Apple is likely to report massive sales for the iPhone 6s over the holiday season, but it seems that the company is looking to add more to that as it launched pop-up advertisements on the App Store directed at owners of older iPhones.
The pop-up ad, which appears as users access the App Store, shows the iPhone 6s with the "Ridiculously Powerful" tagline. There is a Skip option on the upper right corner to allow users to return to what they were doing, but there are also the Learn More and Upgrade Now options.
Users tapping on the Learn More option are redirected to the iPhone 6s section of Apple's official website, while tapping on the Upgrade Now option will take the user to the online Apple Store where the iPhone 6s can be purchased.
The launch of the marketing piece is seemingly not tied into the release of iOS 9.2, as there have been instances when iPhone users still on iOS 9.1 were shown the ad. It is still unclear whether iPhone owners in across all markets and regions are being shown the iPhone 6s upgrade ad.
Response to Apple's aggressive ad has not been well online, with users believing that Apple should not be leveraging the App Store for the delivery of ads, and especially not for promoting its own products.
#apple @AppStore just gave me a full screen ad for a new iPhone, and so becomes native, non-removable adware. Not cool.
— Chris Wallace (@bitcollider_io) December 11, 2015
Just got a full screen iPhone 6s ad when I opened up the App Store app. Hope this isn't the start of a new trend #apple — David Turnbull (@_davidturnbull) December 11, 2015
I was browsing the App Store on my iPhone and an ad by Apple for the new iPhone 6S popped up. Really, Apple?
— Riccardo Mori (@morrick) December 11, 2015
The ironic thing about the iPhone 6s pop-up ads that Apple has pushed out is that the company introduced ad blocking features on the iOS 9, which gives users more control on their exposure to ads while using their iPhones. While some may see the user response as an overreaction, the fact is that Apple is contradicting itself on its stance on placing the user experience first.
