Apple asks Toyota to pull jailbreak ad campaign

By on Apr 5, 2011 at 11:26 PM
mobile April 5, 2011

Toyota recently launched a publicized campaign that placed a special Scion-branded theme pack in the Cydia store for jailbroken iPhone users to enjoy. The move was seen as progressive considering Toyota’s decision to embrace the jailbreak community, but a new report reveals that the theme pack has since been pulled from Cydia. According to the report, Toyota’s advertising agency claims Toyota was contacted by Apple and asked to have the theme removed from Cydia. Toyota complied, of course, and had its agency contact the theme’s publisher to have it taken down immediately. Apple has been openly opposed to the jailbreak community in the past, and this latest move hardly comes as a surprise.

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  • Tim242

    F**k apple. Android 4 Life!

    • Anonymous

      You really do have a way with words, Tim.

      It’s unfortunate this ad campaign wasn’t pulled before that photo was taken; that theme pack is hideous.

      • Anonymous

        It might be hideous to you.

      • Tomm

        It’s unfortunate that Apple has to be such a douche all the time.

    • 1T2dirtnap

      Android for life! Yeah you heard Samsung and LG! So stop with the Android version of iOS! You wouldn’t want to upset your Android fan base would you? I heard they’re even worse then Apple fans! Oh wait you sold millions of Galaxy S units because of the iOS similarities! Never mind, go about your business.

      • Biggles

        Don’t kid yourself. They sold millions of Galaxy S units because of the Super AMOLED display and Hummingbird processor. The UI can be easily changed on any Android phone…without rooting…for FREE.

      • Nope

        …or you could just use a UI that’s well designed enough that every manufacturer doesn’t try to change it. Putting a layer of frosting on garbage doesn’t make it stop being garbage.

      • Anonymous

        @Nope … Yeah it does. A layer of frosting on garbage makes it garbage with a layer of frosting on top. Which would YOU rather eat?

      • 1T2dirtnap

        Again just stating the facts. It was the number one selling point in our store last year. Sorry you Android Fanboys feel so strongly against the idea the Sammy was trying so hard to copy the iPhone’s UI. Millions of average users won’t change the UI on their GS device, so I think it is you that’s kidding yourself.

      • Tim242

        If it makes you feel better to believe that….

      • 1T2dirtnap

        Doesn’t make me feel better one bit, just stating the facts. It was the selling point whenever someone came into our store to by a Galaxy S device. “it looks just like the iPhone”, another customer sold.

      • Tim242

        The awful touchwiz does look a lot like the awful iOS UI. That doesn’t mean
        it’s the reason people bought it. Everybody I know that bougjt one,
        immediately downloaded Launcher Pro from the market. Regardless…I hate
        Samsung almost as much as Apple. HTC and Motorola are the premiere Android
        OEM’s.

      • 1T2dirtnap

        Oh premier OEM’s yeah that’s a funny one. Nexus S thats made by Moto right oh no HTC… oh wait must be someone else.

      • Tim242

        The Nexus S is not a premiere device. It is a cheap-feeling, vanilla Galaxy
        S. You are clueless.

      • 1T2dirtnap

        Clueless yes exactly the type of tactic used by individuals who try to seem like the know what they’re talking about but really don’t. Ok Android Fanboy… your the expert here. Doubt very much Google shares your sentiments, but if Samsung isn’t a Premier OEM as you claim then neither is HTC and Moto. Oh and if Google decides to hammer down on OEM’s with the fragmentation clause you’ll be seeing a lot if vanilla going around.

      • Tim242

        There will not be a lot of Vanilla anything going around Google will be
        requiring skins be approved by them, not banned. Did you even read it?

      • 1T2dirtnap

        Didn’t you read? I didn’t say “banned”, I said hammer down! Google doesn’t need to stop at approved IU’s. They can go a step further if they decide. If you know anything about this industry you’ll know things change in an instant.

