk, a consumer behaviorist at the University of Utah asserts:

The Mac and its fans constitute the equivalent of a religion. This religion is based on an

origin myth for Apple Computer, heroic and savior legends surrounding its co-founder

and current CEO Steve Jobs, the devout faith of its follower congregation, their belief in

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the righteousness of the Macintosh, the existence of one or more Satanic opponents, Mac

believers proselytizing and converting nonbelievers, and the hope among cult members

that salvation can be achieved by transcending corporate capitalism. (Kahney)

One writer at the BBC said of fans waiting in line at the new Apple store, "The scenes I

witnessed at the opening of the new Apple store in London's Covent Garden were more like an

evangelical prayer meeting than a chance to buy a phone or a laptop” (Riley). This theme of

religious devotion even extends to the far east by stating that, “Apple fans in China have an

almost religious passion” and adding that one fan even went so far as to sell a kidney to attain an

iPhone and iPad (Beech). There is even both a book and website so aptly titled, “Cult of Mac”.

The website is a comparison of Mac followers to a cult while the website feeds this notion with

news and updates about products or anything related to the brand.

While all of the Apple products have contributed to this unusual fandom, one product in

particular, the iPhone, has paved the way for not only smartphones, but the future of the brand

thus adding to group devotion. Introduced in 2007, this innovative phone was on the market with

high expectations as well as price. However, even with a hefty price of $399 for the first model,

iPhone sales exceeded 270,000 in the first 30 hours of its U.S. debut (Mallin 70). This was the

first phone to incorporate capabilities beyond a phone, but also things such as applications and

internet. This phone was apparently worthy to stand hours in line for demonstrated by consumers

all over the world.

The iPhone popularity only grew over time. After six generations, Apple Inc. has arrived

at its newest phone, the iPhone 5, which was released on September 21, 2012. Described on the

site as:

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So much more than before. And so much less, too. - A remarkably slim design that still

makes room for a larger display and a faster chip. Ultrafast wireless that doesn’t sacrifice

battery life. And all-new headphones designed to sound great and fit comfortably. So

much went into this iPhone. So you could get even more out of it.

This paragraph acts as both an advertisement and a thesis for describing its features. This phone

boasts new features such as a thinner, sleeker design, weighing in at 112 grams and 7.6

millimeters in thinness making it 20% lighter, 18% thinner, and 12% less volume overall

(Apple.com). The new iPhone 5 also uses the LTE network so that one can access the internet

quickly, and their headphones now take on a different shape that conform to your ear rather than

the original circular shape.

While these new features are appealing, they are not as groundbreaking as many had

hoped. According to English technology magazine, T3, one journalist writes, “For nearly every

‘new’ feature announced at the Keynote, there was a Samsung, Android, Windows, Nokia, Sony

or HTC fan saying ‘my phone already does that’… It’s good, very good. But it’s no longer the

best around” (Peters). On the PCMag website, while both phones did well in ratings, the editor

actually gave a slightly higher rating to the iPhone 4S, the last generation over the newest model

(PCMag,com).

Despite these comments, iPhone 5 still managed to sell enough preorders in three days to

match the sales of the iPhone 4S of one month (Cooper). So how is it that with unimpressive

features that this phone can still manage to attract such sales, even before buyers could see the

product? Based on previous writings and views of the consumers, one would say it is because of

the fanbase devotion. While this is true, what many of these newspaper articles and reviews

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don’t explain is a common quality that added to why this fan base was established in the first

place.

Apple’s products are consistently high selling and cutting edge, but the argument doesn’t

lie only in the technology of the phone. Instead it lies within the culture of “cool” surrounding

Apple. This theme is hard to ignore with articles talking about how Apple stores “Keep it cool

(and fun)” (Andruss), asking if Phil Schiller, the senior vice president of product marketing, can

keep Apple “cool” through new marketing (Burrows 48), and discussing the reason that students

buy Macs is because they are “cool” and “artsy” (Firmin 14). Because of branding and extensive

marketing of Apple combined with the reaffirmations of how “cool” the products are despite

actual sales, especially in the case of the newest iPhone, this conversation no longer encompasses

only technology, but an entire cult-like mindset. In this project, I hope to identify reasons as to

why this mindset of loyal followers exists for the iPhone 5 by using an adapted Uses and

Gratifications Theory and applying it to the newest iPhone 5 commercials.

I chose to focus on the iPhone 5 for several reasons. One of the first is because of the

recent release and importance. Another important reason is that while there are several studies

surrounding the Uses and Gratifications Theory, there are none related to the iPhone. Other

articles discuss the Uses and Gratifications theory in Apple products like in Douglas Ferguson’s

article, “Uses and Gratifications of MP3 Players by College Students: Are iPods More Popular

Than Radio?” that compares the use of iPods against the radio and the satisfaction it yields

(Ferguson) or “It Looks So Cool to Use Podcast!: Exploring Motivations, Gratifications, and

Attitudes Toward Using Podcasts Among College Students” by Mun-Young Chung where it

explores the relationship between podcasts and gratification in university students (Chung).

