Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Last week I was sitting on the couch watching television when an ad popped up on screen. It looked vaguely familiar: white background, two sets of people standing side by side, and quirky music in the background.  It looked like one of the Apple vs. PC ads that were popular a while back but the tables had been turned.  The T-Mobile person was standing on the left where the Apple guy usually stands and she was young and beautiful – a breath of fresh air.  To the right, was an Apple guy who was burdened with an older man on his back, the AT&T network.

I’m not quite sure what to think about the T-Mobile ad.  On the one hand, it’s a bit genius, no?  It’s classic military strategy to defeat your enemy using his own weapons.  It’s also classic in the courtroom to use your opponents arguments against them.  What stronger tactic could there be?

On the other hand, I’m annoyed.  T-Mobile is basically biting the iPhone and then biting one of Apple’s ad campaigns.  There’s no originality.  It just seems like a cop out to me.  I would prefer to see some creativity and ingenuity.  But maybe the genius lies in the simplicity of it all.  I’m an iPhone user so I know where I stand…what do you think…are the T-Mobile ads genius or lame?

The T-Mobile ad:

One of the original Apple ads:

The internet’s been abuzz with opinions flying about whether people love or hate the new Nike Tiger Woods ad.  The ad features a pensive Tiger Woods with his late father, Earl Wood’s voice in the background.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out:

I’ve read many opinions online and it seems many people don’t like the ad.  I’ve even seen some people say they’ll never buy Nike again.

I actually like the ad. I think Nike did the best they could do under the uncomfortable circumstances. Rather than create an ad that glossed over the scandal, or simply ignored it, they faced it head on.

Tiger Woods got his deal with Nike because he is an exceptional athlete, not a model husband. Do I think what he did is ok? Of course not. But I really don’t care what athletes, politicians, celebrities do in their personal lives.

Anyone who says they won’t buy a Nike product because of this really needs to dig deep and explore what that means. They may as well stop buying anything because I would bet money that executives, or someone along the company chain, of everything that person buys, is probably not the most morally, upright person.

The new ad is short, simple and to the point.  I applaud Nike for taking a stance that is a bit risky and had the potential for (and is having)a backlash.  At the end of the day there’s no such thing as good press, right?  People are talking and Nike is on their lips – good or bad.