Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Apple
New "Get a Mac" ad: Bake Sale
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Continuing with their recent bashing of Vista, Apple has released yet another "Get a Mac" ad. In Bake Sale [direct video link], PC is selling bake goods to raise money in order to "fix Vista." Mac asks why, and PC goes on to explain that the marketing team decided to run an "expensive ad campaign instead of fixing Vista." Mac then offers to help out by buying a cupcake ... a 10 million dollar cupcake.
If there was any doubt about these ads being a response to the Microsoft ads, this one should definitely settle it. In our last post, we took a poll to see if anyone was tired of these Get a Mac ads -- currently 58.2% of the people that voted say they still like them.
You can watch this new ad by visiting the Apple website, or by using the link to the video file.
Thanks for the tip, Kevin!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
greggsymington said 10:41AM on 10-22-2008
It's getting very personal, possibly slanderous.
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freshyill said 12:39PM on 10-22-2008
Oh boo hoo. Are they going to hurt Microsoft's feelings? Please.
eric f. said 8:47AM on 10-23-2008
Grow a sense of humor. Why do people take these so seriously? Fake drama.
Greggsymington said 9:03AM on 10-23-2008
I'm an Apple fan myself. I'm not angry, I just think it's getting a little personal. It's now Less Apple is great and more Vista is a joke. I agree with Vista sucking but that's no way to sell your product.
Eric said 10:50AM on 10-22-2008
I use Apple products and software every day all day but this is just getting annoying. Apple can't say anything about marketing when I see iPod and iPhone ad every other commercial break. I use Vista with Parallels to test websites in IE and never had a problem with it. It had driver problems when it was first released but those have primarily have been solved for quite some time. This is definitely getting slanderous.
But to play devil's advocate, these commercials definitely have a role in the way people see Vista and choose Macs. Its part of the reason why Apple's sales increase quarterly. But its just getting annoying and petty.
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John said 2:59PM on 10-22-2008
Hmmm. So you say "I use Vista with Parallels to test websites in IE and never had a problem with it. It had driver problems when it was first released but those have primarily have been solved for quite some time. "
So that would mean that yes, you have had problems with Vista. I just love it when people say "I never have problems" but the right after go on saying things like "I hate when this crashes, or I can't install this, or run that". There is a reason so many people are switching from Windows to Mac. I find that in most cases people do have problems with Vista, they have just gotten use to having issues with Windows in general.
Dan Woods said 4:03PM on 10-22-2008
The driver problems were caused by 3rd Parties drivers not conforming to MS's guidelines.
When you have an open hardware platform, with a closed OS, Hardware developers can't innovate since the OS doesn't support their new technology. They have to write their own drivers and stacks; look how many Bluetooth stacks there are for Windows. Microsoft didn't support their own Bluetooth stack until late in the game, so most of the bluetooth dongles out there don't support it. Same with early MultiFunction Printers.
Mac OS X is going to run into the same problem with much hardware too if they don't pull hardware developers into line. Tell me one Scanner on the market at present that supports Image Capture natively, without TWAIN or some proprietary scanning software (like Adobe PhotoShop). Why do you need Missing Sync for so many 3rd Party PDAs while iSync provides all the functionality built into the OS?
Why are so many in-house apps like iTunes and Finder still partially dependent on Carbon?
I agree that Apple should drink some of their own cool-aid and pump more money back into R&D to fix these problems. Open up Frameworks like iSync and Image Capture so driver developers can take full advantage of OS features. Accept feedback from developers on how to improve Frameworks. If Canon want support for an integrated Film Scanner in Image Capture, do it. If Mark/Space want to utilise the File storage and transfer features of Windows Mobile, create another Transport for iSync.
spyyder said 2:15AM on 10-23-2008
Apple products aren't broken, unfinished, or pre-maturely released. That is the difference. The 'Mojave experiment', Seinfeld ads, massive promotion campaigns are signs of desperation. These ads show that Apple doesn't really give a crap, because they know they have a superior product.
J David said 9:52AM on 10-31-2008
Yes, spyyder, Leopard came out and was just flawless... There weren't any compatibility or UI issues...
I can't believe no one called you on that...
3S said 11:26AM on 10-22-2008
HHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
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Marc said 11:10AM on 10-22-2008
This advertisement is much worse than the Seinfeld - Windows advertisements.
Just plain idiotic
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William said 11:04AM on 10-22-2008
I would like to see Apple return to explaining why their product is wonderful and less why Microsoft stinks. There's two sides to the coin, I know, but flailing Microsoft without balance makes Apple look immature. The earlier ones were good because the poked good nature fun and showed why Apple is the coolest kid on the block.
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PSM said 11:30AM on 10-22-2008
Agreed. I'd rather see Apple take the high road. They have the better product right now, and they should be proud of it. Even many people who aren't Mac users wish they could be (I know so many who have already made the decision to switch, but can't afford a Mac, or aren't in a position to buy a new comp). Those who are left are the more dedicated PC users, and I can't imagine that they are going to be swayed to switch if they feel that Apple is essentially calling them stupid for using PCs/Vista.
E.J. said 5:33PM on 10-22-2008
I agree. These commercials now just poke at the PC users Apple wants to convert. And it makes Mac users look like damn-bro, fratboy douches.
Greg said 10:22PM on 10-22-2008
Exactly! I was showing the banker ad to my boss yesterday and had some trouble figuring out why I didn't really like the ad. I laughed at it, but I'd really like to see Apple get back to telling us why OS X is wonderful! Because it is!
benjamin said 11:10AM on 10-22-2008
Since I already have a Mac, these ads aren't really aimed at me. They're all about switchers. Since they aren't talking to me I get to ignore the message, be it old, annoying, slanderous (really?) or what have you.
I get to enjoy Justin Long setting John Hodgeman up to be funny. He's a funny guy playing a funny character. Let's just enjoy the funny.
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brendancoots said 11:11AM on 10-22-2008
The ads have clearly been effective if you look at Apple's earnings reports, but every campaign has a course to run and the advertiser MUST move on to keep things fresh.
I think Apple has made its point in the OSX vs. Vista debate, and should move on to spots similar to the iPhone ads which focus exclusively on the benefits, high quality and style of both OSX and the machines themselves. Macs are generally more expensive than PCs, and merely saying they are "better than Vista" probably doesn't justify the higher cost with consumers.
Ultimately, the constant comparing of Macs to Vista defeats the "class of their own" appeal of Macs, and ignores the hardware/quality-of-build side of the equation that makes these machines so appealing.
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SDreamer said 11:10AM on 10-22-2008
It's nice to see when Gates and Jobs get together, they are very professional and praise each other for their accomplishments in the industry. These ads however are almost like backstabbing. Microsoft with their ads are advertising themselves and not bashing the competition, this just to shows that it's starting to cater to those fanboys/girls that just bash the competition. These types of ads make Apple look like them, and it is very immature. As William said, Apple so return to their own product instead of bashing another product. If you had no idea what a PC or Mac were, this advertisement would fail at telling you why Macs are unique (not better) to Windows (which isn't better than a Mac either).
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Neil said 11:25AM on 10-22-2008
The last time these ads were funny was the Vista Secret Agent one. These ads are so played out and now long past talking about truth.
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Brian said 11:31AM on 10-22-2008
Never not funny....
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