Apple Continues 'Get a Mac' Ad Campaign with 4 New Ads

[dannyboi83]

Love Em

Its nice to see these adverts, and I love them. Windows system is rubbish, and those stupid adverts about cost of Mac's is just ridiculous. I have had numerous problems with my Vista laptop that is only 6 months old, and had the blue screen of death many times, whereas my Mac is just great.

 

[AlexisV]

Sorry, but the MS ones are cringeworthy and highly patronising.

Going on that "actually, Windows doesn't crash often at all" doesn't matter. It's ingrained that Windows crashes and Apple just play on that, whether it's true or not.

MS have a multitude of problems - getting people to buy machines, telling them they don't crash, telling them they're more secure, telling them they're fun and there are new features. All without alienating existing users and bringing in new ones. All in some sort of coherant campaign.

Except they have a new campaign every week and have no clear strategy. One week it's Bill Gates, the next it's Laptop Hunters, the next it's "I'm a PC" and then we have 8 year old kids making slideshows.

Bizarre.

Apple have it easy - make you want one, and tell you that the other option is rubbish.

MS can go on that Apple is expensive, but that just makes you sound cheap.

 

[nplima]

I admit that I hope this doesn't change any time soon for Mac. As a Windows user since, Windows 3.1; I love the fact that I'm far safer with OS X and a Mac than Windows Vista or Windows 7 (even with ESET or Kaspersky installed). It's a point that isn't wasted on me and is one of my top 10 reasons to get a mac!

That is fine, but if the malware is developed for OS X, then it's back to square 1: a load of clueless users making things worse for everyone else.

The advantage of using OS X in relation to malware exists today, but it won't surprise me that one of these days we find on these forums "hey, it's not Apple's fault that users are clueless and click on anything shiny they find on the internet!"

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Mixed feelings about these. On one hand they were quite funny in parts on the other they were atrociously weak in terms of a response to Microsoft's ads plus, of course, they're opening themselves up to some heavy comeback if MS choose to pursue this.

Sometimes the best response is no response, i.e., to not even acknowledge the attack. To make a direct attack then feeds M$ and gives their ads free publicity. Instead Apple avoids the pissing match by doing what its been doing w/ the "I'm a Mac" ads. They cut down PCs w/o acknowledging any of M$'s failed ad campaigns. That's good marketing.

I don't recall all of the "I'm a Mac" ads, but wasn't there a "productivity" spot where PC says he cost less but then kept crashing while the Mac kept on working? That is essentially the retort Apple would make to M$'s ads. Maybe they should just run that one again.

 

[*LTD*]

Going on that "actually, Windows doesn't crash often at all" doesn't matter. It's ingrained that Windows crashes and Apple just play on that, whether it's true or not.

I see you "get" it.

That's the whole point of the ads. They work because they reinforce what we already know and perceive, and doe it with lighhearted humour wrapped in slick and stylish visuals. Apple ads look like very polished products.

MS is their own worst enemy.

 

[*LTD*]

Sorry, but the MS ones are cringeworthy and highly patronising.

Going on that "actually, Windows doesn't crash often at all" doesn't matter. It's ingrained that Windows crashes and Apple just play on that, whether it's true or not.

MS have a multitude of problems - getting people to buy machines, telling them they don't crash, telling them they're more secure, telling them they're fun and there are new features. All without alienating existing users and bringing in new ones. All in some sort of coherant campaign.

Except they have a new campaign every week and have no clear strategy. One week it's Bill Gates, the next it's Laptop Hunters, the next it's "I'm a PC" and then we have 8 year old kids making slideshows.

Bizarre.

Apple have it easy - make you want one, and tell you that the other option is rubbish.

MS can go on that Apple is expensive, but that just makes you sound cheap.

I quoted your whole post because it should be read in its entireity. Very well put. It's really as simple as that.

 

[pwn247]

well they might have worse actors and the camera work is made too look amateur like (to get that testimonial type of look) still both are just movies with more or less well scripted content.

I think that's the issue. Microsoft is really into tricking the buyer into purchasing a product, and on the ads they're really into tricking the viewer into believing that this is real even though it's fake. At least Apple doesn't try to hide the fact that the people in their commercials are actors.

Yes...i have used a mac.

Its different, not good or bad different but different.

Windows is easy and nice.

I just lol'd. You're kidding, right? "Windows is easy and nice"? HAHA! April fools was a few weeks ago, kid.

It says "Power PC users" and refers to the concept of a "power user" rather to the hardware "Power PC".

I think that was a bit of comedy on Apple's part. "Power Users" would refer to a computer user who's really into getting things done fast and efficiently. So power users on a PC would be considered "Power PC Users" right? Funny, Apple, very funny.

