Mac and PC commercials - Page 2

**Lucas** · 11-02-2009, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWolfskin

In the business management class I am taking right now it clearly teaches that this type of advertisement only hurts the company in place of getting more market to pay addition to them.

^This

I've always been offended by the Apple ads because they seek to brand PC users as fat, nerdy outcasts who are too cheap to upgrade to the "quality" stuff. Sadly though, the ads were very effective on a subconscious level. The "I'm a PC" ads were really a negative ads series from the beginning, but so sugar coated and indirect that nobody caught the negative implications from a casual glance and the ad worked its magic in the back of your mind. "I want to be trendy...I want a Mac". But now that they've gone old-school negative, its destroyed Apple's entire scheme and credibility. Now they come off as a a smug group of assholes. I swear, the new "Trust me!" ad is as bad as a standard political slam ad. It really started pissing me off after about a week in the same way (as Jeff just said) those old-school Sega slam ads of the 90s did. I really hate being treated like I'm a fool for not jumping on a bandwagon. Instead, why don't they tell me why I should use their product? What makes it superior to Windows 7 and my PC and why should I pay such a higher price for it?

The new ad also lies by omission by telling you that every Microsoft OS was a pile of shit, when that's not true. Windows 95 was a new beginning. 98 was polished perfection at the time of release. Now Windows ME was a pile of shit, so they get that one. XP had a somewhat rough start, but quickly reformed into a reliable standard for the rest of the decade (followed by Vista, another pile of shit, but much in the same way ME was -- a cluster of half-assed new ideas that were no where near ready for release).

Of course, those early Microsoft Vista era "I'm a PC" response ads were terrible as well -- specifically that one with the lady who said, "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person". It just drove home Apple's point in a self defeatist sort of way. I know MS was trying to say that Apple's stuff was just overpriced crap that does the same exact job (which it is). But now I think Microsoft has finally nailed the right balance with these "Windows 7 was my idea" ads. Nice job all around.

Apple just seems to be getting angry, and we all know the first one to throw out a slam ad usually is the desperate party. I think they ruined what was a successful ad campaign by going negative.

virion · 11-02-2009, 07:32 AM

^ Windows Vista was not nearly as bad.. the commercial happened to forget Windows 2000 which was a great operating system. everyone i know had 2000 not ME.

I don't think Apple will ever return to a dominant (or even competitive) position until they come up with a viable competitor to Windows Server 2003/08; and becoming more competitively priced.

andre · 11-02-2009, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JValone

Apple does need to rein it in a bit with their advertising. When Microsoft comes off as the good guy you know something is really wrong with how your brand is being portrayed.

Apple needs to realize they can embrace their position as the "high-end" brand name without coming off as a bunch of pretentious snobs. Macs are prohibitively expensive for a certain percentage of consumers and that's fine. There are products in every field that are sold for significantly more than what they cost to produce due to aesthetics/branding/image, but Apple has begun to pigeonhole itself as the hipster brand and I don't think that's healthy over the long term. It would be much more beneficial for them to position their machines as the Benz of computing, or something along those lines anyway. No need to even smear the competition, just point out the nifty features of your (expensive) product and coat it in that off-white sheen so many seem to enjoy.

They could also benefit from having actors in their commercials that aren't always dressed like stereotypical California trust fund kids. The Windows ads have done a much better job of having a wider gamut of people in their commercials, although they are still a bit too "perfectly normal" for my tastes at times.

I agree. Great response from everyone, guys/gals. They are sabotaging themselves, and I can say that I'm starting to be turned off by the Apple branding. I liked Apple before they were popular, before the retarded ads. They gotta get back to fundamentals.

Are there other similar people that have favored Apple but are turned off?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucas

But now that they've gone old-school negative, its destroyed Apple's entire scheme and credibility. Now they come off as a a smug group of assholes.

ditto

**Robert-AMN** · 11-02-2009, 10:14 AM

Its obvious to me that in this latest round of commercials, Apple is worried about Win7. The crap about having to wipe you hdd clear in order to upgrade, all the faulty features, etc. None of it is true. Apple seriously needs to find a new angle.

Tanooki · 11-02-2009, 03:26 PM

MS technically with that threat should turn around and threaten a counter-suit if they don't pull ads saying Win7 is shit and you have to wipe the drive and the other stupid pack of lies to get it to work. See how quick they shut up and man up if they get slapped with a suit with at least oh 8 zeros in front of a number.

**HGW XX/7** · 11-02-2009, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanooki

MS technically with that threat should turn around and threaten a counter-suit if they don't pull ads saying Win7 is shit and you have to wipe the drive and the other stupid pack of lies to get it to work. See how quick they shut up and man up if they get slapped with a suit with at least oh 8 zeros in front of a number.

