HTC’s One A9 smartphone is one good looking piece of technology, but it does look rather familiar. As has already been covered to death by just about every media outlet that took even a passing interest in the phone, it does bear more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. In fact, it’s almost identical.
HTC, for its part, has denied any attempt to copy the iPhone’s design, though at this point, we can’t really understand how any designer on the planet could come up with that look and claim it to be original. But that’s fine, because designers borrow ideas all the time, even if this move by HTC smacks less of borrowing ideas and more of downright stealing the whole design. Still, it wouldn’t be the first time a company has been accused of lifting Apple’s design.
Apparently, either oblivious to the controversy or simply willing to ride the publicity it is creating for as long as possible, HTC has now launched a 90-second advert that, just like the One A9 itself, gives us the feeling that we’ve seen it before.
The premise is familiar in itself. Buy the HTC One A9 and don’t conform. Stand out. Do things differently. Yes, that’s all ironic given the One A9’s design, but we’ll forgive HTC here. What we won’t forgive it for, though, is attempting to take Apple’s iconic 1984 Macintosh advert and turn it into a smartphone ad in 2015. Because, well, it’s so obvious what HTC is trying to do that it almost insults our intelligence. It’s like we’re being played by HTC’s PR department, and it doesn’t feel great.
The real shame here is that the One A9 is a very good phone, but instead of talking about its abilities, we’re instead focused on its design and advertising campaigns, both ripped from Apple almost wholesale.
We knew HTC was desperate, but not this desperate.
HTC One A9 video:
Apple’s 1984 Macintosh video:
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