HTC's campaign for its new One A9 Android Marshmallow is a bit direct with what the company thinks of its number one competitor, according to the recently aired commercial for its latest device. Not only does the commercial serve as a direct parody to Apple's infamous 1984-themed commercial, but it has its wall-climbing hero kicking a bowl of actual apples.

Titled "Apple 1984," it was only shown once on national TV—at a break during Super Bowl XVIII in 1983—and the Ridley Scott-directed ad is still considered to be one of the greatest commercials ever produced. 

As for what makes HTC's new commercial an obvious take on Apple's original ad? Both are complete with sprinting protagonists (though HTC's hero adds a little parkour into the mix), golem-esque, unanimated automatons (the former featuring dummies, the older ad featuring dead-eyed baldies reminiscent of the dronish Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons in Brave New World), and a lot of smashing (in the case of the latter, wielding a sledgehammer on a Big Brother stand-in projected onto a movie screen).

While HTC's tongue-in-cheek call out to Apple might not have Ridley Scott's name to back it up, it certainly has some guts (even if it could read as a bit juvenile to some), asking the audience to "be different," "be bold," and to be anything but a brick in the wall by buying its Android instead of an iPhone, of course. But as the Verge pointed out, HTC's One A9 Android has the almost completely replicated aesthetics of an iPhone with the software of a Google device, so it will be interesting to see how HTC fans and foes alike respond to the company's sly criticism of Apple's products and their mainstream popularity.

Check out HTC's new commercial for the One A9 Android Marshmallow (as well as the Apple commercial that influenced it) in the video clips below.

Via: The Verge