Other articles explore how Uses and Gratifications apply to realms of media functions that an

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iPhone could process like social networking (Raacke), e-shopping (Marc Lim), and even

watching T.V. (Arshia Zaidi). Despite all of these articles related to the subject, there are no

studies that encompass all of the capabilities that iPhone can perform. Because of this unfulfilled

study of the iPhone related to the Uses and Gratifications theory, I think that this piece of

technology and its branding merit discussion. Last of all, I’m focusing on the iPhone 5

commercials because the scope the branding and “cool” culture of all of the Apple products is

too large to analyze in this project.

In order to discuss this phenomenon, I first discuss the methodology I chose and

why it is appropriate for this paper. I follow the methodology description with discussion of the

artifacts presented, the iPhone 5 commercials. After, I examine four sections of the Uses and

Gratifications theory and show how each section of the theory is found either in the commercial

or in the implied concept of the iPhone purchase or culture. I then move on to my findings and

then finish with my conclusion.

Artifacts

Apple Inc.’s marketing campaigns have been incredibly notable and unique to each

product, but some of the most imitated and memorable campaigns have had to do with

commercials. Some of the most memorable commercials are the “Get a Mac” campaign with the

humorous quips between “Mac” and “PC” as well as the iPod campaign where there is a figure

dancing in front of a colored background. With the iPhone commercials, they prized themselves

on their commercials surrounding “demos” or demonstrations showing the brand new experience

and features the phone offered (Nudd). After the newness wore off, the iPhone featured

celebrities like with the iPhone 4 and 4S, but according to Bloomberg Newsweek, “It’s a

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departure for a company that typically avoids celebrity endorsements, and so far they’re falling

flat by Apple standards” (Burrows 47).

Looking at the newest iPhone 5 commercials, it is easy to see that Apple has made a

return back to the demo model, with four new commercials. These four commercials named

“Thumb”, “Cheese”, “Physics”, and “Ears”, serve as my artifacts because they represent the

newest model to enter the iPhone family. Each commercial displays new (or supposedly new)

features of the phone and lasts thirty seconds. The setting consists of a white backdrop and

upbeat, but not overpowering music in the background. The images of people in the TV spots

range between photos, small children, and side views of a peoples’ heads, but there is a

consistency in two characters which are the narrator and the “Hand”. The narrator is never seen,

but always heard accompanied with the background music. The Hand is simply a white hand

that’s purpose is to show the new features of the phone in his palm. I consider the Hand a

character because while it does model the iPhone, it performs actions that reflect a conscious

person. Even though this lefty is present in every commercial, this body part never makes a full

appearance past the wrist or elbow. The Hand implies that there is a person attached, but the

reader just doesn’t happen to see the whole person connected to the hand.

Commercial One: “Thumb”

In all four commercials, the Hand may take an active role, but the primary focus in the

first commercial is on only one of its appendages, the thumb. So aptly named “Thumb”, the first

of the commercials begins with an image of the Hand holding the iPhone 5. As the commercial

begins, the narrator says, “Your thumb. It goes from here to here”. While saying these

statements, the Hand moves its thumb from the base of the pinky finger to the tip of middle

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finger showing natural movement. A moment later, the Hand has the iPhone 5 placed in his palm

by his other hand. The narrator chimes back in saying “This bigger screen goes from here to

here” as it imitates the natural hand movement as before. Instead this time it moves from the

bottom right corner of the screen diagonally across to the top left corner. As the Hand pulls up

and crops a photo of a child with his surfboard, the narrator continues with, “Now that’s either A,

an amazing coincidence…”. Before the phrase is completed, the scene then shifts to another

screen with the Hand typing an e-mail. In the e-mail, a picture is inserted of a

Caucasion/Hispanic female looking back at the camera like she just finished a game of Ping

Pong. Tthe narrator finishes the thought saying, “…or B, a dazzling display of common sense” as

the Hand types the subject line, “Ping Pong Skills” using the screen keyboard. The next image

shows a blog called “WeekendNess” on the phone. The Hand scrolls through it as the narrator

ends the commercial with the statement, “Pretty sure it’s the common sense thing”. The last

image is a blank, white screen with “iPhone 5” in thin, black font.

The primary and most evident purpose of this commercial is to show off one of the most

significant changes in the iPhone 5, the larger screen. By identifying how the hand naturally

moves, there is already a focus placed in the reader’s mind. Once the phone is put in that same

hand, the reader notices that the hand movement is applied to the new size of the phone. The new

screen size is also emphasized as the Hand crops a picture, types, and scrolls through the blog.

There is a great focus on this new feature overall because it shows up both consciously and

unconsciously in the other commercials. However, “Thumb” appears to highlight this feature

most out of the four commercials.

