Posted on by Ihnatko

Apple enters the Quenchability marketspace

You thought those fake Apple stores were a problem? Asia’s also got fake Steve Jobs-es!!!

A MacBreak listener who lives in Taiwan sent me the above photo, taken by his wife in a local supermarket. His rough translation of the Chinese:

Buy TongYi tea products today
Sony Bloggie free every day
Weekly iPad draw

It explains why Apple recently issued a blanket prohibition against using their products in promotions, as well as how Apple managed to put $76,500,000,000 in the bank. Suffice to say that any company that can afford Steve Jobs’ quote as a beverage pitchman can also buy exclusivity.

(Question: why do you think you never, ever see Tim Cook’s bus ads for Pibb Xtra any more?)

Let’s just hope that this campaign takes off and reaches the States. Suggested slogans:

“And with TongYi Tea, there’s always ‘One More Thing’: great, refreshing taste.”

“One sip, and you’ll be locked-in…to Flavor!”

“Nestea is a bottle of $#&%! They should be ashamed of themselves!!!!”

Note:

Please don’t say something in the comments that will force me and a hundred people to tell you “It’s not really Steve Jobs, you galloping jack-a-ninny.”

35 Replies to “Apple enters the Quenchability marketspace”

  1. Why would Steve Jobs bypass Apple’s marketing team to promote this product in Asia. The ad isn’t even that good looking. Very surprised.

  7. And I thought conventional wisdom was that Apple products could never crack Asia. They just need to include a fuzzy drink and the iPhone will be a huge hit!

  11. I’ll have to give ’em one thing, though: the iced tea is actually pretty darned good — as ought to be expected when endorsed by Mr. Jobs.

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  14. They also have a tv commercial version of it, the fake Jobs was in it of course. Personally I think the whole ad campaign sucks.(I live in Taiwan)

  16. @Mark Crummett – bottled tea in Asia is nothing like horrible Nestea or Lipton back home. It’s actually pretty good and you can get it unsweetened. It’s not sugar water.

    @jmansor – I can assure you that Apple products have totally cracked Asia. Everyone and his ancestors either has or wants one. Steve Jobs is one of the few famous non-Chinese/Taiwanese people who, when I refer to him while talking to locals, I don’t need to twist his name around into some wonky Chinese equivalent. Everybody knows “Steve Jobs” although sometimes they just call him “Jobs”. You can’t even say that about Al Gore (Gao-Er), Harry Potter (Ha Li Po Te) or Warren Buffett (Ba Fa Te although sometimes people will earnestly call him “buffet”, as in “all you can eat buffet”).

    I live in Taiwan too, and I’ll have to keep my eye out for these!

  21. SAY IT IN 17 WORDS: Steve Jobs lookalike does tea commercial on … – [ ?????? ]
    plogspot101.blogspot.com/…/steve-jobs-lookalike-does-tea.html – ??????? +1 ?????? ??
    6 Jul 2011 – Steve Jobs tea advert link is down. seems YOUTuBE POLICE GOT to IT see here: lawsuit time? … drink commercical currently airing on Taiwan television, … Enjoy.??????? ????????? Posted by dan at 8:37 PM …

  22. Wednesday, July 6, 2011
    Steve Jobs lookalike does tea commercial on Taiwan TV
    UPDATE:
    Steve Jobs tea advert link is down. seems YOUTuBE POLICE GOT to IT see here:
    lawsuit time? Nicole Martinelli was right!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGK6zPG7xn4

    BUT THIS IS STILL UP:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sk4GfU_TXw

    He’s not Steve Jobs, but he sure is a good lookalike for the
    Apple chief, and while we still don’t know the name
    of this expat in Taipei who plays the role of “Steve Jobs” in this tea
    drink commercical currently airing on Taiwan television,
    he’s almost a dead ringer for the tech icon.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGK6zPG7xn4

    The tea company — http://www.teastyle.com.tw/ — is owned by a huge
    convenience store comglomerate in Taiwan, and this advert
    is part of an iPad giveaway drawing the tea firm is sponsoring.

