Apple sharpens its claws in new TV ads
This time Apple is going for the jugular.
Watching the three newest “Get a Mac” TV ads, which attack Windows more pointedly than ever, shows an Apple unafraid to exploit Microsoft’s misfortunes with Vista, its latest version of Windows.
Most of the earlier “Get a Mac” ads featuring John Hodgman as the PC and scruffy Justin Long as the Mac have poked fun at Windows and its assorted shortcomings vis-à-vis the Mac without drawing a lot of blood. Many of these ads showed Macs as better at “fun” creative endeavors, with PCs more suited for such routine tasks as spreadsheets. Even the “Viruses” ad, in which Hodgman’s sneezing represents the tens of thousands of PC viruses in the wild, had a mood more playful than vicious.
The tone started to change earlier this year with ads such as “Choose a Vista,” in which the many varieties of Vista are represented on a big game wheel that Hodgman spins (only to land on “lose a turn”).
The three new ads hold back nothing, opportunistically exploiting reports that many Windows users who tried Vista have since downgraded back to XP. In “PR Lady,” as Hodgman’s discusses the “downgrading” problem with Long, a smartly dressed woman interjects a positive spin: ‘By downgrading he means they’re upgrading to an older, more familiar experience.” When Hodgman suggests PC users might switch to a Mac, the flustered PR lady can only say “No comment.”
The other two ads reverse the long-standing role of the Mac as the challenger and portray the PC on the defensive. Hodgman, dressed in a boxer’s robe, tells Long in “Boxer”: “Well, your sales are through the roof and I’m showing the people I’m not going down without a fight.”
In “Podium” Hodgman plays the role of a politician extolling Vista, despite its troubles. “Some people are giving up on Vista because it doesn’t work the way they want it to,” he tells Long from behind a podium marked with the slogan “Don’t Give Up on Vista!” He makes outlandish statements like “If your printer isn’t compatible with Vista, I say buy a new printer!” The ad concludes with Hodgman admitting -- despite his strong rhetoric – he “switched back to XP three weeks ago.”
Casting Windows as the besieged OS is a clever twist. By turning the traditional relationship on its head, Apple hopes to convince the computer-buying public that the Mac is winning a war that was supposed to be over a decade ago. In so doing the company hopes to persuade consumers that buying a Mac is the prudent choice.
Everybody loves a winner, right?
Comments
I watched all three ads on Apple's website this weekend, and though I am a big Apple supporter, I think they are coming close to walking that fine line between, "Ha Ha" and "Ouch". I think Leopard has a few problems they need to work out before they start trashing the PC again.
BTW, has anyone seen the reviews for the new Zune? I think it's part of the press' job, but they are saying that the new Zune is giving the iPod a run for its money this time around.
Posted by: Bill | November 13, 2007 8:27 AM
The idea that Leopard has to be perfect before Apple can take jabs at the disaster that is Vista is absolutely ridiculous.
The lengths that Dell and others have gone to to continue selling XP (and Microsoft's having to bend to their will) and the potshots PC vendors have taken at Microsoft are unprecedented. THAT'S how bad Vista is. If Apple didn't poke fun at it they'd be nuts.
MS built their entire business lying and FUD'ing their way around the competition, and now people are all in a tizzy because Apple is simply repeating what's been in the tech headlines for months? Please.
Posted by: Tom | November 13, 2007 7:07 PM
I have also watched the ads on the Apple site. While they continue to be humorous, I am beginning to feel the need for Apple to vary its marketing strategy to target those people who may want real information regarding their choice of computer. These ads only poke fun at Microsoft and don't really "inform" the consumer. At best, I believe they are just reaffirming for us Mac faithful.
How about telling the Windows consumer more about what the Mac will do for them ... period. Dispel the consumer fear that Apple cannot provide them with a solid computing platform at home, at work and at play. No direct comparison to Windows; just thoughtful information about what they are buying; not avoiding.
While the current PC/Mac theme was hugely successful, it is time for Apple to move on ... time for Apple marketing to mature for "the rest of them."
Posted by: Doug | November 13, 2007 8:28 PM
Never knock the opposition, just state your case and let the buyer decide.
Posted by: john & Mary Luckie | November 14, 2007 3:43 AM
Apple has always played very loose with facts, but this one - as well as some of the comments here - are so blatantly ridiculous, that they shouldn't even require commenting on.
What "lengths" exactly have PC makers gone through? What Vista disaster? Who exactly is downgrading? Which mainstream printer does not work?
And since when are True Type Fonts and putting a background in a chat window "revolutionary new" features?
There are a lot of good reasons to be on OSX - or Windows - or Linux - or whatever. What's being named here is not one of them.
Posted by: Marcus | November 18, 2007 5:30 PM
What a joke! Even before these latest commercials those "I'm a Mac/ I'm a PC" commercials should have been pulled from the airwaves by the FCC for false representations!
Mac is expensive, and then you are locked into Mac software and hardware, and a terrible selection of peripherals. The free software built into the Mac, with few exceptions, is great for home use, but can't stand up to full commercial varieties available on the PC (or high-quality shareware or opensource). Speaking about OS versions, how many peripherals, hardware and software has Mac made obsolete by not even attempting to build in backwards compatability into their OS upgrades (although that is generally the problem with MS and their Vista upgrade; some BC doesn't work, other BC built in to the system is what causes the exploits & system failures; I think MS was a little too grandiose to try so much inclusivity). If you start clean with a Vista install & use Vista approved hardware, software and peripherals (that's MS approved - available from competing sources; not Apple MONOPOLY made), there are very little problems other than minor patches & security updates (didn't I hear about those already in Leopard?). The one about the PC going in on a stretcher for an upgrade reminded me about what my Mac associates do for an upgrade; I do all my PC upgrades & installations myself. And PLEASE don't get me started about what happens if you do get a system problem or corrupt software with your Mac; on a PC, I can fix them myself!
Apple should be sued!!!!!!
Posted by: Tom Novak | December 1, 2007 6:09 PM
Poor Tom Novak - Ask Disney, Ford, GM, Rocketdyne, MOST Musicians, Motion Picture Studios and others why they Prefer Mac over PC .... Hah Hah Hah
Posted by: Jimbo | May 12, 2008 11:11 AM