"Broken Promises": The latest "Get a Mac" ad takes John Hodgman and Justin Long back to the 80s.
(Apple screenshot)Photos (1 of 1)
Windows 7 parade dampened by new Apple ads
Apple releases a triple-shot of "Get a Mac" ads to strike back against the new Windows 7.
By Andrew Heining | 10.23.09
That didn’t take long.
October 22 was supposed to be Microsoft’s day to shine. It opened its first brick-and-mortar store (in Scottsdale, Ariz.). It launched a new online store, selling computers for the first time. Oh yeah, and it released this new computer software or something – you might have heard about it.
But never one to let Windows have the spotlight to itself, Apple chose Thursday to release a trio of new “Get a Mac” ads, featuring Justin Long and John Hodgman as “Mac” and “PC.”
The new entrants to the line – it began way back in 2006 and is now up to 40 spots – feature the familiarly stodgy Hodgman and hipster-smug Long touting Apple’s top-ranked customer satisfaction ratings, and taking digs (with their signature comic timing) at Windows 7.
These ads come after Microsoft’s success this summer with its “Laptop Hunter” campaign, where real people (they were later revealed to be actors) are given money to buy a computer of their choosing – always a Windows machine. Apple in July issued a complaint about some of the ads, saying they cited out-of-date pricing information, and Microsoft quietly toned them down.
Last year’s hugely expensive Microsoft ad campaign, which featured an uncharacteristically unfunny Jerry Seinfeld alongside recently retired Microsoft Grand Poobah Bill Gates, was dubbed a failure by many and saw the company transition to a series of Apple-mimicking “I’m a PC” spots.
We’ve embedded the latest three Apple ads below, but head over to Apple’s video gallery for the full catalog.
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<< Windows 7 launch day: what you might have missed | MainComments
3. joe620 | 10.24.09
The joke is on apple. Those few nails in the coffin they were able to loosen the last few years are going to get pounded right back in by Win 7. Not that the Mac is bad. It is just a fact that the OS wars were over 20 years ago.
5. Josh | 10.24.09
The first one is brilliant. The second and third ones come off as more hokey — the tout of “#1 in customer satisfaction” comes off as inauthentic and doesn’t mix well with the traditional witty Mac/PC commercial formula.
6. William C. Case | 10.25.09
We have been using Beta copies of Windows 7 for quite some time and find it to be the best Windows by far to date. It crashes significantly less than its predecessors Vista and Xp. Think of an Operating System (OS) like the U.S. Constitution -or- perhaps a set of bylaws — a set of rules that allows a society to function; in this case an Operating System sets the rules of how programs work including handling video streams, audio, a common spelling checker, rules of how copy, paste, and undo work, memory allocation and the all important security issues. This is where Windows Xp came up short requiring constant and consistent vigilance with the annual cost of anti-virus anti-spyware programs and to some degree of procedural learning in that you really had to memorize your way through Xp; once you learned how it worked and its corresponding quirks, Xp was rather stable and predictable. Windows Vista in all its confusing flavors 32bit to 64bit plugged many security holes but did so with a less than humorous overkill of irritating pop-ups and extra steps to do simple things. Windows 7 has proved to be the best of Xp with a look and feel of Vista without as many annoyances and aggravations. However, it still appears to be a case of ‘better mediocrity’ while the thirteen (13) Macs we have running OS X 10.6.1 ‘Snow Leopard’ do not crash and are far more easier to learn and certainly far cheaper to maintain in both dollars and down time measured in man hours. Most PC users know very little about a Mac but feel they do in that many simply do not want to give up their considerable investment in Windows knowledge and troubleshooting. Windows 7 is the best Windows yet and has proven so far to be easier to maintain with somewhat less frustration on our 34 PCs. It does what I want to do. So does the Mac but the Mac is easier and definitely far more fun especially the iLife suite of software that comes with every Mac and no longer is included in Windows although such software can me downloaded.
William C. Case A+ MCSE
7. Alastair | 10.25.09
I’m long over the OS wars–we have XP, Vista, and Mac on the same network. Mac is gaining in popularity because it makes using Apple products easier and there is less reason to care these days how you get to the web. But, Macs are maddening when you try to make them play with non-Apple stuff. I think the latest Apple ads are snarky and reflect badly on the company. Both products are overpriced–save the ad money, lower the price.
8. some guy | 10.25.09
Apple survives only due to its inovations which are not in pc market. MACs are still poor general purpose computer OS when compared to Micrsoft.
9. joe1234 | 10.25.09
I have an iphone, died 3 weeks after i got it when i upgaded to 3.0. mac store couldn’t fix it. had to give me a whole new phone.
don’t think apple has some ‘magic ability’ to develop bug free systems — they don’t. There just like everyone else even if they try and hide it behind slick adds.
