Filed under: Humor, Found Footage
The Simpsons take on 'Mapple'
As Dave and Mike discussed during last night's talkcast, Sunday's episode of The Simpsons included plenty of wink-wink-nudge-nudge references to our favorite fruit company. (The video is also available on Hulu.com.)
Lisa discovers a "Mapple store" has appeared in the Springfield Mall, complete with "myPods," "myPhones," and even a "Brainiac Bar." Comic Book Guy wants to know why OS 4.2 is built so poorly, and Krusty the Klown wants to get rid of his myPod.
Mapple CEO "Steve Mobbs" also makes an appearance, with typical Simpsons hilarity ensuing. While not particularly biting social commentary, the sketch pokes fun at Apple Mapple customers' willingness to shell out big bucks for their products.
The Simpsons have taken on Apple before, with the now-famous Newton "eat up Martha" gag. You might say this is one more thing to add to the list of gags that The Simpsons have done. In the words of Steve Mobbs and Steve Jobs, it's "insanely great."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Irving Isler said 10:33AM on 12-01-2008
They provided a pretty accurate depiction of it. Satire or not, the notion that think different is ultimately just a slogan is pretty dead on.
That being said I love my miphone, and my mapple tv (boxee-fied of course), and I've forgiven mapple for their sins when they purchased memagic. ;)
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Gunnar said 10:35AM on 12-01-2008
Wow,
probably the smartest, yet easiest to get, answer to the changes Apple underwent in the past years yet, and that from a show which got increasingly uncreative in its writing.
And it's so true what they say, the citation of the 84 ad and the take on Apples slogan, it's all true. Apple has become nothing more than a money loving company not listening to its customers anymore. With AT&T and Intel, or even starting with Microsoft, it made a pact with the devil and what once was a kinda rebellious company now has become a global player in using peer pressure, urge for social status and pretentious behaviour.
Listening to your customers already and stop selling overpriced last-years electronics - but as Apple says, the Software sells the system, and that is especially true for the iPhone: Known technology, neatly packaged with great software, overpriced and hyped by the best salesman known to man and sought after by an immense number of "want" customers.
On a sidenote: I don't think that this clip will stay online for too long, FOX didn't post it on youtube and its therefore a copyright infringement. tuaw should look for another source.
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Jax said 10:54AM on 12-01-2008
I completely disagree with you. I've been buying Apple products since the early 90s and I would say that my current Apple devices are the best Apple has ever made.
Sure the Newton was ahead of its time, but my iPhone is infinitely more useful than the Newton ever was. Apple was getting behind the times back in the 90s before OS X was released, but now there is no comparison with other operating systems. OSX is clearly the best. My new MacBook is probably the most perfectly engineered laptop I've ever owned. Sure Apple products are expensive but they always were (even back in the system 7 days).
sean dailey said 4:41PM on 12-01-2008
yeah, you lost everyone at that "pact with the devil" nonsense. still bitter about that? grow up.
i've been using macs since 1990 (IIsi ftw) and am for one happy to the company, you know, making a profit.
Gunnar Falk said 5:22PM on 12-01-2008
Well of course the part with "pact with the devil" was exaggerated. But remember the time when Intel came to the mac world, many people used that term, or remember the booing at bill gates.
Thank you for the growing up remark, I've also been using apple products since the 90s. At that time the rebellious air of being a mac user while everyone believed the company would die was, well, very cool.
Then Steve came bag and brought the "i" line of products. Awesome! He set out to bring Apple back on track by narrowing the product line. Great idea, but look now at today's product line. Apple is active in many fields, so many that Leopard was a piece of crap when released and the general notion with new Apple products is to wait for the second edition.
So yeah, profit is great, but they do tent to make decisions that are not based on present user needs, but more likely on possible, forced developments or profit gains (like excluding the dock from the iPhone 3G package, although its packaging provides space for it). What I love about Apple now how it continues to polarize and add cult value to the brand, but I would love a return to the think different notions of the 90s. At least allow some individualism instead of perfectly designed forced conformity.
