We were starting to worry that Apple had lost the plot, but it got one thing right this summer with a delightful iPad ad campaign in France to coincide with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A series of quirky illustrations on billboards across the French capital shows bendy, stretchy athletes partaking in more everyday exercise, from grocery weightlifting to metro rugby.
As we explored in our recent interview on the dos and don’t of Olympic marketing, forcing a connection with the Games can be risky. Apple isn’t an official sponsor and the new ads don’t mentions the Olympics specifically). But the engaging illustrations have won us over by putting the emphasis on the iPad’s creative potential.
I think Landrein was the perfect choice of illustrator for the project since his style lends itself perfectly to the energy and physicality of sport and the vibrant colour of the Olympics itself. Maybe Apple has finally redeemed itself after the dystopian iPad Pro ad it used to launch its latest tablets (see the models listed below)