Frank Ahrens of the Washington Post has written article on the differences between Apple and BuyMusic.com in their ad campaigns. Ahrens looks at BuyMusic.com’s Tommy Lee commercial, in which the Motley Crue drummer smashes a Gibson guitar that looks exactly like the one prominently featured in Apple’s ads for its iTunes Music Store. “Successful businesses need strong icons, and Apple’s guitar is the first memorable icon associated with a pay Internet music site,” writes Ahrens. “The fact that BuyMusic attacked Apple’s guitar is proof of its nascent power. The guitar could be to Apple what the yellow ‘running man’ icon was to AOL as it became the top Internet service. BuyMusic may be latching on to Apple’s guitar to generate buzz, but in the long run, Apple’s rival will need to create its own Gibson.”
