Apple's new privacy ad is one big subtweet

The TV ad is Apple's first to tackle privacy.
 By 
Karissa Bell
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Apple, not known for being shy about its willingness to do a bit of trolling at the expense of competitors, has a new privacy ad campaign that's basically one big subtweet.

The ad, Apple's first television spot to tackle the subject of privacy directly, opens with a shot of the iPhone and the words "privacy matters," before delving into a montage of basic actions people take to protect their day-to-day privacy that have nothing to do with Apple or its products.

The tone of the ad, which will run online and on TV, is lighthearted. There's no mention of messy data privacy or encryption, just "If privacy matters in your life, it should matter to the phone your life is on."

It closes with another closeup shot if an iPhone, and the words, "Privacy. That's iPhone."

But implicit in the ad, which will run throughout the NCAA's March Madness tournament, is another message: that other phones can't be trusted.

Topics Apple iPhone

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Karissa Bell

Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.

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