Ronny said 10:52AM on 12-01-2008
lol
similar -
Simpsons - Mapple Store Video -
http://www.techreviews4u.com/?p=2333
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Gareth Sloan said 11:03AM on 12-01-2008
I weep for the dementia ridden phantom that once was the great spirit of comedy which flows through the Simpsons.
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ZX said 11:12AM on 12-01-2008
O.K, so this is the new pathetic attempt by MICROSOFT...;)
Clearly Conan o'brien is not writing for The Simpsons anymore. Seriously, this show used to be funny.
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Adam Schoales said 11:13AM on 12-01-2008
Cute. Nothing we haven't seen before (after all this is The Simpsons we're talking about... as one commenter said they're writing has become stale and they're re-using old jokes over and over again), but still fun. Of course it's no where near as good as when Bill Gates "Bought Out" Homer all those years back.
Also I'd like to disagree with the commenter that said Apple doesn't listen to their customers - they do. You just gotta be a pain. I had issues with a few things on my old mac and everytime I went to the store I brought it up... eventually issue one was fixed and they didn't charge me for it. Then, I sent an email to Steve Jobs regarding issue two, a guy from Apple Canada got back to me and after nearly a month of back and forth they finally admitted to the problem. And while they have yet to fix it (something I'm getting incredibly frustrated about) they were kind enough to send me some free stuff (sure, it was "shut up and go away" stuff, but free none the less).
I don't think they're all that bad. Certainly the best customer service experience I've had... it just depends on who you talk to.
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sdemo said 11:28AM on 12-01-2008
The readership over at engadget was quite a bit more vocal about this episode.. lol. what a bunch of apple haters they are...
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That Fender Strat Guy said 11:37AM on 12-01-2008
Let the babies have their rattle. They have to endure endless articles on amazing Apple products, so when a opportunity to whine about the company arises, its like christmas.
Better an episode of Simpsons to laugh over, than enduring Vista.
Johnny said 11:44AM on 12-01-2008
It's not just the Apple hating, Engadget commenters have gotten to where all they do is hate anything, whatever it is, and each other, no matter what the opinion. Opinions are opinions, people tend to get really worked up over nothing - especially know-it-alls in the tech field who think there is only one way technology can work right, their way, and no one could possibly know as much or think as clearly as they do. That's why I don't read the comments there anymore.
required said 11:51AM on 12-01-2008
Funny thing is I've always patronized Apple and yet my dislike for them has grown along the way. I think this clip is quite apt.
ZX said 11:58AM on 12-01-2008
@Johnny - So true!
But it's 100% Engadget fault. They are a very provocative blog...
Hotrod said 1:55PM on 12-01-2008
Wow, I thought I was the only one that noticed that. They are the biggest apple haters, and yes they do hate on a lot of products. If you go through my posts, you can see a few that called out the apple haters, but I have now given up.
Jeff Miller said 12:57PM on 12-01-2008
I was a pretty funny rip on Apple even for us fanboys.
Last year they also had the diePod a suicide machine.
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Lars said 2:34PM on 12-01-2008
Yeah yeah! Rub it in HULU isn't available outside the US! ;)
[I obviously saw the clip somewhere else on the intarwebs]
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luxlamf said 2:48PM on 12-01-2008
I traded The Simpsons in for Family Guy long ago but "That light confirms that it is off" is funny
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smoke_tetsu said 3:07PM on 12-01-2008
I don't see why anyone should get worked up over this. I just saw it as a funny homage\parody. I also liked how they had a USB submarine that docked into the underwater Mapple headquarters. I think this was funnier than some other Apple parodies that I've seen.
Also you forgot about the time Marge got a "feMac" (the computer designed just for women) from Flanders because he won it and didn't want to keep it because he didn't like the idea of random strangers "googling" each other.
http://moourl.com/nmv3i
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aMp 732 said 3:22PM on 12-01-2008
You can see the whole episode here :
http://ninjavideo.net/video/14918
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