Vintage Corvette Saves James Corden’s Apple Music Ad From Terminal Meh

Late Late Show host plays second-fiddle to immaculate convertible ‘Vette. 

byMax Prince|
Vintage Corvette Saves James Corden’s Apple Music Ad From Terminal Meh
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In advertising, success is transforming product into adjective. Nikes aren’t for athletes, Nikes are athletic; Jeeps aren’t for rugged people, Jeeps are rugged. Apple spent three decades tethering itself to smart-alternative. “Think Different” and “Breaking 1984” were brilliant, and also subtle, as they hardly included any actual Apple iconography. And they worked. Now, we have this: Late Late Show host James Corden pretend pitching ads to company executives.

Yes, that’s the idea behind the first installment of Apple Music’s new marketing campaign, which rolled out during the Emmy Awards on Sunday. Corden taking over as the spokesman is hardly surprising, since the company purchased his "Carpool Karaoke" series earlier this year. In the new spot, he walks through a succession of not-very-good-but-sorta-funny-ish ideas, while Apple’s people (Eddy Cue, Bozoma Saint John, Jimmy Iovine) awkwardly try to cram in buzzwords and sales speak. It’s all pretty meh. Oh, except for the Corvette.

Mercy, that Corvette.

In one of the Corden’s hypothetical cutaways, he’s tearing through the desert in a second-gen C2 convertible. No doubt, it’s a 1967 (no hubcaps, and five-louver fenders are a dead giveaway), without the optional headrests, shoulder belts, or speed warning. Don’t let the post-process sepia and color corrections twist it—that’s Marlboro Maroon, one of the era’s better paint colors. The Corvette’s immaculate, and it’s the centerpiece of the commercial’s best 20-second bit. Coincidence? No. I think not. 

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