Here’s a top tip: If your job involves promoting hardware that is not made by Apple, do not use an Apple device in public.
It sounds easy, right? As it turns out, it’s pretty darn difficult. And it’s a problem suffered by many, many people who are likely way above your pay grade. The latest example? Amazon exec Dave Limp, who yesterday gave an interview promoting Amazon’s new wireless Echo Buds. While wearing Apple’s AirPods, of course.
The Amazon exec gaff was spotted by Buzzfeed‘s John Paczkowski on Twitter. “Think you grabbed the wrong earbud there, dave,” he wrote, complete with a screenshot from the Bloomberg interview.
Amazon’s Echo Buds were one of 15 new products shown off at Amazon’s media event yesterday. They are Amazon’s attempt to get in on the massive success of Apple’s AirPods. They also feature some pretty nifty technology, like built-in Alexa support and switchable Bose noise reduction technology.
In other words, they should have been perfect for showing off during a TV interview. But somehow they weren’t. The video can be viewed here.
Amazon exec mistake: Not the first, won’t be the last
Amazon exec Dave Limp almost certainly felt a sinking feeling when he realized what had happened. But he can at least rest comfortably knowing that he’s not the only person this has happened to.
You would think that his handler would have tackled him before he got to the cameras https://t.co/FoYdQnc8Xp
— John Paczkowski (@JohnPaczkowski) September 25, 2019
Samsung’s marketing partners have previously been caught posting tweets from an iPhone. Celebrities including Gal Gadot, Ellen DeGeneres, David Beckham, Kate Upton, and others have all made the mistake of tweeting endorsements for rival companies from an iPhone.
A few years back, Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore, a.k.a. the face of Windows Phone, also tweeted from an iPhone. That from a company whose former boss infamously mocked the iPhone for being terrible for business customers. More recently, Huawei demoted two employees for tweeting from iPhones.
It’s not just iPhone tweets either. When the NFL signed a deal with Microsoft to promote the Surface, its announcers repeatedly referred to the device as an iPad. Eventually it managed to stop its announcers doing so — just in time for a Surface to stop working during a game.
Amazon shouldn’t feel like it’s the first to make this mistake then. It won’t be the last, either. But, please, if you’re in charge of showing off a rival product, just take a second to make sure there’s no Apple device on your person. And this is coming from an Apple fan!
