Apple's Spent $38 Million Advertising the Apple Watch on TV in the Last Month

Apple has spent a total of $38 million on Apple Watch television advertisements since its March 9 media event, reports Reuters, citing numbers from TV ad tracking site iSpot.tv. Apple has been marketing the Apple Watch aggressively as it marks an entirely new product category and the company's first serious venture into wearable devices.

$38 million is just $4 million less than the $42 million Apple spent on advertising for the iPhone and iPhone 6 Plus over the course of the last five months. The Apple Watch commercial has been shown on TV more than 300 times since March 9, and more than half of those spots have come during primetime shows like "The Walking Dead," "The Voice," and the NCAA basketball tournament.


Reality television show "The Voice" also marked one of the Apple Watch's first appearances on a celebrity wrist. One of the singing competition's judges, Pharell Williams, wore an Apple Watch on Monday's episode.

Apple Watch advertising picked up on Monday of this week as we began the countdown to Apple Watch pre-orders. Apple began airing the Apple Watch commercial more frequently, as Monday also marked an NCAA final between Duke and Wisconsin.

In addition to being shown on TV, the Apple Watch has also graced the covers of several magazines in the United States and other countries around the world in an effort to highlight its usefulness as a fitness device and its position as a fashion accessory. It's been shown off in Fitness, Self, Vogue, and more.

Apple Watch pre-orders begin at 12:01 AM Pacific Time on April 10, which is also the date that Apple will begin offering Apple Watch try-on appointments in its retail stores. We can expect Apple Watch advertising to pick up even more over the course of the next two weeks as we approach the device's official April 24 launch date.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

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Top Rated Comments

DakotaGuy Avatar
130 months ago
Demand will exceed supply no matter how well or poorly it sells. Apple will make sure of that.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JeffyTheQuik Avatar
130 months ago
This is Tim's first new product category post-Steve.

Failure is not an option.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sampaul Avatar
130 months ago
That's nothing......
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fortheus Avatar
130 months ago
They need to build up the hype because its mediocre [emoji1]
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mejsric Avatar
130 months ago
I've worked in advertising for the last 15 years - I know a thing or two. My point was, this launch will be different from the others. Normal/average people aren't interested in the watch, just the Apple faithful who were going to buy it anyway.

Perhaps I should have just said "Waste of money"

Lets me guess... You was fired, right?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mazeman Avatar
130 months ago
I'll bet a lot of people are going to order one tonight, then make an appointment tomorrow to try one on, then decide whether or not to cancel their order.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)