“The new Apple ad annoys me. (Touché) It exudes the kind of smugness that a lot of people associate with Mac users, and the nit-pickiness of the definition of ‘touché’ alienates people. Hell — I wasn’t previously aware that the term is that specific (a point made in rebuttal to another point, according to the commercial), so I looked it up online and couldn’t find a reference that mentions that specifically. Hell, Apple’s own dictionary app (using the Oxford English Dictionary) doesn’t mention it,” Jammer blogs for The Welblog.
Jammer opines, “Lame. Smug, arrogant, and possibly wrong. Get rid of the ad, Apple.”
Full article with screenshot here.
Apple’s “Touché” ad:
MacDailyNews Note: “Used as an acknowledgment during a discussion of a good or clever point made at one’s expense by another person” certainly describes the poor PC’s reaction to the Mac’s statements in Apple’s “Touché” ad. Jammer’s right about that part. We wouldn’t put it past Apple to intentionally use it wrong – we are talking about it now aren’t we?
The ad’s real point, that Macs run Windows and are the only computer you’ll ever need, seems slightly muddied by the whole “touché” discussion, but not muddied enough to hurt. The ad is still powerful. This ad works, “touché” right or wrong, because it dangles the “twofer” right in front of the publics’ collective face. Certainly, Apple’s “Touché” ad is not lame, smug, or arrogant.
There is simply no defense against, “Now you can run Mac OS X or Windows on a Mac, so it’s the only computer you’ll ever need.”
The “Embrace” phase of Apple’s plan is off to a strong start.
As we see it, Apple is executing a two-part “Embrace and Extinguish” plan. Give people their Windows “insecurity blanket” first. They believe they need Windows and cannot be convinced otherwise. Let them find out for themselves what Mac OS X and Apple’s Mac-only apps like iLife, Safari, etc. are all about. Then, when the time comes to buy their next Mac, they’ll be just like us: they won’t even care if it can run Windows. We are extremely confident that Mac OS 10.4 Tiger will win converts from Windows XP. Heck, for that matter, we’re extremely confident that Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar would win converts from Windows XP. Leopard vs. Windows Vista? It’ll be no contest. We’ve seen it happen in real life too many times: let someone really use a Mac for a couple of weeks and they simply do not want to go back to Windows.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple debuts three new ‘Get a Mac’ ads (with video) – June 12, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows!
Why buy a Dell when Apple’s Intel-based computers will run both Mac OS X and Windows? – June 08, 2005
There will always be somebody that is going to complain about something. Jammer is one of those somebodies.
Frankly his ‘complaints’ about the ad makes me think he’s insecure about something, and is taking that insecurity out on Apple.
I see no need to complain about this commercial. It sends the message clearly. Mac users now can enjoy multiple OS’s AND still have the best OS available (Mac OS X). Maybe there’s a reason to be smug. When you got it you got it and when you don’t you nit pick like Jammer is doing. I hope he can get his panties to un-bunch.
Have you noticed that the attacks are less and less about the actual platform and more and more about something trivial. Must be scary on that side of things to have to dig deeper and deeper to find something negative to say.
“Lame, smug, arrogant, and possibly wrong” can also describe some Windows users i’ve met over the years who argue that their platform is so much better.
touché.
I checked three sources on this, they all agree that the Apple ad is wrong. Then I saw this in Wikipedia: More commonly it is used sarcastically to indicate that one is unable to argue against another’s absurd logic. This use is most often restricted to scripted satirical media such as political cartoons, comic strips and comedy shows.
Hmmm, maybe they know about the Ad Business?
Greg Thurman may be right in saying that: There will always be somebody that is going to complain about something. Jammer is one of those somebodies., but that does not invalidate everything he says. The entire series of ads is a bit arrogant. This one more so than the others. We’re a group who feels superior to “Windows Lemmings/Sheep” and don’t mind if others know it. That’s part of what the ads are selling – the right to feel superior! You didn’t really think it was about Mac minis or MacBooks, did you? Do you recall seeing an actual Mac in any of the ads? All you see/hear is the idea of a Mac.
It is obvious to informed and intelligent people that Macs can run both OS X and Windows. I acknowledge that some Windows-based applications may not run as fast on a Mac as on a PC, but I know of none. In addition, Jammer doesn’t provide any real evidence that Macs cannot be used as well as PCs in running Windows-based applications. Instead, Jammer’s complaint appears to be more emotional than logical. Jammer ought to relieved that blogging affords anonymity. His comments are senseless.
