But if you watched any of the company’s iPhone event yesterday, it’s clear Apple is thinking differently now about how it markets its products in an era of Covid, economic uncertainty, war and climate change threats.
In a three-minute video, Apple positions itself as a lifesaver in a crisis. The Apple Watch calls for help after a man skating on a frozen river falls through the ice. The watch gives an atrial fibrillation notification to another. A teenager survives a plane crash in the winter by calling 911 on her watch.
It’s a stark tonal shift from Apple’s usual pitch — that its products are tools for creativity. Essentials for aspiring photographers, designers, outdoor enthusiasts capturing epic adventures to share on social media. There was still a bit of that spirit, sure, but it was hard to ignore the darker message that not only do Apple products save lives, not having Apple products could be fatal.
The new iPhone features, as we wrote here yesterday, were few and far between. The iPhone 14 isn’t so different from its predecessor. What is new:
- Car-crash detection technology on both the Apple Watch and iPhone
- An emergency SOS tool for iPhones that relies on satellites if, for example, you’re lost in the wilderness and cellular service isn’t working.
- Temperature monitoring on the Apple Watch that can be used to track illnesses. In case anyone forgot we’re still in a pandemic.
“It was a little surprising to see Apple reach for the alarmist approach and position their devices as potential life savers,” said Ramon Llamas, research director at market research firm IDC.
The message is: We hope you don’t ever need to use these services, but won’t you be glad to have them the next time you go out alone in the woods?
The somewhat cynical reality here is that Apple products are top shelf, and inflation is eating into people’s disposable incomes. The company has to convince consumers that its smartwatch, which starts at $250 for the cheapest version and goes on up to $800, is worth the extra cash.
SHAMELESS PLUG
NUMBER OF THE DAY: $30,000
The average electric vehicle available today has a base sticker price of about $47,500, according to Edmunds.com.
FOOD NEWS
Welcome to another update from the Unofficial CNN Snack Beat, chronicling all the news that’s fit for human consumption. Let’s kick things off with a cocktail…
First up: Boozy Fresca (hallelujah)
The scamps over at Fresca HQ have been teasing this thing since January, and now at last we can stop mixing our vodka and Fresca ourselves, like animals, and buy it a cute little can mixed by the pros.
Fresca Mixed comes in two flavors — vodka spritz and tequila paloma.
For the uninitiated, Fresca is pretty much perfect, yet perplexingly less prominent than other zero-calorie sodas. Before flavored seltzer took over the world, there was Fresca, the grapefruity, not-too-sweet, diet-but-not-diet drink. (It’s still around, of course, in boozy and non-boozy forms. But like, why can’t I order it at most restaurants? People don’t know what they’ve been missing.)
Next up: Just add water
OK, trigger warning: This is gonna sound really gross, but bear with me.
Kellogg thinks it’s found a workaround for those moments when you want cereal but you’re out of milk. The answer is single-serve “instabowls” of dry cereal and milk powder. Pour in some cold water, let the milk rehydrate, and voila.
Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long for Big Cereal to come up with this here in America, the land of Gogurt, Uncrustables and *shudder* microwaveable bacon-egg-and-cheeses.
Which brings us to our third course of the evening: Snacks.
Americans, we’re a snacking people. But it wasn’t always that way.
As Danielle explains, sales of Doritos, Cheetos, Ruffles, PopCorners, Smartfood and SunChips grew by double digits in the second quarter. The snacks market is growing as our lives and attitudes toward food evolve.
