Say what you will about the ‘Get a Mac’ series, but you gotta hand it to Apple in terms of sheer persistence. They’ve already released about fifty odd TV spots of the familiar duo of Long and Hodgman and around ten of these banner ads, and they just don’t seem to let up.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you, because their latest web ad on NYTimes.com had me chuckling right from the get go. Call me easily amused, but the image of John Hodgman taking a broken needle and pointing it towards the lower end of the meter just makes for good tele… er, “webvision”?
In case it has been taken down by the time you get round to clicking on that link above, a YouTube video of the advertisement is embedded after the break for posterity purposes. And if you missed it this time, don’t worry, you’ll be there for the next one—they just keep on comin’.
Continue reading "Apple boasts of high customer satisfaction scores in another web ad"
Microsoft and Apple have traded shots at each other in advertisements over the past few months (well, on Apple’s part, technically past few years), but here’s a new tactic. According to reports, the big MS is now putting recording booths outside Apple Stores, asking PC users to make video commentaries about why they’re a PC.
Perhaps it’s just coincidence: the only one I’ve seen notice of so far is the installation pictured, which is outside the Bullring store in Birmingham, England. Such videos will likely end up in Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” commercials, the latest round of which features user-submitted videos.
So, does this mean war? Well, Microsoft likes to say that it’s inclusive. Heck, the FAQ on its “I’m a PC” campaign website says that you can feel free to jump in even if you own a Mac:
I have a Mac, can I participate?
Of course you can. A Mac can be a PC too, most notably when it runs Windows Vista.
Awwww, you’re just one big Microsoftie, aren’t you?
Time was, writer John Hodgman was known for his vast knowledge of hobos, as opposed to representing the PC in Apple's "Get a Mac" ads. Oh, how times change.
While discussing his new book, Hodgman talked to TIME about what it's like being Mr. PC (yes, that's my new name for him):
I was really curious as to why they asked me to audition. My career as a magazine writer was largely prefaced on the idea of curiosity, to go on adventures and weasel my way into the lives of people that I admire. The process of auditioning for a commercial seemed like a process where I might learn something that I could write about. It did not occur to me that it might lead to the job. I got called back, and by the third time we talked, I thought, "You can't really be serious."
But thank goodness they were serious, Mr. Hodgman (Mr. PC). Justin Long may be no slouch as as the Mac but it's the interplay between the two "computers" that keeps me coming back for more. Now can we work in some hobo and mole-men jokes in the next "Get a Mac" ads, Apple? You know that would be nine kinds of awesome.
If the recently released “Bean Counter” spot wasn’t enough, Apple’s latest entrant in the ‘Get a Mac’ lineup ought to drive the point home that Microsoft is indeed spending a little too much dough on advertising. Any thirty-second-spot where an anthropomorphized PC sells a self baked cupcake to a similarly human Mac and charges him a few million dollars for it is just good television, in my humble opinion.
Hat tip to reader Dano for pointing out the existence of the ad.
Apple has released two new ‘Get a Mac’ commercials and these might just be the best of the lot so far. In “V Word,” you can see John Hodgman, everyone’s favorite PC, quivering at the prospect of anyone even mentioning Vista by its name. Apparently, they “do not say the ‘V word’ anymore” because it “doesn’t sit well with frustrated PC users.”
The second, even funnier, one shows the PC finally taking concrete steps towards putting the Vista disaster behind and making consumers happy. The solution: Put more money into marketing and forget about the rest. I knew Apple wouldn’t be able to resist mocking Microsoft’s $300 “Tom Bill and Jerry” ad campaign for long.
By now, you’ve probably seen the “I’m a PC” ads making the rounds. My take? They have a couple of amusing moments (I’ll admit, the shark cage one got a laugh out of me), but ultimately, they kind of fall flat for me. Trying to respond to Apple’s ads run the risk of making Microsoft look defensive, and the choice of celebrities is just odd (Eva Longoria? For reals?).
In some ways, I think they don’t quite go far enough; plus there’s the fact that they still strike me as a backpedal from the Gates/Seinfeld ads—whatever Microsoft and its agency would have you believe, that is the perception).