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Commercial 2: “Cheese”

The second commercial “Cheese” takes a direct approach of showing one of the notable

features of the iPhone 5, the panorama picture. The ad begins with a white child dressed up in a

lion costume. As the hand takes a picture of the boy with the iPhone 5, the narrator says, “Every

picture tells a story”. Right after this photo is taken, a large group of children, also dressed in

animal costumes, gathers in a line where the first boy still stands. The narrator exclaims “Of

course some stories are bigger than others” referring to the larger group of children and proceeds

to take a panorama picture. As the Hand takes the picture, the narrator says, “Okay guys, here we

go! ‘Cheeeeeeese’”. He moves the iPhone slowly down the line of the children and the viewer

can see the progress of the panorama. The commercial makes this process seem like some time

has passed indicated by the narrator catching his breath. After taking a heavy breath, he

continues saying “cheese” while finishing the panorama shot. Once the Hand is finished taking

the photo, the scene switches to another white background without any children present. This

new white background turns out to be a wall and the Hand ( now a set of arms) hangs up a

framed panorama shot the picture just taken. The Hand adjusts the picture after it tilts to one side

and the narrator states, “Got it!”. This last phrase reminds the viewer of what one would say after

someone is finished taking a picture, but also refers to the actual ownership of the framed image.

The last shot then shows a white background with the words “iPhone 5” in small font with a

smaller print under it reading, “Update available on iPhone 4S”.

This commercial is the most unusual of the iPhone 5 commercials in terms of human

presence and interaction. Instead of showing only images of others, the viewer sees actual people

in the video. The first person that the viewer comes into contact with is the white child in the lion

costume. He interacts with the viewer by posing for the camera. The next example is the group

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of the children that join the single child in the lion costume. They also pose so they can have

their panorama photo taken by the Hand. The last person is not exactly a full person, but an

extension from the Hand to hands, arms, and shoulders. Because this character put up the framed

photo, it is implied that this person took the shot. This commercial is the only time that the reader

sees the Hand relatively similar to a person rather than a human iPhone holder.

Not only is “Cheese” the most unusual in human presence, this commercial is different

because it represents the most ethnic diversity of the four ads. While the Hand and first child are

white, in the group there is a mixture of Caucasian, African American, Hispanic/Latino, and

Asian children. Sadly, there is not nearly as much ethnic diversity present in the other

commercials.

Commercial 3: “Physics”

In each commercial only one feature is focused on, but with “Physics” the combination of

both the increased size of the screen and the thinness of the phone show an interesting

contradiction. The ad begins with the narrator posing the question, “There are laws to physics,

right?”. As he asks the question, the scene shows a chalkboard in the foreground and white as the

background. The board is covered in indistinguishable equations that one would assume to be

physics equations. As the Hand shows off the larger screen with the movie, Brave, the narrator

then states, “So explain this: How can something get bigger…”. While the phone shifts to the

side to show off the thinness, he continues on to finish the question, “…and smaller at the same

time?”. Before the screen shifted to an angle away from the viewer, the reader saw that The

Washington Post was the site pulled up. The narrator continues to discuss the dynamic saying,

“There’s more of it…” with the scene switching to the Hand scrolling through album covers and

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music. He finishes the statement with “…and less of it” while the Hand shifts the phone to the

side again. Instead of having a website on the screen there is now a photo of a little white boy at

the beach. Before the narrator speaks again, the scene switches to the Hand holding the iPhone 5

with the flyover map of San Francisco on the screen where one can not only see the view of the

streets from above, but then it shifts to a view of the skyline. The narrator then ends the

commercial by saying, “Well I guess the laws of physics are more like guidelines” with the Hand

holding the iPhone 5. The spot then ends with the same white background and black font with

“iPhone 5” except this commercial has the phrase under it “Flyover in select cities & also on

4S…”.

This commercial, even though it lasts as long as the other commercials, is a little denser

in showing off the contents of the phone. While the other commercials may show just one

important feature, “Physics” highlights three newer features. As previously mentioned, the

commercial features the contradiction of how the phone can be both smaller and bigger at the

same time. Even though it is one contradiction, it features two improvements, both the larger

screen size and the smaller framework. The other important feature is the flyover map shown at

the end (even though there is already an update for it on iPhone 4S). In between, it shows all of

the other features it already had including album covers, internet capability, and watching

movies.

Not only is this commercial dense in content, it also shows the least amount of human

interaction. In other commercials there are children, moving body parts of people, and pictures of

children, but this ad is different because it shows the most media. There is an example of a

movie, newspaper, and music, but only one picture of a person.

