Prototypes “Who’s Gonna Sing?” iPod shuffle Commercial (2006)
Clipped to clothing
The second-generation iPod shuffle, announced on 12 September 2006, was an aluminium player with a built-in clip that Apple promoted as its most wearable iPod; it held 1 GB, or up to 240 songs. Its television commercial, introduced in November 2006 and listed in the advertising trade as "Clip", was built around that feature. Macworld described a light green background against which the torsos of men and women morph into one another as they put on shirts and jackets and clip the shuffle to their clothes; the last model fixes it to his lapel and walks off. The closing line read "Put some music on."
Who made it
An advertising-industry blog credits the spot to TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles, with direction by Mark Romanek of Anonymous Content and design and animation by Brand New School.
A French trio
The soundtrack was "Who's Gonna Sing?" by Prototypes, a French trio of singer Isabelle Le Doussal, known as Bubble Star, bassist and synth player Stéphane Bodin and guitarist François Marche. Active since 2003, the group released two albums in France, Tout le monde cherche quelque chose à faire (2004) and Mutants Médiatiques (2005), before a self-titled 2006 US album collecting tracks from both, which included this song. Another Prototypes track, "Je ne te connais pas", was used in a 2007 BMW 1 Series commercial in Germany.
Browse more iPod history
Browse iPod advertising to see more commercials in the collection, or visit iPod History home for broader information about iPod models and their history.