I have had numerous problems with my Vista laptop that is only 6 months old, and had the blue screen of death many times, whereas my Mac is just great.

Same here. Unfortunately my school buys PCs from Dell (if that isn't an epic fail in itself), and as if that isn't bad enough they don't pay for support. So when a computer bluescreens here they just put it in a pile with other BSOD'd PCs in a closet somewhere and replace the computer with a new one. What a f***ing waste.

Except they have a new campaign every week and have no clear strategy. One week it's Bill Gates, the next it's Laptop Hunters, the next it's "I'm a PC" and then we have 8 year old kids making slideshows.

Apple have it easy - make you want one, and tell you that the other option is rubbish.

+1

Again, like I said, the new "Laptop Hunters" campaign, and pretty much everything covered my Microsoft's rent-a-marketing team, lies to the consumer market. Until Microsoft can compare Vista or Windows 7 to Mac OS X Leopard and have some valid points (other than "we have more games"), I don't see me buying any Microsoft computer products anytime in the future.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

That is fine, but if the malware is developed for OS X, then it's back to square 1: a load of clueless users making things worse for everyone else.

The advantage of using OS X in relation to malware exists today, but it won't surprise me that one of these days we find on these forums "hey, it's not Apple's fault that users are clueless and click on anything shiny they find on the internet!"

True, but largely hypothetical. Mac will never come even close to PC level market share, at least if they intend to maintain a 25-30% profit margin. Without a large market share, and especially in government and business, the Mac just isn't a profitable target for serious malware proliferators.

 

[Veri]

It was concluded that even when things went horribly wrong, computers giving polite error messages were perceived as much better products than computers giving technically explicit messages.

And yet it's not a better product - a BSOD is a BSOD, even if it doesn't announce itself as one. Anyway, I'm not asking for a full memory dump, just a "polite" admission that the computer has in some way messed up, not the user, with perhaps a hint as to where the blame might lie (hardware/OS/third party software). I've been developing for long enough, and yet the first time I saw a post-10.2 BSOD I didn't even know what was up.

Had something just installed in the background and require a reset - if so, why can't I Command-Tab out and shut down cleanly? Can I get out of this thiing so I don't lose work? Had I accidentally pressed a quick restart combination of keys? Was there some hardware failure, e.g. a thermal event?

OS X uses a concept known as a log file to write the technical details. Users don't really need to know who General Protection Fault is

Agreed. They shouldn't need to know what Activity Monitor or "force quitting" is, either, but the OS is fairly poor at keeping misbehaving apps in line. Mind you, this is a common problem of consumer operating systems.

 

[*LTD*]

True, but largely hypothetical. Mac will never come even close to PC level market share, at least if they intend to maintain a 25-30% profit margin. Without a large market share, and especially in government and business, the Mac just isn't a profitable target for serious malware proliferators.

Excellent. May it always remain this way.

 

[*LTD*]

Yes...i have used a mac.

Its different, not good or bad different but different.

Windows is easy and nice.

Your standards are obviously very, very low.

The difference between OS X and Windows is like night and day. Totally different user experience, with a totally different hardware/software ecosystem.

A system in which the hardware/software isn't closely mated, and in which the user experience isn't tightly controlled to ensure uniformity, familiarity, and stability across the board, will NEVER be as "easy and nice" as a closed system like Mac/OS X. It's literally impossible.

 

[Bubba Satori]

I disagree. This is exactly how Apple needs to address the Microsoft ads -- with the same tactic that been getting people to make the switch. If Apple were to respond to the accusation that Macs are "more expensive", it would work against Apple. Just as every time Microsoft mentions a Mac in their ads, it works for Apple. I think more of these ads are what is needed to keep going in the right direction.

Besides, I'm sure it just angers Ballmer even more knowing that Apple just isn't budging!

Agreed. Stay the course. If it ain't broke...

 

[*LTD*]

Agreed. Stay the course. If it ain't broke...

Agreed.

The ads work on so many levels. Mac and PC guy are the tech world's Odd Couple. They're well known and lovable. Stay the course, these ads are golden and intelligently done.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

T... but it won't surprise me that one of these days we find on these forums "hey, it's not Apple's fault that users are clueless and click on anything shiny they find on the internet!"

LOL, I hear that!

It's not the fault of Windows that viruses exist. I use both Windows and Mac OSX every single day. Both have their advantages over the other.

I've never once got a single virus on my Windows system. It doesn't crash on me and everything I plug into it works. I'll admit that using a Mac is easier. I don't think I could live without iPhoto these days, I love that application .

