We speculated in this space before that Apple's heavy hand in the creation, design, and rollout of mobile ads in their iAds program would drive businesses away. If the whispering anonymous rumor mill is correct (and when are they ever wrong? HA!), it appears Adidas is lacing up their running shoes and fleeing the control freak nature of Cupertino.
Image Source: Business Insider
Business Insider would like you to know up front that no one has confirmed this rumor -- but no one has denied it either. The story goes that after a third rejection by Apple of the creative concepts produced by Adidas, the athletic apparel company yanked a big $10+ million campaign out of iAds. The controlling nature of Apple's side of things has made advertisers and agencies leery of working with Jobs & Co. and has caused stress previously. There have also been complaints that app developers will find familiar involving lack of input over the approval process and lack of transparency.
Despite being one of Steve's touted tentpoles of revenue for the company, iAds has had a terrifically slow expansion into the mobile market. This news, if correct, brings the number of big names on the record of having spurned Apple (Chanel being another) up to at least two, and it surely won't bring more business to Apple's front door.
