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Another thing I noticed at Ikea earlier today: A few years ago, Ikea had sold out to Apple. Most of the fake computers in their exhibits – for office furniture, say, – and the catalogue were iMacs back then. Made everything look rather cheerful. Last year that trend seemed to be broken a bit with about half of the computers being of the bland and nondescript kind.
And today I didn't see a single Mac, i or otherwise. Strange. Instead, everything was HP. Or Compaq? Hell, I can't even remember! Anyway, there were grey boxes with some logo on the front. Perhaps they offered to pay more than Apple did.
What's strange, though, is that I can't see this kind of product placement work nearly as well as Apple's. Apple makes instantly recognisable, iconic machines – while those other companies derive their charm from exchangeable, bland, cheap products. How does placing them there do anything for the computer manufacturer? How does it do anything for Ikea?
Is it just important for those other companies to ensure that Apple doesn't get to the public attention that way – causing them to take over the advertising opportunity event though it's worse value for money for them than it would be for Apple. Isn't that cheating and will give you bad karma (just like deliberately breaking Windows computers just because you can™ will give you bad karma)?