Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cult of Mac
Analysis: Microsoft offers "I'm a PC" retort that falls flat
After canning Seinfeld, Microsoft is now starting stage two (planned all along, they say) of their campaign with a new series of I'm a PC ads by the Crispin, Porter + Bogusky ad agency. As is clear from the John Hodgman look-alike at the start of the ads, they're supposed to be a direct response to Apple's Get a Mac campaign that's been running since 2006.
It almost goes without saying that it's rather sad for one of the richest companies in the world to stoop to this level of reaction. But I think one of things that's interesting here is the difference between the central motifs of the respective ad campaigns. What Get a Mac suggests is that your Mac is your kinda cool, but laid-back and easy-going friend that'll help you get things done. In other words, your Mac is your friend, not who you yourself are.
On the other hand, the I'm a PC ads say exactly that: you (the user) are a PC. Who the heck would want to be that? What they're trying to maintain is that PC users are unfairly being stereotyped as besuited, boring, glasses-wearing losers. But with the repeated exclamation "I'm a PC," the ads actually suggest a kind of Borg-like insistence that I as a user have to be assimilated into my computer.
In short, Microsoft and its ad agency still don't get it. We Mac-heads don't see ourselves as all being Justin Long (or, heaven forbid, wanting to be Justin Long). I can proudly say I'm not a Mac, and I'm not really planning to become one either. Or to put it another way: I use a Mac in no small part because I don't want to be a computer (Mac or PC).
What's your take?
(The three ads can be seen on YouTube: Pride, Not Alone, and Stereotype.)
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
anthony said 3:07PM on 9-19-2008
What's sad, is the Apple ads, which say nothing about what Mac's actually do, but just sell the image, are popular.
Reply
Nick said 3:22PM on 9-19-2008
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.
Dano said 3:47PM on 9-19-2008
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.
WS said 4:10PM on 9-19-2008
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.
dagamer34 said 4:15PM on 9-19-2008
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.
Fred said 6:24PM on 9-19-2008
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. :)
Damien Guard said 8:47PM on 9-19-2008
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.
LAGal said 4:07PM on 10-31-2008
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.
Roy said 3:09PM on 9-19-2008
I think they are better than any ad Microsoft has done in a while.
Reply
Dave said 4:08PM on 9-19-2008
I agree.
Owen said 5:37PM on 9-21-2008
That's not saying much.
Frank said 6:12PM on 9-19-2008
gotta say, i agree. but it won't necessarily help them.
Ian said 6:30PM on 9-19-2008
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.
Michel said 3:13PM on 9-19-2008
I use mac and often apple products because they are simpler and better.
NOT because I want to join an aluminium cult or whatever crazy scheme only business people can understand.
Reply
abooth202 said 3:16PM on 9-19-2008
"...stoop to this level of reaction."
I'm sorry, but you can't really justify that comment when Apple's advertising consists of slating windows alone. The only reason Mac ads are successful is because they are made by Apple.
As much of a fan I am of Apple's, their advertising is unimaginative and cheap.
Reply
mentalsticks said 3:37PM on 9-19-2008
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?
War Machine said 5:40PM on 9-19-2008
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.
jacob said 3:20PM on 9-19-2008
@anthony
Agreed. Also sad is the lambasting the Mac ads do to Vista when Leopard is praised as a seemingly bug-free divine gift.
Also sad is the ridiculous assessment of the M$ commercial in this article. Umm...I don't think these people actually think that they are pieces of hardware running PC software. And Microsoft isn't trying to convince people that an operating system defines a person's identity.
The purpose of the commercials is to show the massive diversity of individuals who use MS software. Some of the people in those commercials live in parts of the world which have probably never been blessed with a piece of Apple hardware.
"Life Without Walls" (both in title and content) clearly communicates that people the world over use MS products for an incredibly diverse range of tasks. Not that Microsoft is trying to make us think of ourselves as our operating system. Yikes.
Reply
Mike said 3:21PM on 9-19-2008
ok well 1st off i read tuaw daily and I use my mac regularly, but, i also use windows (which I have boot camped on my mac) 1st in answer to your post.. the point of these ads is not (as you briefly touched on) to say that "I am a PC" its to show argue against exactly what the apple ads have suggested. they make the pc in to a suit wearing businessman. the point of the Microsoft ads is to remove this stereotype and replace it with one of.. "While apple says that using a pc makes you boring what it actually means is nothing like that. people that use pcs are interesting and exciting and not in anyway boring" while you say that ms has missed the point i think more likely you that has missed the point. the point of the ads isn't to sell the services and image which apple promotes and sells but to remove the stereotype put in place wrongly by apple.
now while your response is to be expected as you blog on an apple fanatic site, i think it is also a bias opinion for that very same reason.
Reply
Toby said 4:06PM on 9-19-2008
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.