In 1984, Apple Computer (as it was known then) introduced the Mac during the Super Bowl with an ad that depicted a futuristic dystopia being destroyed by a woman runner with a sledgehammer. She wore a white tank top with a Mac on it and hurled the sledgehammer into the screen with the talking head, releasing everyone from the slavery of uniformity imposed by Big Brother. So it’s no surprise when people got angry when Apple decided that 500 million users should listen to U2’s new album. With the iPhone launch, Apple offered all iTunes customers a free copy of U2’s album “Songs of Innocence.” Reportedly, Apple paid the band $100 million for the rights to give the album as a gift to its iTunes customers. The problem arose when Apple intruded into people’s libraries without permission. The outrage was so huge that Bone offered an apology on YouTube.
Despite so many people being upset by this so-called marketing gimmick, no one is sure yet if this was a great idea for a launch for U2 and Apple. Despite all the media outrage, it doesn’t seem that there has been much actual negative impact. The main thing to consider out of this whole situation is that it’s not acceptable to put anything into someone’s library without permission.