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Commercial 4: “Ears”

Like the first commercial, “Ears” has another theme of focusing on a specific body part

and its relation to one of its new features, the earphones. The narrator states, “Ears are weird” as

it processes through a montage of pictures of people’s ears. During this montage it shows the

ears of one white male, one young, white female, one African American male, and another white

female and says, “I don’t know what shape that is, but it’s not round”. The commercial then

takes a turn from describing a problem to describing the solution. The narrator says, “So why

would headphones be round?”. When he says this, the Hand shows the new earphone, in the new

shape juts out a little in order to fit in the ear better. The narrator addresses the solution by

saying, “They should be shaped like this: ear shaped”. The demo continues by putting the new

earphone in a white female’s ear stating, “So, you know, they fit in your ears”. It ends with the

same white background and black font with iPhone 5.

Even though the new earphones are an improvement to the iPhone 5, this commercial

seems a little out of place. The other three commercials showed features that are updates in the

phone even if it had already been a part of an update for the iPhone 4S. This one, on the other

hand, emphasizes external improvement.

Methodology

For the bases of my methodology, I am going to adapt the Uses and Gratifications Theory

from Charles Larsen’s book, Persuasion. While this theory is most associated with theorists

Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler, and Michael Gurevitch, I chose the explanation of the theory from this

book because this theory is defined as, “…(an) approach to studying the effects of mass media,

(that) focuses on how receivers use media to gratify or meet or satisfy their individual needs. It

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assumes that we all have differing primary, secondary, and even tertiary needs for various types

of information…” (352 Larson).

Other studies explore how Uses and Gratifications apply to realms of media functions

that an iPhone could process like social networking (Raacke), e-shopping (Marc Lim), and even

watching T.V. (Arshia Zaidi), but there are none that involve anything related to an iPhone. This

example is very unique because the iPhone encompasses many if not all aspects of media into

one. This phone is not only a means of texting and calling others, but it is a portal to the internet

and all that it holds. This gateway leads to every other aspect of mass media from Facebook to

the news to movies to television shows. It even is included in a new way because of Applications

or “Apps”. Because of this technological anomaly, this theory doesn’t apply to just one form of

media to satisfy needs, but uses several media within the phone.

I felt that this theory applied best to my project because of the focus of the media in this

analysis. Those that buy the iPhone 5 and as with many other technological products, seek to

fulfill themselves with it whether it is for entertainment, keeping up with things around them, or

helping to create a part of their identity. After viewing the iPhone 5 commercials, I thought that

the Uses and Gratifications Theory was most appropriate out of all the analysis options I could

have chosen.

This adapted version of the Uses and Gratifications theory applies four different aspects:

surveillance, curiosity, diversion, and personal identity. All of these aspects are the gratifications

they seek to fulfill while using such media. By using this theory, I want to show how these

gratifications are fulfilled through the use of the iPhone 5. Surveillance is characterized by the

need to keep track of our daily physical and human environment around us. This could occur by

keeping up with the news or the economy or anything else that can affect our daily life. Curiosity

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is the need to discover and learn from previous information. In order to satisfy their curiosity,

people will use the devices to learn of the newest Modern Family episode or celebrity gossip.

Diversion is relief from boredom. This can range from drawing a digital picture, playing games

on apps, or watching a Youtube video. Last of all, is personal identity, which people use media

in order to help us discover who we are and what we stand for. Some examples can be

connecting with our family on skype or discussing personal beliefs on a public internet forum.

Because of the unique nature of this phone, I’m going to adapt the theory to the phone by

applying it to both iPhone 5 commercials and the iPhone as a concept in order to see how the

combination satisfies the needs of an individual.

Uses and Gratifications Theory Application

Even though each of the commercials may be an advertisement for the new features on

the surface, the underlying messages portray much deeper desires than just a larger screen or

thinner framework. As mentioned earlier, the Uses and Gratifications theory discusses how

people participate in technology to satisfy their needs such as surveying current events,

dispelling curiosity about previous information, diverting attention to something fun, or

personally identifying oneself with the technology. However, I have adapted the theory to not

only include the content from the commercials satisfies an iPhone owner, but the implications of

owning an iPhone 5 in general and how the ownership of this phone in general can also satisfy

the user’s needs and adhere to the theory. By looking at these commercials through a lens that

identifies the separate aspects of the Uses and Gratifications Theory, it is easier to code the

commercials for the desires that Apple wishes to instill in the readers’ minds that the iPhone 5

can gratify.

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Surveillance

In a person’s life keeping up with events that affect daily life is incredibly important, but

based on the iPhone 5 commercials, a reader wouldn’t know that. This aspect of the Uses and

Gratifications theory is underrepresented in its commercials in comparison with the other three

aspects. The only commercial that properly showed surveillance through the the iPhone was

“Physics”. In this commercial, the viewer briefly gets a glimpse of The Washington Post before

the phone shifts its screen to the side to show off the thinness of the phone. Other than the title

(which is still hard to tell), it’s difficult to see any of the articles or the breaking news of the

award winning newspaper. Though there was more of an indication that the user was present, the

presence of surveillance in “Thumb” was not much better than “Physics”. The fact that this site

was a blog rather than a credible news source only hints at surveillance despite the more active

participation and seeming interest. Sadly, neither “Cheese” nor “Ears” exhibited any direct

references to satisfaction of surveillance through the iPhone 5. Even from the point of view of

iPhone 5 as a concept, “Cheese” fell short in delivering any sign of surveillance and one can only

imply actions in “Ears” such as listening to podcasts or news updates with the new earphones

advertised.