        Sent from my Verizon iPhone

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5124157 Azmon Rougier

        1T2dirtnap you are so fake it’s oozing out your pic…of an android robot….you work somewhere where they sell phones? where? they allow people who know nothing about phones ie. OEMs, OSes, UIs to sell them?

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5124157 Azmon Rougier

        Ignore dirtnap….he has no idea what he’s talking about…sent from his Verizon iPhone (which has been selling less than the HTC Thunderbolt) haha…the dude has an android as his pic…

        enough with the fud dude…

        all that the antifragmentation clause is for, is that everybody – OEMs, chipmakers, and google – will be on the same page as far as making sure the new doesnt break the old and the old will be able to work on the new…simple…they are not going to be doing quality control on UIs as dirtnap would have people believe…

      • Tim242

        If it makes you feel better to believe that….

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5124157 Azmon Rougier

        smh…smh…tsk tsk…all an iphone is is icons on a background….sorry…but no matter HOW much anyone on android tries to copy an iphone our phone will still be MORE!!!

        Say something about the EVO…..say something about HTC…PLEASE….PLEASE…..lol….say HTC three times….

        That’s right…go after the low hanging fruit….lol

    • Anonymous

      F**k android. Apple 4 Life!
      (Y are you reading an apple article dummy? Go to android and me if you love android so much ) and stop trolling you give android fans a bad name.

      • Tim242

        Is BGR an Apple only site? I know it sometimes seems that way, but we know
        better. Android and me? Android Central and Phandroid are the top Android
        sites. Nobody reads Android and Me. Get educated. You give the iTurds a
        worse name. Get with it!

      • Anonymous

        Wow wow wait…. iturd? Really? You`re calling me an iturd because i attacked one idiotic fanboy?? That only proves you`re more ignorant than i am, by defending even the dumbest fanboys. Also brg is not an apple site so ignore the apple acticles and read the rest, is not that hard is it? Also android central better? That depends on personal preference, kinda like android, when one phone doesnt fit your style you have multiple other options. Like it hate its all personal. @sshole.

  • http://twitter.com/phonegeek PhoneGeek

    SECOND> Why did they back down?

    • sirpaul

      We don’t do that FIRST, SECOND!!1! shit here on BGR. If you like that sort of thing go over to engadget.

    • numetheus

      Because branding costs money and Apple can sue Toyota for misrepresenting their brand without the consent of Apple and win. On your favorite show, why do you think they often cover up brand names? Unless of course Cisco or another company has allowed them to use it on their show, it’s not legal to use someone elses branding publicly. And because a legal battle will make them look bad. Only a stupid corporation would fight something like this.

  • Adrian

    Wow Tim… Android feels 2nd class compared to iOS.

    • Tim242

      That’s some funny shit.

    • Biggles

      Until you get past the UI and into the hardware.

      • Nope

        Yeah! UI doesn’t matter! That’s why desktop linux has been a raging success!

        No seriously, it’s the layer that you actually interact with, how can you ignore it? I honestly don’t understand this mentality.

        It doesn’t matter how powerful your car is if you don’t have a steering wheel.

  • Betelgeuse Orion

    it doesnt matter what theme is on the iphone it still looks like outdated shit, just a bunch of stupid icons reminds me of program manager in windows 3.1

    • Killa357

      Holy crap… It does… I never noticed this. Think Microsoft will sue?

  • http://twitter.com/colbyrascol Colby Rascol

    This article is the 10th Apple related article that BGR has reported TODAY. I come here for general technology news regarding smartphones/computers/tablets. I do not come here to read 10 Apple articles a day. Mix it up a little, please.

    • Killa357

      Agreed, do some of these editors get a check from Apple or something? Kind of gets old.

    • Anonymous

      That’s what happens when there the only tech company that makes news. Don’t like don’t read.

