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OnePlus ad in NYT references that U2 iTunes thing for some reason
Travel with us back in time. It’s September 2014 and U2 is just releasing its latest album filled with anthemic pop songs called Songs of Innocence. You might not be a fan and don’t remember much about it, but you’ll probably remember that the album upset many people as Apple automatically pre-loaded the record into every library of the service’s more than 500 million users.
Eventually, even U2’s Bono had to apologize for the misguided promotional stunt.
For some reason, a brand new advertisement from OnePlus in the April 29, 2019, edition of The New York Times appears to reference this U2/iTunes debacle. We’re not quite sure why OnePlus is bringing this up nearly five years later, but there it is in black and white (or black, blue, and red as the ad appears).
The OnePlus ad is really promoting the upcoming OnePlus 7 Pro, which launches on May 14. According to an official forum post, OnePlus ordered the ad as a response to the issue that many people in the U.S. don’t know about OnePlus the company or the OnePlus 6T smartphone.
The front page of the ad has the following text:
No bells & whistles.No bezel.No notch.No app lag.No bloatware.No $2000 price tag.No random music.
The ad is not buried in any one section of the paper; it is on its own in the folds of the digest, which likely means it cost a small fortune. Check it out in full in the images below:
The ad shows a line schematic of the OnePlus 7 Pro, focusing on its lack of bezels, its triple rear camera, and its pop-up selfie cam. It also acknowledges the high level of consumer satisfaction with OnePlus devices according to PCMag.
OnePlus is clearly very proud of the ad as it sent out an email blast to its list promoting the ad’s existence. It also is running a giveaway contest where OnePlus fans who post a pic of themselves holding the ad can potentially win a “Never Settle” t-shirt.
What do you think? If you didn’t know about OnePlus and saw this ad, would you be intrigued to check what all the fuss is about? Would you have known what the “No random music” statement was referring to? Sound off in the comments.
NEXT: OnePlus 7 Pro screen receives A+ rating from DisplayMate, but is it the best?