Apple ads say exactly what a Mac does. They tell you all the features you are going to love. This Microsoft ad, and the Seinfeld ads, are a response to the Apple ads, but don't actually say what makes a PC better than a Mac or what makes it good at all.

This ad obviously directly responds to the Apple ads. The Seinfeld ones were supposed to be funny, like the Get A Mac ads, but again, both ad campaigns are lacking in they don't tell us anything about the product.

↓↑report

I agree w/ Nick, the Apple ads 'do' tell you what a Mac can do - create quality products (remember the comparison that used iMovie (represented by the hot chick) and MovieMaker (the hairy legged dude in a dress)? They've also told us about virus' (or the lack thereof) and many other capabilities and functions. The point wasn't to go through and explicitly describe each one, rather, to give an overall flavor and feel for the product. And it was always OS to OS, and never a personal (as in "a real, human, thinking, doing, person) attack. I think Apple hit their mark - and Microsoft's reaction indicates they did as well.

↓↑report

As the other two users have chimed in, Mac ads absolutely tell the public what Mac products do. That is their power and that is what MS has missed.

Aside from the humour and the obvious mudslinging over Vista, Mac ads have an underlying ideology that parallels Mac OS: be creative and be free. Do more than work and do it all well.

However, Mac ads are based on tangibles, while MS (again missing the point) are based on analogies and fluff. They don't have anything tangible to sell, so they are selling an ideology. That is all well and good, but you need to back that up. I can run on and on about how good my web design skills are, but if you hire me and I produce garbage, then that's what I am. No amount of clever wording or tricky marketing is going to supersede that.

Microsoft doesn't have anything to sell. Their Seinfeld + Gates ads exemplified that. Their entire platform is relying on "the future." Creating a world without borders... in effect, they are peddling vision. But vision cannot be bottle up and sold like a product. They need a solid operating system. They need to pony up SOMETHING. For years they have kept things vague and almost "awe-like" but end-users need more than whimsy and wonder... That's why Microsoft is failing, not because Apple ads are better than Microsoft ads.

MS thinks its all marketing, but at the end of the day, people want a computer they can use. Something that helps them to be more productive and generally increases the overall quality of their lives. Windows just doesn't cut it.

↓↑report

As much as I like Apple, let's not forget that the goal of Microsoft's ads is NOT to sell more copies of Windows. Increasing your market share when you've already hit 90% is ludicrous.

Simply put, Microsoft has a image problem and that's what their ads are (horribly) attempting to fix. It's not like people CHOOSE to install Vista on their computers like people CHOOSE to by a Mac. But when people complain that X and Y Microsoft product sucks, they are much less inclined to support a Microsoft product in the future.

Again, image is everything.

↓↑report

MS doesn't have enough money to do an ad showing what Windows does because it would take 30 minutes to boot, run for 30 seconds and then lock up and Blue Screen. :)

↓↑report

If you think the Get a Mac adverts are telling you what a Mac can do you haven't been watching for a while. They were good when they were doing that but have just become dull since they focused on "PC". Reminds me of sleezy politicians slurring the politicians rather than discussing their own merits. I guess that's easier.

↓↑report

1. true not all of the ads speak to functionally, especially in the I'm a Mac series. but some of them do. and there are other series of Ads totally devoted to the 'what you can do' idea. the Microsoft ads -- don't stereotype our users.

2. Apple is about more that just the product, there are also the services you get. and several of the I'm a Mac ads are about that notion. about in store setup and tech help, about personal training etc. the Microsoft ads -- don't stereotype our users.

3. just as important as what a computer can do is what it won't do. like take forever to get set up, like catch every other virus out there (pc viruses outnumber mac ones like 1000 to 1). several of the I'm a Mac ads cover that realm. the Microsoft ads -- don't stereotype our users.

↓↑report

I agree.

↓↑report

That's not saying much.

↓↑report

gotta say, i agree. but it won't necessarily help them.

↓↑report

Agreed. I actually like this ad quite a bit because it takes Apple's denigration and shows that there are a lot of people out there using PCs to do good things.

My favorite part is that the ad states an amusing "wait a minute, we're people too" message without attacking Apple in the process.

↓↑report

Very well put. Might I add that bashing an ad that bashes an ad that bashes the company which the ad is promoting is really stooping to a very low level? Apple's ads are directly targeted at microsoft, so why blame them from returning fire?

↓↑report

You're missing the point. The way Apple promotes their product is by saying what it can do and how well, and then they show how much better it is from the alternative. In simpler words, Apple is saying "Macs can do this, as opposed to PCs, who struggle or can't do it at all".

Now what windows is saying with the new commercials is "I'm not that", then it goes on to say how other people are not as well. Don't you see how they missed the message entirely? Worst even is not that they're acknowledging Apple's commercials, but they do so at the expense of showing their own product.

This commercial is not intended so people buy a Microsoft product, only to deny Apple's commercials, which quite frankly is a waste of my time. I don't care what they're calling you.

↓↑report

The problem is, your insinuating that the stereotype is all Apple's creation and also totally 1 sided. I'm sure a ton of Mac users including myself and almost everyone I work with could just as easily stand up and say, "Hey, wait a minute. Justin Long does not accurately portray who I am as a Mac user." But that's not the point. Those guys are talking heads to merely get a point across about some of the short comings of Vista mostly and comparing them to Mac OS X. The ads at their essence aren't about who plays the role of PC and Mac. They are merely pinpointing some of the frustrations that many PC users have experienced (again, mostly in relation to Vista) and contrasting them to the Mac. I meet PC users all the time that don't look anything like John Hodgeman or fit the nerdy suit wearing stereotype but the interesting part is more and more, I meet these PC users that actually can relate to John Hodgeman's frustrations as "PC" and that is the part that is making them turn and look at the Mac. Apple is merely appealing to the PC users that are on the fringe, the ones that don't have the patience or the time to try and figure it out or keep up with the fast moving world of computing. But they need computers as tools and they have ideas about what kinds of things they would like to be able to do with their computers. Apple is good at reaching their target audiences. Microsoft is confused. For every person that shows up in these new I'm a PC ads by Microsoft, they could just as easily be replaced with an I'm a Mac actor. Because seriously. Macs are used in all the same fields that are portrayed in these new ads. At the center though, it should be about the product which it what it's always been about for Apple. Microsoft seems to be having a hard time figuring that out. They just keep making ads that are trying to do damage control more than anything else.

↓↑report