It's just saying what people were thinking about the new Mac Pro.
When your brand is as big as Apple, people are going to make fun of you no matter what you do. That's exactly what happened last week when Apple announced its new Mac Pro.
Despite the computer's impressive specs, people couldn't help but notice that its tower looked like a cheese grater. And to get in on the joke, IKEA Bulgaria has released this witty ad for its own lookalike product.
Leading with the apparently innocent message "designed for apples", this tongue in cheek ad from the famous flatpack furniture shop is up there with some of the funniest and most impactful print ads we've ever seen.
Created by advertising company The Smarts, this ad doesn't end the fun there. If you look closely you'll see that there's a lower case letter "i" in the name of IKEA's meal preparation range, IDEALISK, in a subtle dig at Apple's camel case product names.
It's a subtle but clever piece of copywriting from the studio. And it's all the more effective, because thanks to this ad we now know that you can pick up a stainless steel cheese grater form IKEA for just 3,99LV ($2.30). So if your budget won't stretch to an iPad Pro, this could be a bargain way to get the same aesthetic.
Another element that makes this ad so successful is that it taps into a wider conversation surrounding the new Apple Mac Pro. Once it was unveiled, people flocked to social media to crack the same gag that compared the computer's tower to a cheese grater.
Mac Pro? Or Cheese Grater? #WWDC19 pic.twitter.com/j9C7BMMYLLJune 3, 2019
The new Mac Pro: No Longer a Trash Can. Now It's a Cheese Grater pic.twitter.com/BtfhfYQL35June 3, 2019
The $5999 new Mac Pro. Has some pretty sleek casing. Kind of looks like a cheese grater too 🧀 pic.twitter.com/YW2mHK995YJune 3, 2019
So as far as ads go, this one is a triple threat: it effectively mimics its target, it smoothly weaves its product into a general conversation, and it builds publicity for an item and a brand. And it does all this with a simple photograph and a lower case letter. Talk about making effective advertising look easy.
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The new Apple Mac Pro also made waves online last week as it was revealed that the computer required a monitor stand that cost a whopping $999. If this is a bit out of your price range though, don't worry. Check out our buying guide to the best monitor stands for your studio that will leave you with more cash to spare.
Dom Carter is a freelance writer who specialises in art and design. Formerly a staff writer for Creative Bloq, his work has also appeared on Creative Boom and in the pages of ImagineFX, Computer Arts, 3D World, and .net. He has been a D&AD New Blood judge, and has a particular interest in picture books.