10. Nicole | 10.25.09
I have yet to see a Snow Leopared v. Windows 7 Professional comparison that the Mac hasn’t come out ahead in yet. The gap over Windows 7 Home Edition must be even greater! Microsoft are going down the tubes.
11. eloise lanum | 10.25.09
My MAC upgrades are done in a second & quietly.
My husbands upgrades are done in ‘forever’ and along with lots of bad language! Now he’s half PC/MAC, so the language is only half bad.
12. Michael | 10.25.09
RE @joe620 “It is just a fact that the OS wars were over 20 years ago.”
The wars are not over, they just changed to a new battlefield called ‘mobile’, and no one could deny that Apple is waaaaay better positioned then Microsoft, and this is what really relevant in the future.
13. Francisco Javier | 10.26.09
Yeah right… switch to the #1 in hipster costumer satisfaction… they don’t tell you that it will cost you $1200 for a new computer.
Of course Win got it’s flaws, but this is not a matter of “perfection”, it’s a matter of which one fits you that’s all… I don’t understand what they try to comply with this senseless media war of PC People Vs. Mac People, this just sucks!
15. Troy | 10.26.09
Actually, the joke is on Mafia$oft. I will be laughing away in two years when people are still using XP and refusing to upgrade from their now non-supported operating system. Sure, there will be the initial rush of people to get the latest and greatest re-tread of Windows NT with a shiner new GUI that looks like a combo of Vista, KDE, Mac and XP but hey I bet good money that Redmond will be scratching its corporate head in two years asking what went wrong.
16. robzilla | 10.26.09
Lets gain a little perspective. Apple and Microsoft are both awesome systems. They are both proprietary and expensive with Apple having the edge on expensive. That said Apple makes really awesome products and some of the best software available.
Of course Linux will give you the same basic functionality of both while not having the security flaws. Since Linux is free and non-proprietary hardware compatibility can be an issue.
For those drinking the Apple kool aid, Windows 7 has a kindle reader built into the os FREE!! Apple was developing a tablet that would be similar to a Kindle but probably do more and cost more. Kindles run around $300. OEM windows 7 full version of Home Premium costs $109. Since most of us have laptops who needs a kindle or tablet when you can use your netbook running windows 7 to read your electronic library.
That is just one new feature in Windows 7. Seems so far like Apple is stuck in the 80’s.
Personally, I like all of the OS’s out there. They all have their quirks and strong points.
Robzilla
17. Invalid Domain | 10.26.09
Neither is ideal.
Linux is superior according to almost every criterion one can conjure: stability, useability, security, cost, and so forth.
Is Linux difficult to learn? No.
Is Linux difficult to learn when switching from Windows/Mac platforms?
Slightly, but the learning curve on each operating system is present and if not steep, then substantial…and proprietary.
Apple charges ridiculous amounts for hardware which is basically Intel with a logo-sticker slapped onto it.
Windows charges ridiculous amounts for software which needs constant updates due to its targeting from phishers, hackers, and other unscrupulous predators.
Apple’s market share is so small that it has yet to be majorly targeted… and MacOSX has many security flaws - most simply go unnoticed due to its minority market share.
Linux has several slightly-different builds and types, is almost always free, and is the most secure of any of the big three operating systems.
And additionally, there are many more operating systems in existence and more yet to exist, such as a platform based around Google’s Chrome.
It’s a matter of personal preference, insofar as all are/ought be interoperable.
18. Zing | 10.27.09
Linux isn’t really superior in usability. It might have been though, if GNUstep caught on, got prettied up and made to look as good as MacOS does.
All the other points are valid. At the moment the usability is “good enough” for me, and the only complain I really have with Linux is that ZFS can’t work on it. Of course, with recent news I have the same complaint about Mac OS anyway…
19. Daemon | 10.29.09
Every OS is ideal for some people. For the average schmuck who only uses browser, email, word processor and media, they’re all good.
For everyone else, it comes down to what you need.
The problem is the self-righteous gnats who refuse to admit that one size does not fit all. The most obnoxious of these morons are in the mac and linux camps, but windows has it’s share.
I’m so sick of all the people who treat OS choice as though it was a reflection of some deep-seated aspect of one’s value as a human being, rather than merely choosing the tool you prefer to work with.
20. BigdaddyLee | 11.17.09
I have Windows 7, MAC Snow Leopard and Linux Mint running at home, My 10 year old daughter and 12 year old son could care less which computer they are on, they just want to get on the web. They know how to get around on all of them, they are not computer nerds, they just want to have a web browser that gets them where they want to be. Here is my take, The MAC just works, no questions asked, Linux is about the same. Windows 7 seems to be the best release in the Windows world yet. I work with all three at home and for customers. I have to agree the total cost of ownership is far less on a Mac than a PC.
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1. SkateNY | 10.24.09
Who cares about the ads.
The fact is that Apple investors are celebrating due to unprecedented growth over the past two years, while MSFT investors continue to tread a great deal of water, with marginal products barely keeping them afloat.