A Look at Apple’s “Get a Mac” ads
There used to be a time when Mac people were portrayed as the weirdos (as indicated in their own Switch ads) who loved their computers a little too passionately. Like the kids who were pinched in school because they were so friggin smug. Kids like me. So it came no surprise that the character representing the Mac in the new “Get a Mac” ads was also smug. But what is missing is any real personality. The new Mac guy carries the “I am cooler than thou” attitude, who needs that? But that is the nature of creating ads and not the actor’s fault who fits the Mac-type.
The PC guy played by the John Hodgeman does have a personality and though it is the bubbling idiot kind, it is still endearing. And by the way, John Hodgeman is a regular on the Daily Show which means he carries enough cool in my book.
It is clear the ads are meant to attract the young — look no further than the Hodgeman’s suit and glasses, something out of your father’s closet. It is a smart move since most teenagers are familiar with Apple’s iPod and, according to research, treat the device as a status symbol.
The ads also indicate the direction Apple is headed. They don’t intend to replace Windows at work but at home. The “Better” ad is a good example of that. And though I work (edit) on Macs, it is sensible move on Apple’s part. They have the safest computer with the best interface that makes it a breeze to do tasks like create movies, music, DVD’s and websites. That is what non-geek computer users need. Well, I think even the geeks would like a Mac but that is a different article.
The biggest plus with these Apple ads is that, unlike before, they clearly state what makes Macs better than PC’s. They are also addressing Window directly, on equal footing, “we are competitors, me and this weird Windows guy, he belongs at work, I belong at home.” To most PC users, Macs mean graphic designers or some other exotic creative job. It does not include them, these ads should change some of those perceptions.
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5 Responses to “A Look at Apple’s “Get a Mac” ads”
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There is no need to buy some expensive hardware to have a good operative system.
Just install Linux.
Dek: A large number of people who buy Macs have already tried “good” operating systems such as Linux and Windows (and many use them daily at work), and have decided that “good” isn’t good enough - they want better. Mac OS X is better.
Yes, my YDL (Yellow Dog Linux) is great, but I just don’t find myself using it much. I find that when I really wan’t to get some things done (Photography, Video, Animation, Office) I’m always messing with some open source app under linux, putting on the latest release, or trying to get an app to do what I want it to. I’ve concluded that the folks that code for linux are going in too many different directions, so things are really fragmented — not very cohesive dispite everyones best efforts and a lot of great stuff being done. Software design by committee I guess. I’m not some kind of zealous defender of open source anyway so… I’m probably pulling out my YDL partitions soon and going all macOS. Sad but true — but I need the disk space.
Dave B
Ten years ago if you wanted to do graphics you HAD to get a Mac. But nowadays it doesn’t really make much difference, as most major editing programs are available for both platforms, and once you’re working in them the differences are minor.
What I think these ads show is how Apple is now trying to get into the home computer market, as they’ve lost ground on their traditional desktop publishing one.
Macs are mostly for people who don’t want to bother with hardware, who think opening your computer box is akin to alchemy, nay, blasphemy. Soccer moms would love macs as these ads make abundantly clear.
Well, if you consider that Apple is using TPM to avoid Os X (for Intel based Macs) being installed on PCs…