      • http://twitter.com/colbyrascol Colby Rascol

        No, this is what happens when a technology blog is skewed a certain direction. BGR doesn’t care that Sprint will release a dual-core, 4.3 inch glasses free 3D display phone that has 1GB of RAM. Nor does it really show that much of an interest that there will be at least 5 tablets that will BEAT the Ipad2 in every way spec wise (and OS wise depending on which one you like the most, I’m assuming it is Apple) because it does not have the words “Apple” on the back of it. It really is a crying shame actually.

      • Anonymous

        Let me catch you up on current event kid cause you have been living under a rock for sometime now. There are phones with way better specs than the iPhone and there tablets with better specs then the iPad. The only thing is they have garbage android software and sell like shit. You want specs get a real computer. You apple hating morons have been saying the same thing for years now and where is apple now and where is there competition? How’s the moto xoom with all the specs and android os doing? People were lining up for the iPad two weeks after it came out. While the xoom takes up shelve space a best buy. Grow up idiot.

      • Anonymous

        Except this particular phone he’s referring to is only the successor to the best selling Android phone of all time, the EVO 4G… on a network that has only 50 million customers. Especially when you consider how profitable it was for Sprint in place of the iPhone.

        Also, the original Galaxy S tab sold more than 1.2 million units in the first 3 months – 200k more than the first iPad in the same period of time- with WORSE specs (which, as you seem to agree, shouldn’t be a problem whatsoever). Your fearless leader Jobs had to eat crow after he said that 7″ inch tablets are dead on arrival once Samsung posted their Q3 earning results.

        Was this covered on BGR? I don’t recall so and I certainly can’t find it in archives. Hmm….

        For the record now, I’ve used several mac products before, and have no problem with them. I know a lot of people who feel same way. Middle-of-the-road consumers who don’t give a damn if they have to pay a premium but the device better WORK. Only kids like yourself seem hung up on such buzz words as “ease of use”, “ecosystem”, or “aesthetics”.

        It isn’t about Android, iOS, Sprint, Verizon, or WP7, Blackberry, WebOS, or whatever it is… fanboys are idiots period, and you’ve proven yourself to be no exception.

      • Anonymous

        There’s plenty of tech companies that make the news every day. Not even if you focused on smart phones. If this site was an iPhone fan site I could understand why they post so much Apple content. But nowhere is that perspective advertised until you read the actual articles. That’s just plain bias.

        Oh… and as someone who works in media… let me teach you something about what we call “exposure bias”. I’m sure you won’t learn about it til you’re in sixth grade, but it’s what happens when news outlets give more coverage to a relatively minor event.

        For example, Fox News does this with tea party rallies. BGR does this with Apple stories. It’s the same thing. When you’re old enough and can buy your own cigarettes, you’ll see.

      • Biggles

        Make no mistake about it. Apple isn’t making the news. The mindless drones that live for them are the ones making the news. Hell, if every “rumor” and “rumor debunked” for Android made it on here, it would drown out Apple news events. And by the way, the Mac fell to the PC in the same fashion that the iPhone will fall to Android. It’s only a matter of time. Apple chooses to be a premium retailer in all things it does and cell phones won’t be an exception in their portfolio.

        Hey, you can get the 2 year old iphone 3gs 8gb for only $49 on 2-yr contract right now, making it the most expensive phone by far that will be obsolete before you even open the box. And 2 months into your 24 month contract, it’ll probably choke on iOS 5.

      • Jud77

        It’s not that we don’t want to read, it’s that we can;t NOT read about Apple because it’s all this e-rag posts.

    • Anonymous

      I’m thinking Zach is just doing this to piss is all of. Not sure. I love my Apple products, I’m posting from an iPad now and I have a MacBook which I use as my regular computer. And I also love my Thunderbolt. But damn, BGR is way to obsessed. It’s Zach in general. All he writes about is Apple.

      My two favorite tech sites, Engadget and BGR are going down the shitter these days.

      • Riley B

        Now there’s an idea. Engadget might have an opening for him now.

