The purchase of an iPhone 7 Plus by a Pakistani man triggered an all-out party in Punjab, complete with ad in the local paper and friends turning up to play music at his house.
A video of the iPhone party popped up online, and photos of the ad quickly went viral on social media. Did you and your friends party like this the last time you bought an iPhone?
The somewhat bizarre story involved the friends of iPhone customer Hafiz Waqas Muzammil, who placed the newspaper advertisement to celebrate the arrival of their buddy’s new iPhone 7 Plus.
They then arrived at his house, accompanied by dozens of men and children, wearing garlands and playing drums, while Muzammil sat snapping photos.
The ad in the paper read: “We extend our heartiest congratulations to Hafiz Waqas Muzammil on purchasing an iPhone 7 Plus.”
It’s not clear exactly why Muzammil’s friends went so far to commemorate the arrival of a new handset. It’s certainly a nice (unintentional) bit of viral marketing for Apple, though, since it’s been played extensively on local television and other media.
No one congratulated me with an AD in the newspaper when I got an iPhone 7 :'( pic.twitter.com/AniIG0O2cj
— ◀SyeD_ZaDaa▶ (@grdzi) March 30, 2017
It comes as Apple makes a push in the region in an attempt to grow global sales. Apple opened a new App Accelerator in Bengaluru, India, last week. And soon, Apple manufacturer Wistron will start building iPhones in India, which Apple hopes will expand its presence in the country.
For the record, the most elaborate sales technique Apple ever launched to commemorate a product was the one it arranged for 1997’s Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh. Those computers got delivered to customers’ homes by limo, after which a man in a tuxedo would set up the pricey computer.
Sadly this wasn’t enough to stop the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh from bombing at the box office.
Source: The Express Tribune
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the country in which the party took place.