Apple Introduces Three New Mac Ads During Olympics Opening Ceremonies

[MacRumors]

Apple debuted three new ads tonight during the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremonies featuring an "Apple Genius" helping a Mac owner on a plane, and another while his wife is giving birth. A third ad features a Genius telling a customer who thought he bought a Mac that he really purchased a knock-off because it doesn't come with iPhoto, iMovie, or GarageBand.

The ads are a departure from previous ad campaigns -- they don't feature products and they don't mention any specific service that Apple offers. Instead, they hint at the training services provided at Apple Retail Stores by the Creatives (Geniuses are used for tech support, rather than training) and the fact that just because a computer looks like a Mac, it isn't necessarily one.

They are also a bit of a throwback to the 'Get a Mac' ads featuring Justin Long and John Hodgman. By emphasizing the personal aspects of Apple's services, it appears that the company is looking to humanize itself and make it less about the products and more about the entire Apple ecosystem, including the personal services offered at the Apple Retail Stores including the Genius Bar and One-to-One training service.

Article Link: Apple Introduces Three New Mac Ads During Olympics Opening Ceremonies

 

[applefanDrew]

Hey where's my credit for alerting you guys about this? lol

 

[wickerman1893]

Is it just me or are these the first commercials that didn't seem "Steve Jobs like?"

 

[SprodeBoy]

Seriously, these commercials were cute

 

[Chrisg2014]

Those were really good ads haha

 

[hartwig]

The Genius had genuine charisma, I think he did good

 

[robgreene]

Is it just me or are these the first commercials that didn't seem "Steve Jobs like?"

Came here to write the exact same thing. Definitely felt like the first deviation away from Jobs vision for the company. Disappointing.

 

[sputnikv]

these felt sort of like the kind of commercials at&t/verizon/sprint puts out.. it's unsettling

 

[H. Flower]

You've got to be kidding me


And one of them even has a guy from Upright Citizen's Brigade?!??

Seriously, WTF!?!?!?

 

[jlsm511]

as a former specialist, i vomited a little when i saw these :/

 

[miles01110]

I just thought they were bizarre. Kind of a perpetuation of the "Apple holier-than-thou" mindset more than a genuine reflection on the quality services Apple provides.

 

[davidc2182]

I submitted this too, it should be policy that anyone who submits before MacRumors goes to post, should get at least a shout out...

As for the content of the ads, I like them, bout time they give retail some credit. The Genius in the ads I hope is really a Genius and not an actor!

 

[Chrisg2014]

Is it just me or are these the first commercials that didn't seem "Steve Jobs like?"

The new iPhone Commercials...


I am so going to piss so many people off by saying this but Steve is gone, it doesn't mean apple has to keep to the same things. They need to change directions and innovate, how ever they see fit. But I agree they where kind of a throw back to the Mac vs PC, but less about the mac it self and more about the software.

 

[boss.king]

Not really liking these ads. There's no element of truth in them, it's just show-boating. I also found the 3rd one (fake Mac) a bit snobby.

 

[BulletToothTony]

Dude you're getting a Mac!

 

[CapnJackGig]

All of the news ads were awful. What's happening to Apple lately?

 

[jlgolson]

I submitted this too, it should be policy that anyone who submits before MacRumors goes to post, should get at least a shout out...

As for the content of the ads, I like them, bout time they give retail some credit. The Genius in the ads I hope is really a Genius and not an actor!

We would have to credit more than a dozen people then! When it's something like this -- an ad that a lot of people see (I saw them myself during the opening ceremonies) -- it's pretty typical for us not to credit.

No offense was intended!

 

[zemaker]

These are pretty horrid, this would have never made it onto the air in the Steve Jobs era.

 

[ideal.dreams]

If I didn't already have a Mac, these commercials definitely wouldn't convince me to buy one. I was excited when I heard there were new commercials but these were pretty disappointing.

 

[makingdots]

Tim Cook's taste is bad.

 

[The Tuck]

These are great. It's definitely the start of the next "Get a Mac" campaign by Apple.

Tuck

 

[H. Flower]

If I didn't have a Mac these commercials certainly wouldn't convince me.

Because everything they hype in these ads is offscreen.

It's like they intentionally tried to make the most awful commercials they could.

 

[davidc2182]

We would have to credit more than a dozen people then! When it's something like this -- an ad that a lot of people see (I saw them myself during the opening ceremonies) -- it's pretty typical for us not to credit.

No offense was intended!

I understand you didn't intend offense and I'm not offended. But its not really hard to credit those more than a dozen people. Besides being the nice thing to do, imagine what it would do for people on the site to see their username on something on a website. We all like our iEgo stroked!

 

[AriX]

Not crazy about these. Too bad. What happened to the subtlety of the Get a Mac campaign? Where Apple actually seemed to have a sense of humor about itself?

But please, don't jump to blaming this on Steve Jobs being gone. Apple proved time and time again that they were capable of making mistakes even under Jobs. Certainly, things are a little different now, but we don't know enough about what's going on behind the scenes to decide who is at fault.

 

[Yelmurc]

No offense to the actors but these ads are not that charming. The Mac vs PC ads had a charm to them. These just seem like ads any PC vendor would put out.