      • Anonymous

        Engadget has been in the shitter for a while. And the tech blogosphere reacts like uncle Eddie and says the shitter was full.

  • Anonymous

    So can Apple be class-actioned for violating the DMCA then? lol.

  • Anonymous

    I will never buy another Toyota as long as I live.

    Aside from that “Home” screen being deathly boring, the fact that a company like Toyota would allow themselves to be strong-armed and man-handled by a Totalitarian regime like apple is extremely disappointing.

    • Anonymous

      Japan used to be a Totalitarian regime thats why we bombed them back to the stone age, old habits die hard I guess.

    • numetheus

      It’s not legal to use another companies brand publicly without permission, period. Has nothing to do with strong arming.

  • http://twitter.com/homescrub homescrub

    Haha, take the candy away from the babies. They can’t have any!

  • Anonymous

    Damn Japanese pussies

    • Anonymous

      Oh ya totally. They had that earthquake coming too.

      (Poor taste joke is in poor taste).

  • Anonymous

    I mean, yeah I understand why companies like Toyota will go ahead and bend over for Apple, but it still pisses me off. As I was reading this, I kept hoping the ending would be something along the lines of, “Toyota tells Apple to shove it.” Oh well..

    • Biggles

      The irony here is that Scion is the brand that’s all about customizing your car to make it unique. Isn’t that the antithesis of Apple?

    • numetheus

      Legally a company can’t use another companies brand without permission. Apple has to ensure consistent branding. If it’s misrepresented by making it look different and they are publicly using it, that is not legal. If the cisco brand were used outside of what their PR department wants, Cisco would have told them to stop.

  • Anonymous

    In Apple’s defense that skin is ugly as shit.

  • tim

    Fuck apple. Toyota put the theme on Android!

  • Broken_monkey

    so sad all those rebellious hipsters, and their jailbroken iphones, and toyo prius’s must suck to be that hip.

  • http://twitter.com/Thorpeland Thorpeland

    Android FTW! This article is another example of why I hate crapple.

  • numetheus

    Because branding costs money and Apple can sue Toyota for misrepresenting their brand without the consent of Apple and win. On your favorite show, why do you think they often cover up brand names? Unless of course Cisco or another company has allowed them to use it on their show, it’s not legal to use someone elses branding publicly. And because a legal battle will make them look bad. Only a stupid corporation would fight something like this.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000722296108 Herman Guerra

    lol and you think you own your phone just because you paid for it.

  • http://profiles.google.com/dale.thomas Dale Thomas

    It’s a shame that you buy a phone with your hard earned money and can’t install what you want.

    • Anonymous

      Because in 1999 when you had a brand new Nokia phone with a black and white screen, you could install anything!

  • Anonymous

    “Toyota complied, of course” … What do you mean of course? What exactly would apple have done had they ignored the request? Nothing. Because Toyota does not depend on Apple.

    • fr3dd0

      but the same people that buy apple buy toyota – they appeal to the same zombie consumer. it is a “safe” purchase…

  • Anonymous

    “Toyota complied, of course” … What do you mean of course? What exactly would apple have done had they ignored the request? Nothing. Because Toyota does not depend on Apple.

  • Anonymous

    If Apple was really so opposed to jailbreaking, wouldn’t they just fix IOS’s security problems to prevent jailbreaking in the first place?!

  • Anonymous

    Should have made an Android launcher theme. Don’t even have to root.

  • http://profiles.google.com/robert.higareda Robert Higareda

    Really? How stupid is that. It’s none of Apples business if that’s how a company wants to reach out to it’s customers. Since when did Apple own any part of Toyota..Bad move Toyota.

  • http://profiles.google.com/robert.higareda Robert Higareda

    Really? How stupid is that. It’s none of Apples business if that’s how a company wants to reach out to it’s customers. Since when did Apple own any part of Toyota..Bad move Toyota.

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