“The Council of Better Business Bureaus has recommended that Apple Computer discontinue comparative performance claims regarding its Power Mac G5 desktop. Acting on a tip from Apple rival Dell, the council’s National Advertising Division (NAD) “determined that the evidence provided by Apple did not provide a reasonable basis for its broad unqualified claims that its Power Mac G5 is ‘the world’s fastest, most powerful personal computer’ and that it ‘edged out the competition on integer,'” Ed Frauenheim reports for CNET News.com.
“In a statement Thursday, NAD also said it took issue with Apple’s claim regarding the computer’s 64-bit processor. The ‘advertiser’s claim, ‘the world’s first 64-bit processor for personal computers,’ could reasonably be interpreted to apply to workstations, in the context in which it was presented.’ This claim was unsupported by evidence, according to NAD. The organization said that although the advertisement had run its course, it recommended that Apple ‘modify this claim to effectively limit it to personal computers,'” Frauenheim reports.
“According to NAD, Apple said in a statement that its ad campaign has already run its course and that it ‘will be mindful of NAD’s views in its future advertising.’ The company was not immediately available for further comment on the issue,” Frauenheim reports. “Apple’s G5 advertising had previously been criticized. In November, British TV regulators banned an Apple ad for the machine, saying its claim to the title ‘world’s fastest personal computer’ is not fully supported.”
Full article here.
Can’t wait to here Thurrott take.
it is
What a load!!! Advertizers make claims all the time. Best in class… cheapest… biggest… fastest. To single out Apple for making claims that others make all the time seems a little disingenuous to me. If you decided to pull every ad that stretched the truth or was otherwise questionable in its statements, there wouldn’t be any ads on TV or in the mags…
Hey! maybe they are on to something.
Can’t wait to read about BBB’s criticism of MS’s chronically infected OS that causes millions, if not billions, of hours wasted and dollars spent attempting to repair.
ok, as far as i know, apple’s dual G5 IS STILL the fastest personal desktop system. the dual Xeon it went up against in benchmarks was not a PERSONAL desktop, but a workstation. also, a single P4 may beat a single G5 on integer, but no way if the G5 is a dual setup. sorry guys, the G5 still wins, especially when it’s taken as a personal desktop. no one owns a dual Xeon dell workstation for their home, it’s too expensive!
Face it, the G5 may have been the fastest last year, but even the dual 2.0 has been caught up by AMD (and possibly Intel too). I’m sure that the G5s will be way ahead again when (if!!!) Apple ship the 90nm models.
In the meantime, Apple should release an ad with “Better built than the crap from Dell” and see if the NAD lets that stand. I don’t think Dell would have grounds for complaint.
looooooser. Maybe Dull is just getting worried about competition?
G5 was never fastest – anyone who says so is ignorant or they should provide an article that says the G5 is fastest.
Why is raw speed so important anyway? Workflow is what is important – and Mac has everyone beat.
Getting stuff done faster is more important than a Guassian blur finishing 20 seconds faster.
People are so stupid.
the sad thing is the ads didn’t work.
nice Joe, infact, I think this may get more press.
Yeah Joe, the ads didn’t work, just like the BMW 5 series ad hasn’t: BMW still aren’t selling as many vehicles as Ford is selling Falcons (can’t remember what your equivalent of the Falcon is in the US…).
I do agree though that the ads were a little lame. In a way I am thankful that most Apple ads don’t air in Australia (yet we are still one of the highest consumers of Mac outside of the US (especially in education)). We did get the iPod ads, which are pretty cool.
When Apple introduced this video (http://www.apple.com/powermac/video/) they were the FASTEST PERSONAL COMPUTER available, and NOW (?) wants to dispute that?
Computer systems are constantly leap-frogging each other. They have been for decades. Now, Dell wants some government department to spank Apple? Oh, pleeeeeses, Mary!!
If Dell can demo a comparable computer in terms of price and performance that can beat a G5, show it! Where’s the web link, Dell?!!!
Well that campaign got kind of tired, Dell just made brownie points for itself.