Curiosity

Even though the tools for exploring curiosities using the iPhone 5 are rife with accesss,

like surveillance, curiosity is not highly valued according to the commercials. In “Thumb”,

curiosity is seen as the Hand scrolls to look at a blog and discover new events taking place, but

no more emphasis is placed on it directly. For the commercial “Physics”, one can infer from all

the media such as the movie, the music albums, and the newspaper, that there is a curiosity of

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pop culture present on the phone. Perhaps the user wanted to know the plotline of the movie,

“Brave” or was interested in a specific type of music. Because of the capabilities of iPhone,

learning about these things can be done. Once again, in the commercials “Cheese” and “Ears”,

curiosity is nowhere to be found.

Diversion

The presence of diversion in the commercials easily makes up for what surveillance and

curiosity lack. Diversion is easily seen and implied in all of the commercials in many different

facets. On a technological level, there is fun while taking and sharing photos like in “Thumb”,

“Cheese”, and “Physics”. Pictures are cropped and shared in “Thumb” and “Physics” while a

panorama is being shot of children in “Cheese”. From a conceptual standpoint of the iPhone 5,

one can post pictures to social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter from the device.

According to the commercial, these photos are fun and meant to share. Also according to the

commercial, iPhone 5 can easily do that. Another aspect of diversion can be seen in watching the

video in “Physics”. Watching movies can be a fun activity to do, but it can be even more fun on

the large screen on your iPhone 5, especially since it is available whenever you please.

One last example of diversion in the commercials is how fun it is to listen to music. In

“Physics”, this example is implied by showing the album covers. One could assume that because

this person has music on their iPhone that they may find personal enjoyment in listening to it.

Even though “Ears” doesn’t blatantly show it, the introduction of the new earphones implies that

you can have fun by listening more comfortably. Through using the new earphones, a person can

listen to many things including music.

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Personal Identity

According to Erickson , “An identity is a cohesive set of personal values regarding career

goals, relationships, and political and religious values” (Erikson, 1968) and “The achievement of

a stable ego identity not only creates an integrated sense of self but also allows for future

development and adjustment throughout life” (Wetchler 243). The reason that the Uses and

Gratifications Theory includes the aspect of personal identity is because of the connection

between technology and its ability to form or contribute to identity. And through the Apple

commercials, these ads support this aspect of the adapted Uses and Gratifications Theory that

one can help bolster and support their personal identity through the technology of iPhone 5. Out

of the four commercials, this aspect of the Uses and Gratifications Theory is clearly the most

evident not only through the visuals on the commercial, but also through the implications of

iPhone 5 as a concept.

Even though there are examples of different media present, the most evident piece of

technology that would adhere to personal identity is the presence of photos. A person can share a

photo of anything, the reason that pictures are so important to personal identity in the case of

these commercials is because they are all of people. The commercial “Thumb” showed two

examples of using photos of people in its commercial. The first example was of cropping the

picture of a little boy at the beach. The other example is when the Hand attaches a photo of a

female playing ping pong. Both of these people can be important to them such as a friend,

cousin, nephew, niece, etc. “Physics” also shows similar aspects in its commercial. While

showing off the shape of the phone, there was another picture of a small child. There wasn’t any

action shown of sharing it, but because of the capabilities of the iPhone 5, the user could send it

to others through e-mail or keep it on their storage. Depending on the relationship and closeness

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of the relationship, these people can make a great influence on these user’s lives. Regardless of

the relationship, the fact that they shared these photos, indicates some sort of importance to

distribute and/or keep these photos.

“Cheese” uses picture taking in a different sense because it intertwines telling stories with

taking pictures. As the Hand takes a picture of the cute costume-clad child and later a group of

children, the narrator says, “Every picture tells a story, but some stories are bigger than others”.

This refers to the picture of the single child and then using the panorama and its ability to take

pictures of larger, longer images. In these references, there is a correlation of each child to a

story. The correlation of the children to stories creates a new definition because this commercial

visually captures important narratives. Even though the reader doesn’t exactly know why the

children are dressed up, they do know that the user may relate it to a story and deem it important.

These images could even capture stories to be shared with other family members or possibly

narratives. Through these relationships, these stories shown through pictures can add to one’s

personal identity because of the person in the photo or the story being shared.

Lastly, and not as important as the presence of photos, personal identity is shown through

the tastes of the user in music, movies, and reading material. “Physics” shows the most

preference of tastes because it shows musical albums, a movie, and then a newspaper. The user

must have had preferences towards these choices in media and chose them for a reason.

