New iPhone ad features Target

Apple and Target have been paired up for some time in an exclusive music arrangement in which certain albums are only available digitally via iTunes and only available in retail physical form at Target’s stores, but the partnership has taken on a more public slant in Apple’s latest iPhone commercial on television.

The “Shopper” ad, which involves a man attempting to pick out an espresso maker for his wife as surprise gift, during the course of which he sends photos to her sister via his iPhone for advice on color choices, then scopes out the best price on the espresso machine using the “Red Laser” barcode scanning app, and determines that the cheapest price can be found at Target – and then uses the iPhone’s built-in Maps application to find the nearest Target store.

It’s not clear whether Target was selected at random, or due to the two companies’ existing relationship, or whether Target is officially a part of the advertising campaign – and as usual, we’re not expecting Apple to talk about it.

The ad can be viewed on Apple’s gallery site.