Reviewing Two Commercial Featuring Taylor Swift on Apple Music

A few weeks ago, Apple Music released a commercial of Taylor Swift doing a Cardio workout on the treadmill while rapping along to Drake and Future’s song “Jumpman.” At the surface, it looked like it was going to be just that one commercial until last week another one was released in where Swift is getting ready for a party or date and is lip-syncing along to the 2001 Pop Punk hit “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. These commercials are so effective because they show arguably the world’s most famous person doing what us “everyday humans” do. Not only that, but the commercials promote a 3-month free trial to the music subscription service. It is going to make people subscribe for those 3 months and see that it is a quality service (I know because I did the subscription back when it started last Summer) so they will keep it going for the $10 a month. Then they will be just like Taylor Swift and feel really good about it. But the crowd that these commercials aimed toward, what they are showing, and what they do for both the company and the consumer.

After watching these commercials a few times, I deciphered that these two (and probably more to come) commercials are aimed toward the High School and College crowds. During this time of life, people are going on dates, going to parties, working out, etc. Right now, it seems like working out and getting fit is the “in thing” to do. Everyone is doing some kind working out. Both men and women have different reasons for working out.

“For many men, ‘working out is a sport, and they do it because it's fun, it's competitive, and it's something that they've always done,’ says Lori Incledon, author of Strength Training for Women. ‘For women, fitness is a superficial issue. They do it because it will help them look better.’” (Sorgen, WebMD.com)

Everyone wants that “beach body” by Summer so that they can actually take their shirt off and have people hit on them. So generally, men and women have the same overall goal. Fall and Winter is for pigging out on food because it is when all the holidays are, not to mention Starbucks’ Peppermint Mocha and McDonalds’ McRib. Then when it becomes Spring, it is time to workout again and that usually carries on into the Summer so they keep that amazing body. Not only do they workout to get that amazing body, but so they look good for a potential date and/or weddings.

Another thing in today’s culture that is popular is going on dates. No matter where you go, you are going to spot a young couple holding hands. I do not go 24 hours without seeing it, unless I stay home all day. And speaking of staying home, you can find your next date for free by sitting on the couch and downloading the app “Tinder.” In the second commercial, you see Taylor getting ready for a date. We are all nervous when going on a date so putting on a playlist of some popular songs can help us ease the nerves. Maybe even a song will come on that we can relate to our current situation of going on a date. As corny of a song as it is, “First Date” by Blink-182. In that song, they sing all of the thoughts in getting ready and during our date. For example, the next couple lyrics represent our thoughts the best. “Is it cool if I hold your hand?/

Is it wrong if I think it's lame to dance?/ Do you like my stupid hair?/ Would you guess that I didn't know what to wear?” or there is this one too “I dread the thought of our very first kiss/

A target that I'm probably gonna miss” (First Date by Blink-182). I honestly think this would have been a better choice of song for the second commercial, considering what we assume she is getting ready for. With that, though, what are they trying to show with these commercials?

Taylor Swift has a mansion and it is pretty obvious in the commercials. While not all of us can afford a mansion or a treadmill, like the one she is running on in the first commercial, all of us can afford to go running. Most of us are going to put a playlist of upbeat songs on while we are running because it helps us get more out of our workout. “And a recent study found that not just listening, but controlling and creating music in time to one’s pace had an even more profound effect on perceived effort during a workout” (huffingtonpost.com). Not only that, but from personal experience, I know the faster the music is, the better we workout. “A 2010 study found that cyclists actually worked harder when listening to faster music as compared to music at a slower tempo” (huffingtonpost.com). A few years ago, I was using a cycling machine to work out. On day one, I listened to pop music while on it for a half an hour. The next day, to test it, I listened to hard rock and metal and noticed that even though it was still in a half hour, I had a longer distance on day 2. There are playlists for everything in our lives. Finally, the product that Apple is advertising can help us distress while helping the company make money, even if someone is just using it for the 3 month free trial.

In commercial 2, as mentioned above, Taylor is getting ready for a date, party, girls night out, whatever we want to imagine. I know that I like to listen to music while getting ready to go hang out with my friends. For a lot of people, they may realize the obvious effect that it gets us excited. An underlying effect, though, is that it reduces stress. Especially if you attend a live concert event. There was a recent study that proved this.

The volunteers provided saliva samples before the performances, and then again during the interval an hour later. Testing the samples for levels of cortisol and cortisone, researchers in the second samples.

I have seen Apple Music advertised at concerts. Since the beginning of the company, Apple has wanted to take over the world. They are doing just that. How does the 3 month free trial make money for the company though? During the trial, I noticed that there were several ads playing to help the company make money. Most companies are going to do a week or a month free trial. Apple is very smart doing a 3-month. After 3-months, we may just get so used to it that we forget about it and just like that, our credit card is charged because we are so used to the service that we forget to cancel. But as advertised in the commercials, there are hundreds of playlists to choose from. If we do not like any of those, we can put our favorite artist, genre, or song in and we have our own playlist with songs that sound just like those songs or artists.

Every company is aiming to make money. Once Spotify and iHeart Radio exploded, Apple new they had to create a streaming service that was better than their competitors. To do that, they have exclusive album premieres, exclusive interviews, and even a Taylor Swift tour movie that we cannot watch anywhere but Apple Music. Things like this is going to attract people to pay for the service so they can get all the exclusive items. The service benefits Apple and the consumer, is aimed toward the teenage and young adult crowd, and they are showing that their product is superior to the other.