Depending on adherence to a specific micro-culture, the user could identify with others as one

who likes that band, film, or paper.

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Findings

The iPhone 5 commercials may all have all intentions of showing their newest features,

but when one investigates further, so much more is uncovered than just the phone updates.

Through the application of the Uses and Gratifications Theory of the four commercials, there are

four themes that unite the commercials together that create such a loyal base of customers and

fans. From the commercials shown, Apple wants you to visualize yourself with the iPhone 5,

recognize the phone is still fun, is the “obvious”, superior choice, and remind that you buy

reputation, not just technology.

iPhone 5 is about visualization

The use of images is especially prevalent in this series of commercials and applies in

each part of the Uses and Gratifications Theory. However, it’s not looking at the pictures of the

iPhone that is most important part of using images. It’s that you view yourself as the one with the

iPhone. As previously mentioned, in all of the commercials, the main character is the Hand. This

hand models the new features, shape, and functions of the iPhone 5 with ease, showing off its

simplicity. The Hand is a consistent character, so much so that we never see a full body except

those in photos. This method has been used before with the first iPhone in both commercials and

print ads (Pedersen 510) and the lack of a body (or personality) is a conscious move on Apple’s

part. According to Mali Pohlmann of Stockholm University, “Images of hands as the focus and

dominant object in advertisements are not that common but fulfill a worthwhile purpose in the

consumers’ construction of meaning” (Pohlman 358). This can also explain the return back to the

commercials featuring demonstrations with hands when the technology was new. But Pohlmann

goes on to explain the deeper use of showing only hands. The author continues, “By showing

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only parts of the body and no faces, we can identify ourselves more easily with the situation, and

we are more likely influenced by the image” (Pohlman 359). Therefore, if people identify with

parts of the body and meaning is constructed through the use of body parts, then the bodies will

ultimately help people identify with the commercial.

The Hand is a representation of the viewer inserting themselves and this character fulfills

every aspect of the Uses and Gratifications Theory. The Hand can monitor surveillance and

curiosity, as well as use the phone for fun. From a conceptual standpoint, it can personally

identify itself as an iPhone user or look at pictures of people that influence the user. By showing

as minimum of a character as possible, it affords the opportunity for the reader to insert

themselves as much into the situation of using an iPhone 5 as possible and imagine that their

needs are being fulfilled by this technology.

iPhone 5 is the “obvious” choice

Like the implication yields from the different sections of the Uses and Gratifications

Theory, this finding was the most obvious itself. The reason these commercials were so

“obvious” was primarily because of the dialogue of the narrator. Throughout the commercial

campaign, the narrator takes on this dry, humorous persona, but with each commercial there is a

tone of condescension in his speech. Though he had few lines, his objective was clear: to discuss

how owning an iPhone 5 is common sense. Since the narrator’s voice is the only present in the

commercial in its entirety discussing common sense, he has a very specific authoritative power.

According to Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini, “Whenever we are

faced with so potent a motivator of human action, it is natural to expect that good reasons exist

for the motivation” (216). In the case of the commercials, it is only natural for the readers to

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listen because of his direct message to the audience. His first and most transparent speech was in

“Thumbs” as he clarified through his speech. Accompanied by visual, the narrator states that

because a normal thumb moves the way it does, the new iPhone has adjusted to that with its

larger screen. However, instead of out rightly telling this fact, the narrator says, “Now, A, that’s

either an amazing coincidence, or B, a dazzling display of common sense. Pretty sure it’s the

common sense thing”. By framing it this way, the speaker dryly infers that Apple not only made

a conscious decision, but also a decision based on common sense and the reader should too. The

conscious decision even hearkens back to Cialdini with another weapon of influence, social

proof. Defined as, “one means we use to determine what is correct is to find out what other

people think is correct” (Cialdini 116). The narrator evokes this weapon of influence through

making it seem like everyone would use common sense and see its superiority over other pieces

of technology.

This theme of common sense continues on with phrases such as, “Ears are weird…They

should be ear-shaped” or “Every picture tells a story…Some stories are bigger than others” when

referencing to the larger group of children. Even in “Physics”, when the narrator explains that the

phone is both smaller and larger, the commercial makes a reference to using physics as

“guidelines”. The choice of the word “guidelines” creates such a dynamic against the law-ridden

field of physics and implies that this phone defies physics in general with its new body frame.

Such a dynamic shows not only implied question of “Why wouldn’t you want this?”, but also the

feeling of superiority.

Dynamics also play another important role when it comes to a theme of common sense.

