BBC reviews Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ ads

19 years ago

“One cool-looking bloke introduces himself as a Mac. An uncool bloke in a suit and bad haircut introduces himself as a PC. Through a series of adverts, they discuss the shortcomings of the PC versus the merits of the Mac. The PC character is neurotic, insecure and a nerd; Mac, in return, is relaxed, hip, but – crucially – not unfriendly,” Giles Wilson writes for BBC News.

Wilson writes, “This series has been running for more than a year in the US, with two slightly-known actors in the roles now filled for the UK audience by David Mitchell (PC) and Robert Webb (Mac). Apple has taken the unusual step of reconstructing its US ads verbatim for overseas markets – there is already a Japanese ‘PC’ and ‘Mac’ who have the same conversations with the same dress sense and the same backing music. This is a new twist on globalisation.”

“One of the most significant things about this series is the attitude of the Mac character towards the PC character. In the US version at least, there’s no overt smugness. Mac is friendly towards PC, he’s not judgmental, hostile or self-satisfied,” Wilson writes. “The reason for this friendliness is obvious: smugness is just not attractive, especially if you happen to be telling someone whose computer is crippled by viruses that your operating system doesn’t suffer from them (yet).”

MacDailyNews Take: Stick to reviewing TV ads, Giles. Your parenthetical use of the word “yet” shows ignorance. You obviously know nothing about operating systems. Mac OS X will never become subject to 200,000+ known viruses and large portions of the Mac user base will never be repeatedly taken down in large swaths around the globe. Yes, all operating systems have flaws. Some of these flaws can even be exploited. But, there is just no way to equate Mac and Windows in terms of security. Mac OS X has been online for nearly six years now and there are tens of millions of Mac OS X machines online. There is no “yet.”

Wilson continues, “Casting is critical here: are Mitchell and Webb as effective for a UK audience as the US stars, Justin Long and John Hodgman? For much of the UK audience, it’s possible that a familiarity with Mitchell and Webb’s excellent Channel 4 programme, Peep Show, counts against their effectiveness here. Knowing that Robert Webb plays the opportunistic insincere Jez does not exactly enhance his role as an honest friendly broker for Mac. Similarly, knowing that David Mitchell is likeable, decent and intelligent (albeit a loser) doesn’t ultimately put the PC character in as bad a light as in the US version.”

Wilson writes, “In the UK there are rules against advertisers on TV denigrating or discrediting rivals. The Apple ads have not yet been shown on British TV, but would they be allowed on air? It’s pretty clear what (or who) “PC” represents, with his nerd chic, haircut and pie-charts. (Clue: Could it be the well-known, extremely well-heeled face of a PC-based operating system?)”

MacDailyNews Take: Giles had it right the first time. It’s “what” not “who.” It’s not at all difficult and it should be extremely easy for a TV ad reviewer: The “PC” represents a Windows PC and the “Mac” represents a Macintosh. Hence their names in the ads and the repeated use of the greetings, “Hello, I’m a Mac” and “I’m a PC.”

Wilson concludes, “But luckily for Apple, the term PC is so generic nowadays it would be hard to show that these adverts were denigrating a particular competitor. That might be an interesting matter for the advertising watchdogs to consider.”

Full article here.