Is the Leaked Apple Black Friday Deal a Fake?

On Monday, Boy Genius Report published a picture given to them by one of their insiders, claiming to be Apple’s Black Friday deals that they are about to announce.  At first glance it might be believable but once you start to notice all the inconsistencies, it’s pretty much bogus.

Let’s start with that red ribbon.  At the top, the right corner of the ribbon bends in.  This wouldn’t be so unbelievable if the left corner was consistent with the right.  As you move down the ribbon the widening is jagged and a bit pixilated.  The bottom points of the ribbon are amateur at best.  The ribbon is unrefined and a mess.  Everyone knows how Apple is all about perfection; from their products, to their stores, even down to their job offers.  The ribbon in Last year’s Black Friday ad was nearly flawless.  Do you think they’re really going to send out this ad?

The deals aren’t that farfetched.  30% off all iPods brings the Nano’s price to about $100/$125 for the 8GB/16GB and the iPod Touch to about $140/$209/$279 for the 8GB/32GB/64GB.  The 64 GB iPod Touch would be quite a deal, essentially doubling the storage for less than the 32GB normally costs.  The Mac pricing is vague at best.  The ad says “Up to 25% off” meaning these could be some refurbished units, older generation stock left over, or applicable to certain models.  Would you get 25% off the Core i7 iMac? Doubtful.  An Apple employee’s discount is normally 25% off so essentially for one day, customers can access “up to” that discount.  Because of the vagueness of the Mac pricing, the discounts are somewhat believable.  Perhaps Apple’s betting on compulsive shoppers who think they can’t afford to not take them up on these deals.

The biggest piece of evidence in the ad is the top half.  Not only does there seem to be a line that abruptly changes from the bottom half’s snowflakes to the icy wind top, but pictures of this same Apple logo with surroundings have been uncovered.  This picture on was posted to a Flickr account in October of 2006.  I don’t know where it came from, but I think everyone knows that Apple would design their own graphics.

Even if the discounts were real, I wouldn’t bet on seeing this ad in your inbox anytime soon.  What do you think? Is it real?  Am I wrong? Based on past Black Friday deals, do you think Apple is going slash prices this much?  Please argue in the comments below.

[Via BGR]