After airing a send-up of an iPhone commercial on Mondays Ellen DeGeneres Show, the comedienne apologized for the parody at the behest of, well, Apple. According to DeGeneres, Apple was none too pleased with her spoof, which depicted the actress fumbling with the device, trying (and failing) to send a text message. The people at Apple didnt think it was so funny, she said on her show. They thought I made it look like its hard to use and I just want to say Im sorry if I made the iPhone look like it was hard to use. Putting aside for a minute the rather Johnny-Come-Lately nature of the parody (even a faux iPad commercial would seem like old news at this point), Apples reaction and DeGeneress subsequent apology bring up some interesting questions about freedom of speech and the media. By now its common knowledge how protective Jobs and Co. are of their empire — iPad developers and Gizmodo can certainly attest to that — but there are limits. Is it reasonable to think that DeGeneress joke would affect the publics opinion of the iPhone? (Its seriously doubtful that the company would have any kind of case if it were to seek damages — thanks Hustler Magazine v. Falwell!) Should a comedian apologize for parody? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Keywords: commercial, advert, Ellen, degeneres, Show, Apple, iphone, G4, 3G, 3GS, Steve, Jobs
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