Singapore — The NTUC FairPrice supermarket chain has poked fun at the high price tag of the new iPhone 12 smartphones with an advertisement for its apples.

Tech giant Apple announced four iPhone 12 models on Wednesday (Oct 14). The least expensive of the four models is the iPhone 12 mini, which is priced from S$1,149, while the standard iPhone 12 starts at S$1,299. The iPhone 12 Pro will retail from S$1,649, while the most expensive model, the iPhone 12 Pro Max, will start from S$1,799.

Pre-orders for the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro became available last Friday evening (Oct 16), with sales expected to begin this Friday (Oct 23). The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available for pre-order and sale next month.

Poking fun at the new Apple release, NTUC FairPrice placed an online advertisement for actual apples. Quipping that the apples in its outlets cost less and taste better, it mimicked the iPhone advertisement and stated:

“Sweet, crisp, and juicy, the best traits in a fruit. Curved silhouette encased in your choice of red or green, packed with reliable features like all natural vitamins, minerals, fibre, and antioxidants. Edge-to-edge freshness with every bite. Our apples have it all — and they fit perfectly in the palm of your hand. Now in-store and online. No pre-order necessary.”

This is not the first time the supermarket chain has capitalised on the interest in hot topics to plug its products. In one such instance last year, it jumped on the bandwagon of local groups poking fun at a piece of postmodern art that sold for a hefty US$120,000 (S$163,000) at an exhibition with an advertisement promoting its bananas.

SCDF joins local durian seller in poking fun at duct-taped banana “art” that sold for $163,000