You don’t know the history of being lame, smug, or arrogant. I do.
I’m not sure about Jammer’s complaint. However, there is no reason “Mac” has to be correct about use of the word touché.
Derived from French, “to touch” or “touched,” it was originally used in fencing to acknowledge an opponent having scored a point or a touch.
Thus, “PC’s” use of the word simply helps drive the point home.
Mac: “Now you can buy a Mac and still use all your Windows stuff.”
PC: “Touché!”
I guess we just have to let go of the idea that Mac computers are perfect in all ways. Even if they are actors in a commercial.
it paints a real bad image, in my mind, of a Mac trying to be a know-it-all and failing, so now he’s just the guy who tries to act like he knows everything but really doesn’t. I really hate those guys, and I do not want to be associated as one of them just because I use a better computer operating system…..
I like all the other ads though.
Windows cry babies.
Hey, no one wants to be wrong. Just admit you bought the wrong computer when you were not paying attention and invested in a Windows PC.
Get a Mac and move on with life. Why wait for Windows to improve?
“There is simply no defense against, “Now you can run Mac OS X or Windows on a Mac, so it’s the only computer you’ll ever need.””
Sure there is … it’s called obfuscation. And that’s what Jammer is up to. Since he can’t counter the whole point of the commercial, he has to deflect attention to an extraneous point that is, at best, tangental to the whole issue … and, in so-doing, also engages in another favorite pass-time of so many Windows users: ad hominem attacks on Mac users.
Typical.
MDN Magic Word: “firm” … as in … the commercial makes a firm argument in favor of buying and using Macs, but the blogger ignored it in favor of focusing on form of substance.
Jammer opines, ‘Lame, smug, arrogant, and possibly wrong.
Possibly wrong? Undoubtedly, Jammer needs to be absolutely and incontrovertibly certain that the ad is wrong before he accuses Apple of deception.
J’accuse!
The above lesson in Logic 101 brought you by the letter W
Hmm. Microsoft takes over the computer world – HAS to establish the standard for Portable Document Format because PDF isn’t good enough for them, especially since they didn’t invent it; HAD to establish its own media format (WMA) because MP3 wasn’t good enough, especially since they didn’t invent it; WANTS to establish the standard for graphics (WMF) because JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP aren’t good enough for them, especially since they didn’t invent it. And Apple is the one who is “Lame. Smug, arrogant, and possibly wrong”?
i think the message that “a Mac is the only computer you’ll ever need” gets lost in the semantic discussion between the two.
There is probably a more forceful way to market Boot Camp than this particular advert.
All of the current Mac v. PC ads, not just this one. The style gets in the way of the message. If I had seen those ads before switching, I probably would never have bought a Mac. This one, of course, is the worst, since it turns out that the smug, know it all guy really doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Arrogance, which is quite different from pride, is not a virtue. It’s not even pretty to watch.
Jake
Since when is it arrogant to point out and expose the shortcomings of one’s opponents in the marketplace? I think these ads are brilliant. They deliver Apple’s message in a concise, direct, and unambiguous manner and the negative reactions are a strong indicator that the truth hurts.
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I agree with Jake
Beryllium-
Just because its common practice in the market world doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be called arrogance.
for the record though, I like the ads.
It takes a fictional character to bring clarity to this argument.
Colonel Jessep, USMC in “A Few Good Men”: You can’t handle the truth!
I like the ads, too. Obviously, people who are offended by the ads are not going to buy Macintosh computers; but nothing could ever convince such people to switch to Macintosh. They are angered at being labeled the numbskulls they are. Too bad!
And since when is the public promotion of your products advantages called “arrogance”??? I thought it was called advertising!!!
why can’t advertising be arrogance?
The ads are fun. Arrogant, smug? Absolutely– anytime anyone asserts being “better,” that’s how it’s taken– by those who are threatened with feeling “less than.” If someone is interested in something that works BETTER as opposed to being more interested in evaluating their rank with others (though they are probably unaware of it), asserting “betterness” is not threatening. It’s just… better.
Maybe Apple should have just showed the Apple guy groveling on the floor like a dog trying to get some spare crumbs while the Windows guy rests his foot on him and barfs wine into a bowl.
Yeah, that might help Apple sell some Macs. PC (political cor…) gone crazy….
MW “truth”, as in “sometimes the truth offends people”