Apple Gives Free Promo To Sex Toy Maker.

What a headline: “iPod Sex Toy Maker Threatened By Apple Over iPod Ads.” That’s just too good to ignore.

Legal issues aside, exactly how can my iPod become a sex toy? And where can I buy it?

Leave it to the Brits to come up with a less-than-Puritanical yet stimulating way to use the iPod to give more pleasure in life.

Enter the iBuzzTwo at LoveHoney in the UK.

How do you get the word out about such a product? Apparently, all that’s required is to mimic a couple of Apple ads, and the resulting promotion is free.

”Apple Threatens iBuzz With Legal Action” is the headline on the iBuzz site; a newsworthy article picked up by hundreds of publications world wide.

I have to be suspicious of this, but it’s hard to ignore the obvious. The iBuzz is a personal vibrator which attaches to your iPod. Turn up the music, turn up the vibes.

Where will human ingenuity stop? While iBuzz is to be applauded for bringing pleasure to many, they promoted their iPod vibrator using graphic images highly similar to those of Apple’s well known iPod commercials and print ads, the dancing silhouette.

You’ve seen them on TV or in various online ads.

The dancing black silhouette against a solid backdrop of bright green, red, orange or whatever.

The iBuzz folks created ads of a similar nature.

The silhouette of a nearly naked buxom woman in heels using said Pleasure Pod in those oh so pleasurable places.

Sorry, iBuzz. But that looks just like an Apple ad and that’s what got Apple upset. Upset to the point of threatening legal action.

Apple claims the copyright of the dancing body silhouette against a colored background, so iBuzz merely stepped on the wrong toes with their similar advertising, hence Apple’s response.

Now, that begs the question: “Mistake or calculated risk?” I’m going with the latter, though I believe there are two risks involved.

The first is simply copying Apple’s well-known advertising style, covered by copyrights, and using it to sell the iBuzz. That alone will get some additional business.

The second risk is knowing that Apple may blow the whistle, so to speak, and threaten legal action (which they did)-- and which results in tremendous publicity for the iPod sex toy maker (iBuzz, not Apple-- don’t look for the iBuzz at the Apple Store online; the company is not quite that liberal).

Both are calculated risks designed to stimulate sales of the iBuzz (seriously, I can’t help myself...). Apple responds with:

Rightly so. iBuzz ripped off Apple’s copyrighted advertising to sell a product that attaches to your iPod and then attaches to you.

What do you think? Ripoff? Accidental similarity is advertising styles? Cute advertising gimick by an iPod accessory maker looking to get some free promo? Are my credit cards good for online purchases in the UK?

Share your view of the vibes via the Comment section below.

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