I think you mean BEHIND a number. Otherwise you have a single digit lawsuit with 8 zeroes infront of it.

Tanooki · 11-02-2009, 08:32 PM

That's what I get for posting at work right?

Hottotty · 11-06-2009, 07:10 AM

The Mac commercials started innocently enough, but they're a bit more dangerous now as the image of the Mac guy and PC guy have entered pop culture consciousness.

Before, they were just funny insights into how Windows PCs tend to fail. Funny, almost silly. And portraying Mac as a happy underdog. That original tone is entirely erased.

Now, they almost attempt to draw a political line, and if you're on one side of the line you're an idiot. There's an implied attack on the user of the PC which has grown more offensive over time, and that's always annoying. Especially since Windows 7 is pretty good, akshly.

**DEATHSTAR** · 11-06-2009, 08:42 PM

Not disagreeing with anything you guys are saying but... What again does Apple have to lose from any ad campaign? When have Macs not been more expensive than PC's? When has Mac software EVER been readily available at retail along side PC versions? When has the MAC EVER been a dominant platform?

Macs have existed for a decade or more with virtually the same marketshare and always will have that same marketshare until they can crack into enterprise as a dominant OS, which they haven't been trying to do for quite some time and are well aware won't happen.

It's actually a testament to a brand to be relegated to permanent #2 status and still annoy the hell out of the market leader and it's consumers with every insignificant move it makes. And that is where I think the point of their ads solely exist. They know they piss people off, truths and halve truths included.

Apples biggest feat in our lifetimes has been snatching the "next walkman" crown right from under Sony's (and the rest of the worlds) eyes. They probably got lucky with that one, but by the time the rest of the market reacted it was too late, the iPod had cast a big shadow.

As far as macs only appealing to a "hippy" crowd, what else is new? Before the iPod and iMac, Macs were relegated to mostly graphic designers and video editors, proportionately the marketshare hasn't grown that much over the last decade so there can't be that many "hippies" using macs that weren't already. Just by the numbers alone, there are probably more hippies, nerds, geeks or any other class of user on a PC than a Mac. There always will be.

The fact that they can hone in on such an insignificant concept and consequently piss the larger group off so fantastically is highly entertaining to watch from the sidelines. And I'm sure their laughing their ass off weekly as they read the forum responses to EVERY commercial they make.

Tanooki · 11-06-2009, 09:39 PM

Laughing hardly considering they wanted to threaten to sue Microsoft over doing semi-near the same shit back to them with those ads like the best buy one with the girl taking a dig at their similar but different os running overpriced shit.

**DEATHSTAR** · 11-06-2009, 10:56 PM

^ Corporate posturing, I'm sure if we cared to dig we'd find frivolous cease and desist in abundance from EVERY company regardless of the hypocrisy of the suits. Someone has provided you with a link to one from a company you dislike and we're pretending that that is the only suit ever filed over advertising by either of those companies?

andre · 11-08-2009, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEATHSTAR

As far as macs only appealing to a "hippy" crowd, what else is new? Before the iPod and iMac, Macs were relegated to mostly graphic designers and video editors, proportionately the marketshare hasn't grown that much over the last decade so there can't be that many "hippies" using macs that weren't already. Just by the numbers alone, there are probably more hippies, nerds, geeks or any other class of user on a PC than a Mac. There always will be.

Yeah, that is true, but the idea of advertising is to mold a new truth, not fall back into the same one. Apple's tactics are seemingly more desperate and cheap. People are gonna wise up. I love my iBook, but it's not a PC, and I know that. My parents bought an iMac, and it's no PC, and they know that. They can't fool everybody forever.

**DEATHSTAR** · 11-09-2009, 01:22 AM

I'm not sure who they were ever "fooling" or what you're trying to say in that response. Apple carved a niche for itself in the market a long time ago and they've been living happily (and profitably as of lately) in that niche for quite a few years now. I'm not sure what they have to be deperate of that hasn't already been the case since their existence, they're not the market leader and never have been. I don't think that they have any delusions that their commercials (for better or worse) would somehow change that.

Smokey · 11-09-2009, 03:19 PM

If they're so comfortable, then why would they bother 1) bringing about a lawsuit, and 2) throwing blatant lies in their ads in order to discredit Microsoft?

Tanooki · 11-09-2009, 03:45 PM

Because they're not comfortable. They've tried for awhile to get a larger dent into the pie of the general computer market and fail. More recently they decided to gut the 'mac' hardware and made themselves a me-too standard PC with their OS on it roughly speaking, didn't help much either. So since they can't go in being me-too, can't go in being special, they'll pander and make up shit to try and scare people to them instead.