Latest Apple Ads: Is the Mac Message Missed in the Mirth?
Apple has now made available the latest ads in the “Get a Mac” promotion.
The number of ads in the series now totals 15 and are iLife, Network, WSJ, Accident, Angel/Devil, Trust Mac, Out of the Box, Touché, Work vs Home, Viruses, Restarting, Better, Counselor, Better Results, and Self Pity.
You can watch them all at the Get a Mac page.
The last three are the latest ones. Two out of three I thought were laugh out loud funny. That doesn’t mean they will be to everyone. Windows users might find them offensive.
But therein lies my question. Is Apple - or its advertising agency - losing sight of the goal and just going for laughs? Do laughs sell Macs? Or is the message missed in the mirth?
It’s hard to know the answer when you’re already a Mac user, but I do wonder if the jokes distract the potential switcher too much from the message. In the beginning they were good attention grabbers. Some people said they were derogatory, but hey, they still were getting attention. But how long can you run a gag before it gets stale?
If you’ve ever put posters on the wall, you’ll know that after a while you don’t see them. Is the impact of these ads wearing out?
The Uncle Effect
And how many people are starting to see the Mac like the uncle who makes you laugh when you’re a kid? He’s lots of fun and you like being around him, and even maybe wish he was your dad. But you never take him seriously - he’s just a big kid.
By trying to be funny ads, do they end up portraying the Macs the same way as the funny uncle? That is, a lot of fun but not something to take seriously.
And most of the ads reinforce that idea. That’s okay if the ads are targeted at the home user, which all of these ads undoubtedly have been. But the problem is people who make the buying decisions about PCs in the workplace, also will see these ads and get the same message.
Take the latest three.
Counselor
MAC: Hello I’m a Mac.
PC: And I’m a PC. And I feel inadequate
COUNSELOR: Okay.
PC: PCs get viruses, we can’t do as much out of the box,
MAC: I dunno why you’re so hard on yourself. I don’t get it.
COUNSELOR: Mac, why don’t you say something positive about PC?
MAC: Okay. Easy. PC, You are wizard with numbers and you dress like a gentleman.
COUNSELOR: Well, Mac, I guess you are a little better at creative stuff.
MAC: Well, thank you, that’s-
PC: Even though it is pretty juvenile and a waste of time.
COUNSELOR: Maybe you should come in twice a week.
First off the Mac tells us PCs are great for doing the serious stuff and then the PC tells us the Mac is good for doing the creative stuff - to the home user, a synonym for fun stuff.
Better Results
MAC: Hello, I’m a Mac.
PC: And I’m a PC. You know I’ve actually just finished a home movie.
MAC: That’s so funny - I just finished my home movie. I did it on iMovie. It was really easy.
PC: Well, I doubt it’s as excellent as mine, but I’d be happy to take a look.
MAC: Yeah, that would be great.
PC: Roll it.
(Mac home movie - a supermodel - enters.)
MAC HOME MOVIER: Hi. I’m a Mac home movie.
MAC: And it looks really professional, right?
PC: Well, great, bye.
MAC: Wait, wait, wait. What about yours PC?
PC: Ahhh…
MAC HOME MOVIE: Please!
PC: Well, okay, sure.
(PC home movie - a guy dressed like the supermodel - enters.)
PC HOME MOVIE: What’s up? PC home movie.
PC: Work in progress.
Again, showing Macs as good for doing the fun stuff.
Self pity
(Mac dressed in a dark and snappy suit.)
MAC: Hello, I’m a Mac.
PC: And I’m a PC. What’s with the big boy clothes?
MAC: Oh, this? Yeah, I just got back from a meeting, so.
PC: Why? Why were you at a meeting? Why?
MAC: Hey, I do work stuff too. Come on, I’ve been running Microsoft Office for years.
PC: Microsoft Off… work stuff… ohhh boy!
MAC: What?
PC: Ohhhh, I knew this day would come.
MAC: PC.
PC: Whew. I just need to sit down. Ohhh, wow.
MAC: There’s plenty of work out there for both of us, I don’t know why you’re acting like this.
PC: Why go on? Just let me lie here and depreciate. Arghhhh.