Now it’s time for Apple to unveil the Dual 2.5 Ghz G5’s and say
“Dual 2.5 Ghz G5’s: Again the world’s fastest personal computer”
Help cure disease for Stanford University.
Well, the next time Dell puts out an advertisement, we can complain to BBB. After all, all benchmarks are misleading. If enough people complain, then BBB should consider it and Dell gets their own medicine.
Babies, babies, babies. Can’t Dell find someone else to wine about? This will backfire. Marketing 101: Obviously the marketing folks at Dell don’t understand. It has nothing to do with statistics, it’s about memory recall. Never mind that all the techies will want to contest the statement. It’s not necessary. Consumers are uninformed, voters are uninformed and when exactly have you seen “truth” in advertising?
I have a P4 WinXP Pro box at work and a G5 1.8 single at home. The G5 smokes the P4 like a cheap cigar, kicks it’s ass, takes it’s lunch money and talks about it’s mama. How do you like that Mike (Dell)? Like the old ads used to say: ask the man who owns one.
come on Nopczone what speed was the machine you have at work and what was in it? you have a P4 at work big deal was it a 1.6? most benches i have seen even at Mac publications show that the dual G5 is only on Par with the fast Pcs. So Apple is doing the same crap as with G4. using the few benches to show their 2 Cpu’s match the 1 Cpu in the Pc world. Same shit they pulled with G4 and years of doing nothing by Motorola. They spin they lie and still sell slow hardware. If a company is going to make a statement then Back it up. 1.6 & 1.8 single G5s got their asses spanked by PCs in every benchmark i have seen. Only the duals are about the same. enough said.
IBM’s 970, 975 and 980 chips are great. Their compilers are not nearly as well optimized as Intel’s and AMD’s. Given more time IBM may prove the adverts were right after all.
dell advertises that it’s windows boxes are easy to use?
sooo should they have to change their slogan?
Dell: Just..don’t.. touch..anything.. and it won’t break
The Power Mac G5. Used to assemble the world’s third fastest, and most cost-effective, supercomputer. They can’t dispute that! 😀
Well the top500 supercomputer list tells it like it is;
http://www.top500.org/list/2003/11/
Notice that Apple is in 3rd place with a 2200 (G5 2.0 GHz) CPU count, while Dell is in 4th place with a 2500 (P4 Xeon 3.06 GHz) count.
I think Apple has already made a bold statement with the above said. No need to waste the BBB’s time with such childish nonsense!
“The organization [BBB]…recommended that Apple ‘modify this claim to effectively limit it to personal computers,'” Frauenheim reports.”
Now doesn’t the ‘the world’s first 64-bit processor for personal computers’ mean *personal computers*? The BBB can be useful, but I have had a bad experience with them regarding an advertisement that said on bold print that ‘prices are good through xx/yy/zz’ and said in little print that ‘prices subject to change.’ When they wouln’t honor their price I wrote to BBB and they sent me a letter saying that they found in my favor and that the company had not responded. Shortly thereafter I received a letter that the company had responded and that the BBB found in their favor. I provided the advertisement and an explanation. All they did is send in the advertisement with a circle around the ‘prices subject to change.’ I know this sounds trivial, but it is just another example of how businesses are not held accountable to the consumer.
Let the burden of proof be on the complaintant (Dell). Apple made the claim and if Dell wants to dispute it then let them try. Instead they appeal to the BBB? What a crock of @#%@#%! As if the BBB is capable of assessing computer performance.
I’m with Sailfish. Bring on the dual G5/2.5’s with performance tweaks and improved graphics and larger standard RAM, and then make the same claim. My single G5/1.8 is fast at iMovie and everything else. I can just imagine two G5’s, each running 700MHz faster!
Oh, man Michael Dell is the biggest baby! He is going to be ONE BIG BABY if Kerry wins this election because only 30% of his business is done domestically. The rest of it is outsourced outside the country! BoooHooo!
“Saddam Hussein is a threat because he is dealing with Al Qaeda. A true threat facing our country is that an Al Qaeda-type network trained and armed by Saddam could attack America and not leave one fingerprint.” – George W. Bush 11/7/2002
Where’s the outrage? Where’s the BBB?