Former Apple exec Bob Borcher recently gave a presentation  covering topics from marketing to the current state of the job market.

During the presentation, he explained why all iPhone ads show the phone set to the same time:

"If you ever see an Apple ad, print or TV, you look at the time and it's always going to be 9:42 -- 9:42 is when we launched the iPhone."

We rewatched several iPhone ads and it's true -- almost all iPhones appearing in commercials are set to 9:42 a.m.