Apple has some clever new Get a Mac sidebar ads running on various sites around the net, including ZDNet. In them, PC repeatedly hits an emergency reset lever (attempting to clear negative banners about Vista) to less than good effect. The humorless sort are quick to point out that the quotes PC resets don't come from actual reviews, but instead from op-eds and the like. Personally, this seems like a distinction without difference. The point is that Vista has not been that well-received in the tech world and Apple is right on target about that in this series of ads. (As to various problems with Leopard, well, that's for a another time).
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.[via Gizmodo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-24-2008 @ 9:13PM
Chris said...
Apple has run similar ads before. These are new versions.
Just so you know.
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3-24-2008 @ 9:37PM
Zac Bedell said...
Wow... That's annoying. Yay for AdBlock!
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3-25-2008 @ 9:24AM
Dan S. said...
Wow, that's annoying!
Yay for /etc/hosts and Privoxy!
3-24-2008 @ 10:03PM
Poon Tangy said...
These ads have been out for the better part of half a year now.
Just so you know.
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3-24-2008 @ 10:10PM
LD said...
What is a review really but an op-ed?
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3-24-2008 @ 11:03PM
RWhitney said...
Welcome to 2008, TUAW- glad you joined up!
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3-24-2008 @ 11:08PM
Mat Lu said...
I swear. Apple has been running sidebar ads for a while. They haven't been running THESE sidebar ads for that long! It's the same deal when they release a new commercial in the Get a Mac campaign and we post on it.
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3-25-2008 @ 10:28AM
Chris said...
And thank you for doing so. I enjoy the ads but I use Adblock so I never get to see them (and don't want to while browsing).
3-24-2008 @ 11:22PM
Ed said...
They've been running these since before Christmas...
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3-25-2008 @ 12:39PM
farfisa said...
Creative use of the ad space and well done. But unless you're surfing around looking for funny ads it's still really annoying.
They ran one like that on Engadget a while back and it got a huge response. Mostly from people wanting them to never host an ad like that again.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/20/the-elephant-sized-ad-in-the-room/
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3-25-2008 @ 12:58PM
Casey said...
Stuff like this is partly why I WON'T be buying a new Mac anytime soon.
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3-25-2008 @ 4:21PM
david said...
@Casey- Yeah, right. Like you had your credit card out and were all excited to get a new MBP, and then you saw this ad and just decided it just wasn't worth it.
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3-26-2008 @ 12:58AM
Casey said...
You're right. I wasn't literally setting in front of my PC with apple.com open thinking, "Maybe I better check TUAW one more time." The point I was trying to make is that, by using these tactics in their ads, Apple is alienating the very people they are trying to adopt.
Why should I purchase anything from a company that thinks I'm such a looser?
3-26-2008 @ 2:29AM
david said...
Casey. Forgive me. I was checking TUAW during a sucky time at work. Let me be more articulate. I have been using Mac products since I was four. I would never consider using anything else as my primary comp unless Apple really takes a dive. I'm just tired of having to defend what I consider a wonderful OS and hardware manufacturer from weird attacks that really have no relevance to why I choose to pay the Apple Tax year after year. Weird ads? I don't care. I can't run every random piece of software? Don't care, either. If I have to (which I do, occasionally), I boot to the XP Partition. I have done and will probably continue to recommend Apple products to everyone that I come in contact with. It makes my life easier in not having to support Windows every four days with my elderly relatives. Bottom line, I think Apple rocks. Infallible? No. But I'll be there hitting the refresh button on the live webcast of the next Stevenote like a rat addicted to cocaine.
3-26-2008 @ 12:05PM
Casey said...
"But I'll be there hitting the refresh button on the live webcast of the next Stevenote like a rat addicted to cocaine."
Me too :O)
...except for the cocaine part.