Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Apple
New Get a Mac Ads: Bean Counter and V Word
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In Bean Counter [direct video link], PC is sitting at a desk, counting money out into two stacks. The largest stack is for advertising and the smaller stack is for bug fixes for Vista. When Mac questions him, he says that he's having to take drastic action because of the frustration of Vista users. In the end, PC gives up budgeting and puts all of his money into advertising. This commercial is no doubt in response to Microsoft's recent advertising strategies. In V Word [direct video link], PC makes every attempt to "beep out" the word "Vista" in the ad.
Sure, these commercials are well thought out and somewhat funny; but is Apple's mudslinging getting a little old? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below, and don't forget to take part in our poll. You can watch the new commercials by visiting the Apple website.
Thanks for the tip, Tony!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
grull27 said 9:41PM on 10-19-2008
lol, that was such ownage!
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Kevin said 9:49PM on 10-19-2008
The above comment is testament to the people that would enjoy the ads.
I think that it is getting old, and in the end i'm disappointed with Apple. I think they could spend more money advertising the advantages of an Apple computer, and less money on trashing windows.
It makes them look immature, and it does nothing for getting their product out there for uneducated users to see the quality of the product.
On another point, TUAW when you put out polls leave the novel comments for your comment sections and the jokes to the comments sections and maybe you'll get more invites to Apple Events. Just a thought!
Khris said 10:16PM on 10-19-2008
These are absolute gold! They don't make Apple look "immature" by any stretch of the imagination. These ads poke fun at the lengths Microsoft has gone to make people love Vi.....I mean, Windows.
Jeremy said 9:45PM on 10-19-2008
TUAW is getting so much like Engadget lately. It looks like Engadget, the articles are written like Engadget, and now we have "humorous" polls like Engadget.
Try making a normal poll, or even a normal poll but with some humorous choices. All this "too cool for school" juvenile nonsense is just a pain. I guess now we know why the two smartest people at TUAW left recently.
Or maybe this is the *result* of the two smartest people at TUAW leaving recently?
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Bryan Veloso said 12:10AM on 10-20-2008
Notice how Gawker doesn't have a site dedicated to Macs, I think there's a reason for it.
JKT said 10:33AM on 10-20-2008
You're not being objective. Anyone watching these ads impartially can see the latest two are significantly better (and more biting) than recent previous ads in the series. For you to essentially put them down as "more of the same" means you're using bias in your evaluation.
Ebel3003 said 9:45PM on 10-19-2008
Amusing, but this campaign is getting old.
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Darren said 9:57PM on 10-19-2008
The results of the poll strongly disagree with you.
ColonelSmith said 6:27AM on 10-20-2008
The campaign WAS getting old... I believe these ads breathed some new life into the "get a mac" campaign... they are actually somewhat funny. Haven't hd one of those in a while.
E.J. said 5:02PM on 10-20-2008
I agree. I'm tired of seeing the same old thing with different dialogue. I guess Apple can't afford any new stuff due to their crappy, yet wide 'nano-chromatic' campaign.
samgross144 said 9:48PM on 10-19-2008
I find the fact that Apple can keep coming up with new ways to sling mud on Vista Microsoft's fault. The commercials poked fun at two new developments, the decision to call Windows 7 just that, and the new ads. If Steve Ballmer can release a statement attacking a supposed "Apple Tax" then Apple can release commercials attacking Vista specifically.
If you look closely, Apple rarely mentions and never shows images of Vista. During the MacBook event on Tuesday, and on Apple's BootCamp pages, MacBooks and iMacs are/were shown running XP, which many consider a vastly superior OS, rather than Vista.
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George said 6:14PM on 10-21-2008
Who considers XP superior? Only people running older hardware or those who just cannot deal with change. Vista IS superior to XP. Does not crash, better security, a heck of a lot more reliable and it's prettier. And, after all, isn't about how it looks anyway?
Oh, those ads from Apple...they ARE old and it does make Apple look bad. I considered buying one, but after Apple gouging me for an overpriced video cable because they REMOVED a feature from the iPod classic that is in the older hardware, I've decided the Apple Tax is not for me.
totoro said 9:54PM on 10-19-2008
" is Apple's mudslinging getting a little old? Tell us your thoughts"
Nothing like a leading question :p
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Charlie Williams said 9:59PM on 10-19-2008
I think it is funny that Apple is just attacking Vista and not emphasizing why a mac is better. This reminds me of the presidential ads. They say nothing about themselves, but everything about why the other guy is terrible.
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Eric said 12:23AM on 10-20-2008
My favourite political advert is for a local Congressional candidate (I don't know if it's state senate or US House) where they talk about how they're sick of the commercials that only point out the bad about their candidate (by the opponent)...
All the while, they're doing exactly what they claim to hate.
William Lane said 8:10AM on 10-20-2008
And, interesting enough, research shows that the negative political attack ads work.
ShiggyMozart said 10:01PM on 10-19-2008
Ahahahaha. Mac got PC on one of em.
Mac: Vista!
PC: *beep*
PC: Aww damnit.
lol
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Damien Guard said 10:04PM on 10-19-2008
I loved the Apple ads when Apple was the focus showing the great things you can do on OS X but they got boring when the focus switched to PC. Reminded me of sleazy political adverts.
[)amien
(I started work for MS 6 months ago but I felt this way before then)
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Seth said 10:12PM on 10-19-2008
How are these articles making me want to go out and buy a Mac? Not once does Mac or PC inform the viewers the upsides of a Mac. But instead, both ads attack the negativity surrounding Vista. In my opinion, not that classy at all. Is this a John McCain negativity ad attacking Barack Obama? Because it sure feels like it.
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Ariel said 1:01AM on 10-20-2008
Any given Get A Mac ad will have one of three themes. One, show what's good about a Mac (eg Time Machine). Two, show what's bad about Windows (eg Bean Counter). Or three, show how Mac is better than Windows (eg Out of the Box).
These ads, especially Bean Counter, shows that while Microsoft's spending 300 million dollars to make Windows ads, they've still released only one semi-successful service pack to Vista.
You can't blame Apple, did you think they'd ignore a $300,000,000 Microsoft ad campaign that was targeted directly at Apple's ads?
Another note, I like V Word. It's so funny how Microsoft's blaming all of Vista's malfunctions on the perception of the word "Vista" (which is why they made the Mojave Experiment and is settling on Windows 7 as the name for the next version).