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Much has been written about the devotional relationship between Apple fans and the brand. For example… The Apple brand promise offers transcendence to a “marginalized” creative minority. The retail structure appears to echo Christian ‘retail’ with welcoming disciples, theaters where iMovie sermons are preached, and sins can be absolved at the Genius Bar confessional. The brand is overseen by a charismatic leader whose health and wealth is the subject of exactly the kind of rumor that surrounds most cult leaders.

Now, two professors from the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University have published an interesting white paper on the way in which Apple in particular, and the technology category in general, are increasingly adopting the communication strategy of religious promise.

This white paper goes further than the typical Apple-as-cult piece, and extends into a contemplation of how marketing – in the last 2 decades – has been increasingly full of religious strategies, targeting a consumer market which is increasingly persuaded by such techniques.

The abstract of the white paper explores the full theme – “The purpose of this article is to explore the intertextuality within story of the iPhone being framed as the “Jesus phone” and the relationship between religious language, imagery, and technology. The iPhone as the Jesus phone highlights an interesting interaction between technology fans, news media and corporate advertising. It also demonstrates how different groups may interact and appropriate the language and imagery of another to communicate very different meanings and intentions. Intertextuality serves as a valuable framework to specifically unpack how religion was employed as a helpmate to sell technology and reflect on how religious language and imagery may be utilized to communicate both positive and negative aspects of a technology.”

Download – How the iPhone Became Divine [PDF]