Suzanne Vranica and Brian Steinberg take a look “Best (and worst) ads of ’06″ for The Wall Street Journal.

Among the year’s best is the campaign Vranica and Steinberg call “Apple’s Bite” from Omnicom Group’s TBWA1/4Chiat1/4Day – the “Get a Mac” campaign for Apple Computer, Inc.

Vranica and Steinberg write, “A series of ads that played out on TV and the Web show the Apple Mac, represented by a hip-looking young man, debating its features with the PC, represented by a paunchy, nerdy-looking fellow. The Mac-man — played by actor Justin Long, star of the film “Accepted,” is clever, fun and handy — he can communicate with all sorts of different people, and knows how to come up with pictures and music. The PC, played by another actor known to the youth crowd, “Daily Show” commentator John Hodgman, is decidedly less hip, and is always amazed, humbled or befuddled by Mac’s never-ending range of abilities.”

Vranica and Steinberg, “Pepsi pokes fun at Coke, and Miller Brewing has smacked Anheuser-Busch, but this is razzing of a more sophisticated, and sustained, kind. Apple’s knife cuts deep, but by the time rivals feel it, they have already started to bleed.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Adam W." for the heads up.]

Related article:
Justin Long and John Hodgman win best actor awards for Apple ‘Get a Mac’ ad characters – December 19, 2006