"This Guitar" was the final release for the original Apple record label, which the Beatles had launched in 1968 as a business enterprise aligned with utopian ideology. The record's face labels reverted to the generic Apple design rather than use the customised design adopted for "You" and "Extra Texture", which included a vivid orange and blue colour scheme and an eaten-away apple core in place of the standard Apple logo. In America and Britain, "This Guitar" was available only in a plain sleeve. Among the alternative packaging available in other markets, the rare Japanese picture sleeve incorporated the colour scheme from the parent album, surrounding an image of Harrison on stage during the 1974 tour. The picture was taken by tour photographer Henry Grossman, who worked extensively with the Beatles in the 1960s. Harrison did no promotion for the single, but his guest appearance on comedian Eric Idle's "Rutland Weekend Television" 1975 Christmas special, singing the purpose-written "The Pirate Song", heralded a return to form for him in 1976.