No matter what Apple announces today at its fall product event in Cupertino, millions of people will buy it. And consciously or subconsciously, NYU professor Scott Galloway says, they’re doing it because Apple has figured out how to advertise to their genitals.
What’s the secret to Apple’s brand? Boiled down to one word, it’s sex.
“An iPhone is saying to the opposite sex, or a potential mate, ‘I have good genes. You should mate with me.’”
Justin Sullivan / Getty
On the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, Galloway previewed his upcoming book, “The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google,” in which he argues that business and biology are more closely linked than you might think.
“You’re either appealing to the brain, the heart or the genitals, and as you move down the torso, the margins get better, because the decision-making becomes more irrational,” Galloway said. “Ideally, you want to be in the business of appealing to people’s sex organs.”
“The Four” comes out on Oct. 3 and you can preorder it on Amazon. Below the embedded audio, Galloway explains just what he means when he says, “Apple is sex.”
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Galloway sees Apple as a luxury brand like Louis Vuitton, characterized by an iconic founder and “temples to the brand” (Apple Stores). And product events like today’s, he explained, are nothing more than a “fashion show.”
“Your No. 1 instinct is survival and, once that box is checked and you think, ‘I’m going to make it through the day,’ your No. 2 instinct is procreation,” Galloway said. “The No. 1 signal of wealth, the No. 1 signal of power, the No. 1 signal of your likelihood of a random sexual encounter in a greater selection set among potential mates is the iPhone.”
“This is the new signaling device, ‘I have good genes,’ just as having ad-supported Pandora radio or paying with a Discover card is like saying, ‘I have bad genes,’” he added. “An iPhone is saying to the opposite sex, or a potential mate, ‘I have good genes. You should mate with me.’”
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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