Listen, I'm just going to be honest: A year ago, if you'd told me you were going to spend $549 on a pair of headphones, I would have...disagreed with your choices.
But now? After a year without leaving the house? After a year when vacations were canceled, bar outings were verboten and cars sat idle in the driveway?
Hey, spend that cash. You're going to wear those headphones every day, and eating a fistful of edibles before zoning on the couch is the closest you're going to get to an overseas voyage of self-discovery.
Apple doesn't quite take that approach to selling its new AirPods Max headphones, but it gets pretty close.
The brand's launch spot for the headphones—Apple's first outside of the Beats by Dre nameplate—is a hypnotic and stylish journey through an enigmatic expanse of space that we quickly realize is just someone lying on the couch and using the gear's noise-canceling features.
It's a swank spot, reminiscent of Wieden+Kennedy London's mind-bending work for the Lurpak butter brand.
Will it sell you on headphones that will set you back a few hundos more than most of the competitors out there? Probably not in and of itself, but if audio is a big part of your decompression rituals these days, the ad set you on the path of treating yourself.
Here's what I want to know: What seemingly steep purchase did you make in quarantine that you 100% stand by? Let me know at the email below or at @Griner on Twitter.
Mine? A good ring light. I picked up the Elgato for about $200 of my own money, and I've used that damn thing every single day. I want to buy one for every shadowy weirdo on my video calls.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
[email protected]
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