{{Lowercase title}}{{short description|Derogatory marketing term}} '''iSheep''' is a marketing description, originally used by SanDisk in 2006, to describe users of the iPod music player instead of SanDisk's own Sansa player. [[File:Idont.jpg|frame|The iSheep mascot, listening to an iPod. This was created as part of a marketing campaign by rival SanDisk.]]
The marketing term is borrowed by some in technology sites and Internet forums as an insult to a person or a group of people who are fans of all Apple products, especially those who tend to purchase products from the brand not regarding its actual value or functionality, but the brand name, logo and the status symbol associated with it.{{citation needed|date=April 2026}}
==History== === Origins === The term was introduced in May 2006 when SanDisk launched the "iDon’t" campaign to advertise the SanDisk Sansa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/sandisk-launches-idont-anti-ipod-campaign/ |title=SanDisk launches 'iDon't' anti-iPod campaign |author=LC Angell |date=May 22, 2006 |publisher=iLounge |accessdate=August 26, 2011 |archive-date=November 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126204038/http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/sandisk-launches-idont-anti-ipod-campaign/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> iDon't calls on "free thinkers" to "break-free from restrictive formats and a single source for music," with slogans such as "You do not need to follow." The Campaign's site offered T-shirts, posters, and stickers featuring a monkey and asking, "Are you an iChimp?" Another image showed a sheep and says, "iSheep say Baah." while another showed a donkey trying to bite a carrot dangling in front of its face with the slogan "iFollow."<ref>{{cite news |title=Are iPod Owners Sheep? |author=Lance Ulanoff |date=June 12, 2006 |publisher=PC Magazine |url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1975700,00.asp |accessdate=August 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.avmaroc.com/actualite/campagne-pub-moque-a29804.html |title=Une campagne de pub se moque de l'usager de l'iPod, mouton de la mode |publisher=AFP |language=french |accessdate=August 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mobilemag.com/2006/05/23/sandisk-launches-anti-ipod-campaign/ |title=SanDisk launches anti-iPod campaign |author=T.O. Whenham |date=May 23, 2006 |publisher=Mobile Magazine |accessdate=August 26, 2011 |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928060537/http://www.mobilemag.com/2006/05/23/sandisk-launches-anti-ipod-campaign/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The iSheep campaign was abandoned in July 2006, to give way to the "Lil'Monsta" mascot campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1986008,00.asp |title=SanDisk Sacrifices 'iSheep' Ads To 'Lil' Monsta'|publisher=PC Magazine|accessdate=October 12, 2012}}</ref>
==Meaning and use== A common behavior of "Sheep" is labeling new features and capabilities of products of competitors (e.g. Galaxy S4 in 2013) as superfluous or feature creep and flooding online forums with their criticism, while labelling similar features on Apple devices as innovative.<ref name="PsychologyToday">[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inside-the-consumer-mind/201302/how-emotions-influence-what-we-buy PsychologyToday article: “How Emotions Influence What We Buy – The emotional core of consumer decision-making” (unquestioned brand loyalty)]</ref>
In addition, Air View on the Galaxy S4 (released early 2013) was often mentioned in essay articles that labelled it as feature creep.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbcnews.com/51634787 Video “Feature creep plagues Samsung's new Galaxy S4”]</ref><ref>[https://phys.org/news/2013-03-samsung-galaxy-s4-smartphone.html Article on the Galaxy S4 by ''phys.org'']</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Apple Inc. Category:Fandom Category:Sandisk Category:Advertising campaigns
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