A billboard and the original Shot on iPhone art – Image Credit: TommyGunMassacre/Reddit and Apple/Instagram
This ad image is hardly clear — get closer to this Apple “Shot on iPhone” billboard before you decide what it’s showing you.
The Shot on iPhone marketing campaign is well known for coming up with some creative shots. However, the latest installment may have drivers in Miami seeing something unexpectedly phallic.
Appearing northbound on I-95, the billboard captured by Reddit user “TommyGun Massacre” shows that a billboard has been erected as part of a new “Shot on iPhone, Drawn on iPad” campaign. The idea is that shots from thirteen photographers are doodled on by eight artists, creating a mixed-media digital artwork.
Most of the images look safe for work. This one is a lot more adult if you’re looking at it from far away. Having the mindset of a teenage boy helps.
A photograph of a shark has been drawn to include a person being dragged along, holding onto its fin. With an outstretched hand pointing up towards the camera, an exaggeratedly large finger is shown with an octopus sucking on the turgid digit.
This doesn’t sound like it could be rude on its own. Okay. Maybe it does.
It really does, if you put the image on a billboard visible some distance down the road. With the detail becoming harder to see, it’s easy to misidentify what’s on display.
According to the Miami New Times the advertising fumble (?, maybe?) is about 15 foot long, though we know size isn’t everything.
It’s a scene to put a smile on the faces of the dirty-minded members of society. It’s also reminiscent of the in-game advertising from the Grand Theft Auto franchise, which slips in innuendo where possible.
And Vice City was strongly, strongly inspired by Miami. Seems fitting.
Since Apple likes to keep a family-friendly appearance with its marketing campaigns, it is highly unlikely that it was something the company intended to stick on the board. It is equally unknown if this was an accidental lapse by the artist or something meant to be subversive in nature. We’re guessing the latter.
Other images in the series include a pajama-clad person sleeping on a cloud, a whale eating a diver, and a tall woman applying makeup while looking in a building’s windows.
So far, the billboard has stayed up and the accompanying Instagram post hasn’t been deleted either. It is unclear if Apple will ultimately do anything about the cock-up, since the campaign will eventually run its course and be replaced by another ad in the future.
For the moment, drivers will have to try not to chortle too much as they go past the Apple-sanctioned accidental 15-foot member on their morning commute.