And therein lies the truth. Apple doesn’t intend to fight in the corporate market. “There’s plenty of work out there for both of us.”
So now we know the answers. Apple intends to keep having fun with the whole Mac vs PC thing, hoping this lighthearted approach will break down the home user’s resistance to Macs; however, Apple doesn’t plan to get aggressive with the corporate market.
But I am still worried about the “uncle effect”.
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Two words:
baby steps
First you go after the home user, as time goes and people are generally more familiar with the Mac they will look more palatable to the corporate world because they won’t see it as a huge learning curve.
Well, maybe. That strategy may work just as well getting the enterprise user hooked first as a way to go after the home market but I guess Apple thought it was easier to get the home user first.
Either way seems pretty daunting but I think it’s a long term strategy. I don’t think the strategy can be judged by one line of commercials that runs for a year but this was a very interesting read.
As a general business move I question the wisdom of making fun of the people you are trying to attract. For the most part I guess it usually works as long as you’re funny about it. Some of these ads do that but a few miss the mark in my opinion.
I love the idea of the “uncle effect”. Let’s just hope your uncle isn’t reading this though eh.
Gabe’s point is interesting too.
I’m not sure that these sorts of ads would or could have any impact on the corporate market directly. Rather, it seems to me there are two reasons for Apple’s relative non-existence in corporations.
1. Apple’s computers are high-end. I do not believe they are now in general priced higher than equivalently powerful machines from rivals, but corporations do not buy equivalently powerful machines as they tend to be overkill. Corporations buy hardware that is not too powerful, but can do office etc. jobs perfectly fine.
2. Certain opinions prevail among corporate IT depts that Apple does not provide an acceptable computing platform for the corporate network environment. This I believe is wrong, and based on information that was probably accurate ~10 years ago. But either way, funny little commercials like these (which are obviously aimed at consumers) are not going to address this no matter what they contain.
Therefore I would agree with what Gabe H implies. The battle for corporations’ networks will be a very long one indeed. General consumers are far more easily swayed by marketing than are the often lifelong, entrenched opinions of sysadmins.
In the commercials, the Mac comes across less as the funny uncle than he does a smug generation Y-er.
There’s a market Apple might be targeting whether they’re aware of it or not: the dude-like masses who are just now buying their first computer (or their first “serious” computer). They’ve used the family machine up to now, or it was basically a parental purchase. But now they’re making their own decisions. Hey, they’ve got an iPod already, and they really find their PC a drag. You know, Ellen-style.
This is the precise market for the smartass humor in these ads. Will they feel made fun of? Heck no. They won’t identify with the PC. Sure, they like him, but they’re not HIM.
It’s not the biggest market in the world, and perhaps they’re not worth going after at the expense of everyone else. But this will work with them.
Agreed, Beeb. But it’s the overall impression that these ads are creating that Macs are fun but not to be taken seriously that bothers me.
And on a different point - that I just thought of! - the star of these ads is the PC guy. His acting is brilliant. Will that also harm the goal of these ads? Like, if people warm to him too much, and he becomes the hero… then the Mac guy becomes the bad guy.
Apple is running a big risk now of the PC guy getting all the sympathy from the viewer. esp as you said Beeb, the Mac guy does come across smug - even when he’s trying not to be.
I was actually going to make that exact observation. The PC guy (a brilliant writer and comedian in real life) is quite likable and sympathetic, full of charm of lovability.
The Mac guy (an actor I’ve liked going back to Galaxy Quest) comes across as a smug know-it-all. They must have modeled him after Steve Jobs.
I agree that it makes the Mac seem unserious. I guess that’s by design. They’re trying to take away the stigma of computers as a complicated machine that no one understands and portraying it as easy to use as a home entertainment center.
Beeb said: I agree that it makes the Mac seem unserious. I guess that’s by design. They’re trying to take away the stigma of computers as a complicated machine that no one understands and portraying it as easy to use as a home entertainment center.
That’s very risky though. The “bread and butter” of the computer industry is the corporate market. With the right products and decisions, Microsoft could and should take over the home entertainment market use of computers. And where will that leave Apple? Trying to get their fun and unserious Macs into the corporate world? Or “Apple: The iPod Company”?
