Yahoo Finance Apple's dictatorial advertising rules
The tech giant has been frequently praised for its successful marketing tactics, but its attention to detail may have reached a new level with its highly specific rules on how to market the new iPhone 5s.
Distributors must avoid exclamation marks and are prohibited from using the words "a", "the", "new" or "newest" before "iPhone", according to Fairfax Media.
Related: Australian teenager leaks Apple prototypes
The document, which is reportedly a dozen pages long, dictates that all promotional materials must be approved in advance.
The products cannot be advertised on bus panels, taxis and aircraft, and posters are barred from bars, hotels, gyms and doctors' offices. Distributors are also banned from advertising on YouTube, which belongs to rival Google.
A list of unusable "negative" terms includes "second hand", "YouTube", "Tim Cook" and "jailbreak".
Related: Apple attempts audacious trademark
A marketing executive was quoted as saying, "Apple is very difficult to deal with and very particular. Media releases take days to clear and sometimes they have to be cleared by Tim Cook himself."
The company is known for its exacting attitude. It made waves when it attempted to trademark the term "startup" in Australia, and its IP team recently filed a lawsuit against Amazon for using the term "app store".
Rivals have attempted to mock what some perceive as a lack of innovation in the recent iPhone release, with Microsoft pulling down a panned series of parody videos and Nokia hitting the mark with a cheeky tweet that has since garnered 18,000 retweets.
Related: Microsoft pulls 'unfunny' anti-Apple ads