Perhaps it's the fact that I'm European, but all this finger-pointing at each other and petty bickering just seems a little juvenile to me. It's not a form of advertising that will ever appeal to me. I'd rather that they advertised the merit of their brand without having to belittle someone else to emphasise their point.

 

[*LTD*]

I disagree. This is exactly how Apple needs to address the Microsoft ads -- with the same tactic that been getting people to make the switch. If Apple were to respond to the accusation that Macs are "more expensive", it would work against Apple. Just as every time Microsoft mentions a Mac in their ads, it works for Apple. I think more of these ads are what is needed to keep going in the right direction.

Besides, I'm sure it just angers Ballmer even more knowing that Apple just isn't budging!

Well MS doesn't know how to brand anything, except their users as cheap losers. Which might be unintentional on their part (back to branding incompetence), but it's still unfortunate for the user base. Their ads portray their products, their partners' products, and their users as just plain ugly, both visually and in terms of taste.

SJ was right, so long ago. MS really has no taste.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Apple have it easy - make you want one, and tell you that the other option is rubbish.

MS can go on that Apple is expensive, but that just makes you sound cheap.

I think Apple's ads are more nuanced than Mac just telling you PCs suck. There are ads where Mac says why he is better than PC.

M$ did have a brief Vista ad campaign last fall explaining why Vista was great, but then they drifted off to the "I'm a PC" ads which had no real impact, the Seinfeld ads which were incomprehensible, and the laptop hunter ads which don't even mention Windows other than the laptops run them, even though if you were buying a laptop you'd probably compare the OS above everything else. In the end the Laptop Hunter cheers the cheap PC, but everyone already knows PCs cost less than Macs.

I don't think those ads make you seem cheap for buying a PC though, just uninformed. Heck it was just a few weeks ago people here (rightly so to a degree) that the new Mac Pros were overpriced. A less expensive Mac would be nice, and I wouldn't feel cheap about buying one. By that same token, if Mac and Windows prices were flipped (just the prices, everything else remained the same), I wouldn't pay more for a Windows PC than a similarly equipped Mac. People could call me cheap for buying a Mac. I wouldn't care a bit.

 

[twoodcc]

alright. they are finally responding

 

[*LTD*]

I think Apple's ads are more nuanced.

Which again, shows some depth from Apple. Very clever.

 

[*LTD*]

alright. they are finally responding

Well, in their usual way. There's no real acknowledgement of MS' ads here.

There's really nothing to respond too, though. MS ads are butt ugly and make their users and products look the same.

 

[Goona]

Exactly what I wanted to say but could not articulate in my post. Yeah, these ads are getting old.

And I guess Microsoft's new buy our cheaper crap ads are really good?

 

[Goona]

Microsoft releases a campaign of new ads attacking Apple, that receive tons of attention and start a lot of discussion.

Apple, in response, releases a series of ads that could easily be confused as being a few years old by the average consumer.

The latest Conflicker virus sure ain't old and these ads address that.

 

[djellison]

The difference between OS X and Windows is like night and day. Totally different user experience, with a totally different hardware/software ecosystem.

Different user experiences? Really?

Turn it one. Load a browser. Browse the net. Watch something on You Tube. Load email program. Check email. Send email. Load Word. Write document. Print document. Turn it off.

That's 90% of IT usage - and to be honest, Mac or PC - it would be the same experience.

Then again...

"MS ads are butt ugly and make their users and products look the same."

I wouldn't expect you to respond in a mature, valid way.

 

[Goona]

y do people want apple to change THEIR ads. y change something that works. just because the people who visit these forums every day have grown tired of them.. dont mean the average customer has. if all the posters saying they are boring and need something different try and get a job at apple marketing dept and give fresh ideas. until then just hush if they work they work. if they dont they dont. who cares what you think.

Well said and it's these same people people praising the Microsoft ads for being clever with their cheap crap. Meanwhile Apple keeps beating these PC companies in customer satisfaction, while theirs falls down the toilet. Apple responds and it's Apple being the bad guy.

 

[iParis]

Wow! These ads are great! Can't wait for more!

 

[*LTD*]

Then again...

"MS ads are butt ugly and make their users and products look the same."

I wouldn't expect you to respond in a mature, valid way.

Watch the MS ads.

They SCREAM cheap, low-budget, Wal Mart, lower-middle class. It really isn't something people would associate with willingly unless (economic) circumstances compelled them to.

It denigrates the product and the user. There's nothing to aspire to in those ads, and in fact, it gives the disinct image/impression that getting a PC/Windows box means trading down due to price.

Apple wouldn't be caught dead putting out such an ad.