Not only does the narrator’s dialogue create the sense of superiority and common sense, but it is

aided by the visuals in combination with the dialogue. Whenever the narrator states a phrase that

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reflects common sense, the scene accompanies the phrase and strengthens it. One example would

be in “Thumb” when the narrator says“ Your thumb. It goes from here to here”. As the speaker

says this, the thumb shows its natural movement. Common sense is evident when the phone is

placed in the Hand’s palm and mimics the same movement as before. The same application of

both the speech and visual appear in “Cheese” as well with the demonstration of how since

“some stories are larger than others” a panorama would be useful. Other demonstrations of the

phone exhibit the combination as well.

iPhone 5 is still fun

While it is quite obvious that the aspect of diversion is an evident component in all the

commercials, this theme manifests itself in the ads with a purpose that readers may not realize.

Many people already know that Apple products provide entertainment and fun through

experience, ownership or witnessing its technology, but these commercials don’t just state their

entertainment value. They provide another purpose. Because of the prior knowledge of this

phone and few improvements to the new model, the commercials serve as more of a reminder of

how fun the phone is rather than a statement of newer technology. This manifestation starts with,

once again, the narrator. Throughout the commercials, his voice has a light tone and easy,

friendly dialogue as he speaks about the improvements. The perfect example is when he says the

word “cheese”, takes a breath, and continues on. In reality, the narrator explains very little about

the improvements of the phone, but only refers to them through his few statements. The music in

the background furthers the lighthearted feeling of the commercials as well. In each commercial,

there is a plucky, happy violin and some xylophone while the narrator speaks. In a physical

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sense, the music sets the backdrop so the narrator can remind the reader that the iPhone still has

their favorite technology.

Even though the narrator and music create the fun feeling, the iPhone 5 features are the

main event. Especially shown in “Physics”, one can see all the features that the iPhone has, or

still has. The movie, Brave, that plays on the screen, shows off its larger screen and smaller body

while displaying its video playing capabilities. The flyover map seems to be new, but because of

the subtitle telling the reader “Update available on iPhone 4S”, it is also a reminder of this

previously made feature. The album artwork is not new in any regard, but reminds that people

can still store and listen to music on the device like an iPod. Listening to music can even be

implied through the invention of the new earbuds in “Ears”.

According to the commercials, the most evident way of having fun is through photos.

There is such a presence of taking and sending photos in the three commercials, but what people

may not recognize is that snapping shots is not new at all. Because of the high use of sharing

photos by phone, social media, or through e-mail, people are desensitized to it and use photo

distribution like one would use texting. Even with the entire commercial surrounding the

panorama picture, like the flyover map, there is recognition that this feature is only an update

too. Even though the primary purpose of the iPhone 5 commercials serves to show off what few

improvements it has made, they also nudge the viewer to remind them of the things that made the

iPhone great in the first place.

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iPhone 5 is about reputation, not technology

This finding may seem very ironic because of the purpose of Apple’s, advertising. The

purpose is to show its technology and why one would want to invest in such a purchase with that

company. While Apple does display its new improvements and updates, the company does have

a great advantage. Their longevity in the technological world has given them a long time to

establish themselves as innovative and creative. They have had a competitive advantage for so

long because they have used a differentiation strategy. According to Roger Kerin’s book,

Marketing, differentiation strategy “requires products to have significant points of difference in

product offerings, brand image, higher quality, advanced technology, or superior service to

charge a higher price while targeting a broad array of market segments” (Kerin 579). While

Apple has done this with many of their products, the first iPhone is a perfect example of

differentiation with its applications and internet connection to a piece of technology that was

originally used solely for verbal communication.

Because of this early establishment in smart phones and continuous updates, their

commercials play off its current reputation of Apple that it is still the best choice where, in

reality, it may not be the case of current smart phones. For example, Consumer Reports gave

Apple high ratings, but in each carrier of smart phones, Samsung, HTC or Motorola, topped their

favorites charts with the iPhone 4S at the bottom of the list (Consumer Reports 36).

Despite these current ratings, this is still a very established brand in our culture. And this

established feeling shows in the iPhone 5 commercials. One way to see that this phone is so

established is through the fact that they don’t introduce the phone. The narrator doesn’t even

physically state the name of the product. It’s only in the last few seconds of each commercial that

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one sees the name of “iPhone 5” by itself and then the Apple symbol. These assumptions would

be very bold if not for the success of the company and its notable branding. They don’t need to

introduce the phone anymore because the commercials assume that the audience is either an

owner or at least familiar with the product. There is a similar notion when it comes to the

technological features too. Since many already know about the internet capability and music

storage, the narrator continues on without mentioning it.

