In a shocking announcement, long-time Apple employee Johnny Appleseed has left the company to join a startup in the social networking industry.
Apple PR officials curtly confirmed the move made by the iconic employee who has been used as the representative product user in Apple demos for years.
“Mr. Appleseed no longer works at Apple,” the company said in a brief statement.
Crazy Apple Rumors Site was able to confirm that Appleseed has taken a position as a “Marketing and Brand Ninja” at Pltz.com (pronounced “Plotz dot com”).
Interviewed at his new place of employment, Appleseed said he felt the time was right for a change.
“I don’t know if you’re heard, but Tim Cook’s no Steve Jobs,” Appleseed said. “I mean, not that I interacted with Steve. Or Tim. Anyway, I’m pretty sure Apple’s done innovating. ‘iPhone 5’? Puh-leez. Also, I just felt like trying something different. Something, uh, without health care, apparently. I didn’t actually know that before I accepted the position.”
Asked if there was any bad blood between him and Apple, Appleseed was frank.
“I felt like I was just a joke to them! ‘Oh! Your name is Appleseed! We should use you in all of our demos, hahahaha!’ Jesus. Screw you guys.”
Appleseed expressed enthusiasm for the change and thought Pltz.com was going to be the big success story in the social networking space over the next five years.
“We’re kind of the Sharepoint of Facebook, so…”
From across the room a coworker corrected Appleseed. “Dude, no. The venture capitalists nixed that. We’re the Pinterest of… uh… HEY, JERRRY! WHAT ARE WE THE PINTEREST OF?”
“LINKEDIN!”
“Right. We’re the Pinterest of LinkedIn.”
Appleseed stared at him blankly for a minute and then said “I get to wear a lot of hats here. It’s exciting. You can just… say I said that.”
Apple declined to comment on who might replace Appleseed in demos in the future, but a new jobs opening for someone with “an Apple-themed name” on the company’s web site indicated the company is recruiting for the position.