If you’ve ever laid awake wondering why Apple – with its love of fruit and Apple varietal names – had never used the word Orchard in tandem with a product, now you know. They were just waiting to dream up a vague, marketing talent initiative.
Now we have* The Orchard, which was announced through a vague mission statement on Apple.com and through select Apple employee call-to-actions Tweets.
The Orchard is dedicated to mutual learning and the growth of the next generation of Apple thinkers and creators. https://t.co/uK6XrF6qaZ
— Alex Pico (@alexpico) October 4, 2016
Apple has taken down the description since I started writing this piece and one hopes someone wasn’t just fired. But there are some Tweets to reference the oddness of the language.
Uhh…so Apple is starting a cult? https://t.co/4nasWsivVH
— Will Hoekenga (@willhoekenga) October 6, 2016
This job posting from Apple is hilarious: https://t.co/BInTxE0KH0
— Dave Z. (@dsz123) October 6, 2016
I’ve read this three times, read the job descriptions, and still don’t know what Apple’s The Orchard is. https://t.co/GE2xo8Mc9B
— Jason Kottke (@jkottke) October 6, 2016
Jobs for the Orchard are still up. The Apple Jobs site said the following:
The Orchard is an innovative, creative program in the Marketing Communications (Marcom) group at Apple. Its mission is to bring together a talented and diverse group of up-and-coming creatives to learn and grow with professionals at Apple. Participants will collaborate with Apple creatives, producers, and planners in the communication of Apple products and the Apple brand. The Orchard is dedicated to mutual learning and the growth of the next generation of Apple thinkers and creators.
The program will be bringing in a very exclusive group of 10 participants. 4 Art Directors, 4 Copywriters, and 2 Strategic Planners.
* Everything Orchard-related may have completed disappeared from the Internet by the time you read this. But we’ll update if we learn more. If you know anything about it, let us know!
UPDATE: Here’s a screengrab of the text
@samfbiddle (in reverse order) pic.twitter.com/npSSvK4byf
— Mark Slutsky (@totallyslutsky) October 6, 2016
