Eminem Disses the IPod?

Cult of Mac ()

Eminem Disses the IPod?

There’s an odd moment in Eminem’s new iPod ad for Apple that seems to illustrate his contempt for either Apple or advertising.

As the ad starts, Eminem’s singing his hitLose Yourself while a silhouette dancer wearing white earbuds prances about. But suddenly, at the ad’s midpoint, Eminem shouts, “Move it out!” and shoves the iPod dancer aside. The dancer flies out of the frame.

The gesture’s appropriate for a rap video, but not an iPod ad. It’s odd that Eminem got away with such a thing — shoving the figure representing the buyer out of the picture. It undermines the whole ad.

See for yourself. Watch the ad here.

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The ad has a history, of course. Eighteen months ago, Eminem sued Apple for allegedly usingLose Yourself without his permission. I seem to remember him making noises about “selling out” at the time. Obviously he changed his mind, but I wonder if the shoving is his way of trying to maintain his dignity?

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  • http://www.geirwerner.squarespace.com Geir Werner

    He´s good at business, but he lacks credibility, acting like a fool. He still behaves like an angry teenager. That´s understandable as it helps him to sell albums, but it´s kinda sad too. Grow up !

  • http://www.pleasanttingle.net/ phoenix

    I think your analysis is spot on, Leander. He probably wants the publicity but doesn’t want to feel like he’s “sold out.” Such a shame from an artist who used to actually be thrilling to watch and listen to, now it seems like he’s degraded to being childish in order to garner attention. Even if he’s trying to push his weight around even in an iPod commercial, someone else had to think that was a good idea before shooting it; so I’m curious how many concessions Apple made in letting him do it.

    Would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the meeting between Apple PR reps and his agent.

  • http://www.fscklog.com/2005/10/neuer_eminem_ip.html fscklog

    Neuer Eminem iPod iTunes-Spot sorgt für Unmut
    Ãœber zwei Jahre hätte man daran gearbeitet sagte Steve Jobs zur Ankündigung des neuen Silhouetten-Spots für iPod iTunes. Und dann taucht ausgerechnet Eminem darin auf, mit dem Apple gerade erst ein kleines Klage-Vorspiel ausgetragen hatte, das letz…

  • http://www.fscklog.com/2005/10/neuer_eminem_ip.html fscklog

    Neuer Eminem iPod iTunes-Spot sorgt für Unmut
    Ãœber zwei Jahre hätte man daran gearbeitet sagte Steve Jobs zur Ankündigung des neuen Silhouetten-Spots für iPod iTunes. Und dann taucht ausgerechnet Eminem darin auf, mit dem Apple gerade erst ein kleines Klage-Vorspiel ausgetragen hatte, das letz…

  • bobby doug adams

    Uhm…. have you listened to the song? Seen the film “8 mile” ? … The lyric “move it out” is not a ‘dis’, but a call to action, an inspirational shove in the right direction. The whole song is basically about not giving up on yourself.

    You all are missing the point of the song, and the commercial itself … not to mention the fact that you have a grave misunderstanding of eminem’s celebrity persona.

  • http://www.redwooddesign.com jason Liske

    Roger that Bobby.

    And it can’t hurt Apple to have more “street” at a time of complete domination for the ipod, a time where they might be seen as mainstream.

  • http://allanrob.com iPodShuffle_Rob

    Well I for one are glad to see the back of the ad, I don’t like Eminem at all, when I seen the ad on the keynote webcast I did not speak “iPod” to me, it was too “gang land shooting” for me.

  • bobby doug adams

    good lord… just what the hell is “gangland shooting” about that commercial?? I didn’t see Tony Soprano in there anywhere. Please, shuffle_Rob, try getting out of your commune/backwoods-militant-camp/van-down-by-the-river once in a while and expose yourself to a little popular culture. so far, all you naysayers aren’t even seeing the commercial… your criticisms speak only to your own cultural biases.

  • James

    Did I miss something? WHEN does he say “move it out!”. This is getting a bit nit picky saying that he is shoving the “Apple buyer” and it is “inappropriate.” Since when is Eminem appropriate for anything (not that this is a bad thing). It just illustrates the edginess of the song, and I think that’s the whole point of the commercial; giving the ipod an edginess…

  • C.J

    The line that you quote as “move it out” is incorrect. The actual lyrics are “you better…” (followed by “…lose yourself in the music…etc” to complete the sentence)
    Incidentally, I think you’re reading to much into the ad. The shove seems more like what you’d find in a mosh-pit or (unsurprisingly) as you said, in a rap video. Most of the people who will be excited by Eminem in an iPod comercial will probably not even notice.