Anyway, as at least one clever person realized, Microsoft’s commercial is more like an Apple ad than you might even realize at the outset. Take a look below.
I guess we’re all PCs, huh? I wonder what would have happened if Microsoft had tried to make the catch phrase of their ads “I’m Windows.”
To all of you who felt that Microsoft’s Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ad campaign was responsible for the downfall of modern society, rest easy. Microsoft is moving on from the surreal spots to a new campaign intended to showcase “everyday” Windows users—you know, like scientists, shark divers, and Eva Longoria. Those ads will reputedly include a familiar phrase: “I’m a PC.”
And so it’s back to business as usual for Microsoft. Say what you will about the Seinfeld/Gates spots—and if our comments threads are any indication, many of you already have—but if nothing else, the ads showed that Microsoft was willing to take risks. Redmond is in need of revamping their image, but by attempting to co-opt Apple’s campaign all they show is that they’d rather ride someone else’s coattails than innovate. That’s not reinventing themselves—that’s keeping the same image they’ve always had.
Microsoft execs have claimed that they only ever intended to run two of the Seinfeld/Gates spots. I’m not sure whether or not I buy that—it seems like a lot of effort to invest in two segments of what clearly struck me as an ongoing story. But given the short time frame in which the ads were shown, I’m also not sure that they could turn on a dime and present a whole new series of commercials. My guess is that these new spots were meant to appear later, but were bumped up due to negative reactions to the Seinfeld/Gates ads—but like I say, that’s just a guess.
Gates will appear in at least one of the new ads, though Seinfeld is not yet expected to—just as well, considering that by all accounts, he’s an everyday Mac user (just like us!).
The first Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld Windows ad left me just as puzzled as most: why were Seinfeld and Gates in a shoe store? What does it have to do with Windows? What does the churro mean?
When I first heard that Microsoft was throwing millions into a new “hip” ad campaign, I wrote it off as an attempt for Microsoft to buy cool. But after seeing the second ad in the series, I’m reconsidering my stance. There’s something very interesting—and very un-Microsoftian—going on with this campaign.
People keep repeating the point that the ads aren’t really tied to Windows, or for that matter to Microsoft—that they aren’t selling anything. That strikes me as ridiculous: when was the last time that you were really convinced by an ad that blatantly tried to sell you something? Many consumers are so inured to advertising these days that even those who don’t skip through commercials on their DVR or mute the sound often still aren’t paying attention. That’s the first virtue of these ads: they’re just weird and novel enough to make you watch them. And for advertising, that’s a win right off the bat.
Continue reading "Counterpoint: Windows ads are sheer elegance in their simplicity"
Something is wrong with Microsoft--more than usual, I mean. What the hell are they trying to do anyway? Make a movie out of these shorts? Is Bill Gates trying to become an actor now? Does anyone have any clue what's going on? Look at the embedded YouTube video below (or check out a high quality version at Microsoft's website) and tell me that I'm wrong. I dare you.
I mean, if all you're going to do is show a lengthy, completely unrelated skit and throw in a Windows logo at the end, how about showing something people actually want to see--movie trailers, exclusive clips, music videos, etc.? Huh, Microsoft? If you agree, tell Jerry to ask Gates to do a hula dance onscreen (I have a feeling he won't disagree).
I get it--these are supposed to be high class creative commercials that have a deep seated message, one that may not be immediately apparent to the casual observer. And that automatically means that these are a work of art. But when did that start selling products?
The last thing a casual TV watcher is going to do after having seen that entire commercial (it's Gates and Seinfeld trying to be funny--who wouldn't!) is try to figure out how that Windows logo at the end had any relation to what preceded it.
Sure, they might chuckle at Seinfeld's dry humor and Gates's robot act, but how does that help Microsoft?
I'm afraid that just like the eponymous show of the nineties, this ad is about nothing in particular. That might have worked for a TV show of yore, but Microsoft's gonna have a hard time selling Vista (or anything else for that matter) using the same technique. But hey, as long as they're amusing, keep doing what you will--at least we can get a chuckle out of the whole thing.
[via MacRumors]