As you’ve said many times, Beeb, Apple need to do a lot more with the Mac to make it a real contender in the media PC market. I’m not convinced the iTV will be enough - especially knowing Apple’s track record of keeping things feature light and price heavy. They will still sell millions of them… to the converted.
BTW lmao over your Steve Jobs comment.
That’s very risky though. The “bread and butter” of the computer industry is the corporate market.
I completely agree. I’m not saying it’s the right strategy, only that I think it’s what they’re trying to do.
But in some sense people WANT their PCs to be complicated because they equate complicated with powerful. “It’s got a v7 with 34 teraflops in the trapezious? I’ll take it!”
As you say, feature-light and price heavy are usually the opposite of what all but the most specialized of consumers are looking for.
if you’ve ever put posters on the wall, you’ll know that after a while you don’t see them. Is the impact of these ads wearing out? -CH
That’s human psychology and no one understands them more than advertising agencies (most of them, that is).
For these ads to pay for themselves right off the bat have to have enough to lock those eyeballs for a precious few seconds. The “laughing out loud” meter on some of these Apple ads are outragious! Oh, how I was ROFL’n the first time I saw Better Results. It is genius at work there.
Next comes the message. For that particular ad, yes you can do most on a PC with what you can do on a Mac. Just don’t expect them to look and behave like ones from a Mac. Easy enough and it’s so true.
Podcasters talked about this subject during the Podcast Expo so much that you think every podcaster is a Mac guy. Not true. A great majority swears to Ubuntu, Tux, and Audacity, etc, etc…
Back to the Apple ads. Will the message wear out? Sure. All ad themes will eventually wear out - just like your poster on the wall metaphor. It is not that the message style is getting boring. It’s that the theme is getting tiresome no matter how much creativity is put in.
Eventually, Mr. “Smug” Mac and Mr. “Jolly” PC will have to find another job in Hollywood. With their acting performances and exposure from these Apple ads, I doubt they’ll have trouble landing a script (hopefully not one from a guy in Burbank).
What they need is a twin…
I don’t use a PC, I only use Windows when it’s needed.
The mac guy could use a communicator or remote or something to cause a second PC Guy (MAC PC GUY) to apear, get the numbers done while he’s directing a film in the background, then Mac Guy could put away the Mac PC guy when he’s done.
The Solo PC Guy could have his jaw dropped look staring as MAC PC Guy does all the same tasks he’s known for, and the commercial could end with a closeup of the dumbfounded look on the face of the Solo PC Guy.
Wm
P. S. If they wanted a climax, they could have the PC HOME MOVIE smack Solo PC Guy on the back of the head to get his mouth to shut and COUNSELOR walk him off screen leaving the Mac Guy with his Japanese Printer Lady and Mac Home Movie… Mac Guy Smugly smiling.
Oh, oh! Or end with Mac Guy reading the Mac PC Guy Reports and then display them in Keynote fashion showing Mac sales going through the roof!!!!!
Me: In the commercials, the Mac comes across less as the funny uncle than he does a smug generation Y-er.
Once again, I’ve got my finger on the pulse of America:
Alas while viewing audiences felt that while the Mac Guy may have proved his case, most of them wanted to pummel the smug little twit into a coma and jump on his bleeding body until the cops arrived.
In fact most of them liked the PC guy, John Hodgman, better, which was not really the point.
When the ads came out, Seth Stevenson, ad critic for Slate, complained that Long was just the sort of unshaven, hoodie-wearing, hands-in-pockets hipster we’ve always imagined when picturing a Mac enthusiast.
He said Apple was parodying its own image while also cementing it. This is of course a bad thing when most people perceive Apple’s main weakness is its brainwashed, smug fanboy base who send abuse to journalists who write stories they don’t like through anonymous accounts in case their mummies find out.
Well done, Beeb.
Although I warmed to The PC Guy and tired of The Mac Guy, it didn’t make we want to buy a PC, because the message of the visual image still got through.
It’ll be interesting to see what direction Apple now takes.
I’d like to see John Hodgman playing both roles. That’d be funny, and cool.
Ditto Chris. PC Guy doing both rolls. Not just as an add either, I’d love to have OS X available from Dell and HP and others. That’d shock the world.
Wm
OMG! Did I get the Mac guy sacked?