Even though the technological improvements are not as revolutionary as the past because

of the early establishment of innovation people still want to be associated with it with such a

reputation. This establishment of the brand and the user’s association with it satisfies one of the

most prevalent aspects of the Uses and Gratifications Theory shown in commercials, personal

identity. Not only is it supported through their commercials and advertisements, but through

personal comments as well. It’s the reputation and culture of Apple that yield comments such as,

“If it weren’t for having everything Apple in my house, it wouldn’t take much for me to switch

to the Samsung Galaxy S3” (Sullivan) or “There are plenty of other models on the market that

are the equivalent of the iPhone 5, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One X…Is the iPhone

5 the best smartphone ever? If you're an iPhone lover and won't ever leave, without question”

(Beavis). Both of these quotations demonstrate a loyalty and connected identity to the brand, and

more specifically the iPhone. This identification with the brand shows iPhone users’ involvement

in the participatory culture of iPhone as a whole. According to Convergence Culture, by Jenkins:

“The term, participatory culture, contrasts with older notions of passive media

spectatorship. Rather than talking about media producers and consumers as occupying

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separate roles, we might now see them as participants who interact with each other

according to a new set of rules that none of us fully understands” (Jenkins 3).

Apple fans demonstrate this active participation and can be seen in different facets. In the article

“No Apple iPhone? You must be Canadian”, by Isabel Pedersen, she briefly discusses how

ownership itself is a participatory act and an entrance into the culture (Pedersen 503) therefore

establishing the loyalty. More of the Apple participatory culture is shown through standing in

line waiting on releases, participation in blogs such as “Cult of Mac” and “Mac Rumors”, or

even identifying oneself entirely with the brand, almost like the commercials that state “I’m a

Mac”.

Even though the act of participatory culture is included when one buys into the phone,

another aspect of the commercials that contributes to the iPhone’s reputation is the absence of

comparisons. There are many commercials that compare products, but because of Apple’s

reputation of being the best, it doesn’t need to. Like the absence of explanation, the absence of

comparison is a confirmation of Apple’s status. The only thing that the iPhone 5 compares is its

new updates to the old ones: the larger screen, the better earbuds, less volume, etc. This

reputation is further confirmed by the comparisons of the iPhone with other phones. One of

comparisons is through the use of parody like in Samsung’s Galaxy S III commercial, “The Next

Big Thing is Already Here”(Youtube). As the commercial shows the new features of the Galaxy

S III, it also pokes fun at the updates on the phone as well as the people who buy iPhones, even

referencing that iPhones are out of style because a Galaxy user was holding a spot in the line for

his parents. This humorous commercial exhibits the persuasion theory, Rank’s Model. The

model emphasizes the importance of intensifying and downplaying. While persuading another,

one can either intensify their good aspects and downplay their bad or intensify their bad aspects

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and downplay their good (Rank). In the case of the iPhone 5 commercials, they intensify their

good points while deemphasizing their bad, but Samsung uses a different approach. Instead, they

downplay iPhone’s good points while intensifying their own good points. While the

commercial’s purpose desires to show people the original features of the Galaxy, it also

undercuts Samsung because it both made Samsung look bad in the eye of the consumer (Jean),

but still establishes iPhone as the “It” phone.

Directions for Future Research

Even though this project encompassed an analysis of four of the iPhone 5 commercials,

there are still areas of this topic that could be investigated. Shortly after completing my first draft

of this project, two more commercials were released by Apple for the holiday season. Both of the

commercials show new additions to the phone and followed many of the same themes as the

previous commercials. It could be interesting to have someone else either add to my research or

even take on a project that compares the first iPhone commercials with the latest. Another

direction related to the iPhone 5 commercials could be the presence of dominant ideologies

involving ethnicities. It would be interesting to examine the implications involved from the

commercials because of the consistency of only one type of character and ethnicity.

Conclusion

The future of Apple, Inc. has blossomed in terms of creating able to stay ahead of the

technological curve for so long. They have created products that people want to use resulting in a

cult-like following. While trends do eventually fall, when you look at the iPhone 5 commercials,

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you wouldn’t know that. By showing how the phone can satisfy the technological uses from the

Uses and Gratifications theory, Apple helps to keep this loyal base. Through the application of

this theory to the current iPhone 5 commercials, people continue to buy a product that isn’t

deemed as technologically advanced as other smart phones because of the convincing portrayal

that this phone can meet all your needs while remaining “cool”. You can imagine yourself as an

owner and participant in this culture through the presentation of the Hand, therefore, you picture

yourself using the iPhone and all of its desire-satisfying features. The phone is still fun despite

the lack of revolutionary improvements like in the past models. Because of the fact that this

piece of technology can satisfy all of the aspects of the Uses and Gratifications theory, people

buy into that notion and overall culture of the reputation that the past iPhones established.

As mentioned in an article, the new iPhone is “…not a revolution, but it doesn’t matter”

(Strochlic). This quotation sums up the devotion to Apple completely. After analyzing these

artifacts, it has made me more aware of the impact and influence of corporations and their

powerful branding that can persuade groups of people. Because of such power, the loyal

devotees of Apple will continue standing in lines, posting in blogs, and preaching about the

superiority and “coolness” of the products as long as Apple keeps providing it. These contribute

to a sentiment about how Apple and its iPhone 5 create and control the culture. Even though it’s

not a revolution, but because of the impact of this brand, it doesn’t matter.

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