    The ad is
    eminently watchable, just 21 seconds long, and it’s
    gaining traction among Jobs watchers and bloggers worldwide, from
    Taipei to Tiananmen (pronounced “tea-an-amen”). The tea
    drink he’s hawking is called [???] — “Tong Yi Cha” — and as usual it’s a sugary
    sweet tea concoction sold in the 10,000 plus convenience stores
    that make an appearance at every street corner in Taiwan. What’s
    inside? Mostly water and sugar, so forget about it being anything
    really like tea. It’s not tea. It’s sugared water with a tea flavor.

    But the sweet-smelling TV ad is making waves in the blogosphere and
    giving Steve Jobs fans another viral video to file away in the
    doppelganger department. Enjoy.???????
    ?????????

  25. Love it, now BoingBoing prevents me from posting comments about the truth behind the backstory of this old news, and all my earlier posts were removed, thanks Xeni, now we know where you stand, or sit, on freedom of speech and truthiness behiond your “posts”…par for the course…. SIGH

  27. Friend whispers “I know that guy in the Steve Jobs TV ad and poster here ………he’s a fairly well-known actor/model/dancer if you move in those circles in Taipei. Has put on a coupla broadway-type shows there. Good on him for getting his 15 minutes of “fame”.

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  29. Since you know Sal Soghoian could you get me back stage passes to Dave Matthews. Six degrees at work.

  30. This guy looks like he might be Steve’s estranged, disinherited younger brother who tries to make a living by living-off his brother’s name (Remember Billy Carter? Only Billy wasn’t estranged or disinherited).

  31. Steve Jobs ‘Lookalike” in Taiwan TV Ad Is American Expat Brook Hall and His Future Is Busy and Bright

    Taiwan’s ‘face of Steve Jobs’ Brook Hall has a story to tell. And it’s much bigger than one 21-second TV ad. Dan Bloom reports from Taiwan

    [hat tips to Torch Pratt and Rookie of CCU] Thanks, mates!

    It was all smoke and mirrors, little wires and a great hair and make-up team in Taiwan, and the
    magic of television editing.

    And no, he’s not Steve Jobs, but a longtime expat in Taiwan named Brook Hall
    sure is a good lookalike for the Apple chief exec. Hall who plays the
    role of “Steve Jobs” in a popular tea drink commerical airing on
    Taiwan TV, he’s almost a dead ringer for the tech icon — and the
    similiarity is so strong that the video has gone viral across the
    globe with over 185,000 hits on one YouTube channel created by
    Zenroll.

    Although Hall has never been identified before as the lookalike Steve
    Jobs in the recent tea commercial, he now confirms it is indeed him. However, he has a much
    bigger story to tell and this blog will tell it below. Read on.

    A tea company set up the advert, and it was part part of an iPad
    giveaway the firm was sponsoring. The ad was not sponsored by Apple and Steve Jobs
    has not even seen it, most likely, according to sources.

    From Hall’s perspective, the Jobs gig was — in Hall’s own words — — “a fun three hours to try to imitate him — there was a great
    makeup and hair team, and little wires that pull your eyes and cheeks
    that can reshape your face a bit. I just studied the walk and the
    speech patterns.”

  32. Steve Jobs ‘Lookalike” in Taiwan TV Ad Is American Expat Brook Hall

    From Hall’s perspective, the Jobs gig was — in Hall’s own words — — “a fun three hours to try to imitate him — there was a great
    makeup and hair team, and little wires that pull your eyes and cheeks
    that can reshape your face a bit. I just studied the walk and the
    speech patterns.”

    It was shot at Hsinchu SCience Park in central Taiwan, orignally an 8 hour job, but it was done in 3 hours, since it was so easy, according to Hall, who is a professional actor and director who has performed on Bway and made over 60 commericals in Taiwan since 2004….

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