Apple is marketing its devices’ health features by touting their ability to save users’ lives, The Verge reported.
At the Big Tech company’s recent iPhone 15 showcase, it debuted an ad showing people blowing out birthday candles and getting “happy birthday” messages on their iPhones, according to the Sept. 17 story. Accompanying captions noted “Apple Watch notified her of a low heart rate. Went to the hospital and received vital pacemaker surgery,” and, for another, that the watch detected an elevated heart rate while the woman was pregnant, causing her to be dashed to the hospital. The watch also has fall detection and a blood oxygen sensor.
“These are undeniably great features, but there’s a reason Apple’s approach to advertising them has a tendency to make us uncomfortable: they sell us a product using concern for our own mortality — buy an Apple device or risk your life,” The Verge wrote.
Apple’s relatively darker advertising shift could be due to stiffer competition in the health wearables market, according to the story. The health-tracking features of Google’s Pixel Watch and Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 are now both on par with Apple Watch, the news outlet reported.
