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.)

You'd think the "Get a Mac" series of ads would be played out by now. But you'd be wrong.

They're still funny, snide and -- if sales figures are any indication -- effective. This week, Apple launched another clever web ad featuring Mac and PC. This time, PC has written an Op-Ed piece describing why people ought to stop switching to the Mac. It's cute, and the visual of PC pulling the text of the article out from "behind" the webpage is pretty cool.

While we're on the topic, what's your opinion? Are the "Get a Mac" ads yesterday's news or still good stuff?

[Via MacDailyNews]

If you thought the new Get a Mac ads were spot-on or funny, then you will definitely get a kick out of this. On Microsoft's Photosynth website, they admit something that we've known for years: They're not cool enough to run on Macs.

Tonight, Apple released a new "Get a Mac" ad. "Off the Air" shows PC, Mac, and a Mac Genius. Mac tries to win people over on the fact that the Geniuses will transfer your files from your old PC to your new Mac.

A mad PC then announces that his "frustrated" customers don't need to hear about that and that "fear of switching is the foundation of customer loyalty for PCs." PC proceeds to shut off the commercial by pulling a curtain down.

This commercial isn't as funny, in my opinion, as the last set that came out earlier this week. You can watch all of the Get a Mac ads by visiting the Get a Mac website.

Tonight, Apple posted three new "Get a Mac" ads: Pizza Box, Throne and Calming Teas. In the Pizza Box ad, PC tries to lure college students into buying a PC by advertising as free pizza. PC notes that Mac is the number one selling computer on college campuses.

In Throne, PC notes that he is "still the king" of the OS world and then goes on to banish Mac. In Calming Teas, PC markets a new tea that calms Vista users instead of fixing the many problems with Windows. These Get a Mac ads seem to be geared towards back to school buyers and are amusing to watch (especially the Pizza Box ad).


Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Because Apple thought that you just couldn't get enough of that "Vista blues" song that was in the latest Get a Mac ad, they posted an extended version of it that runs 1 minute, 34 seconds. PC just keeps singing, despite Mac's look of amazement that PC could sing that long. At the end, PC finishes the song by singing "... there's nothing left to do, except control. alt. delete."

You can watch this and other Get a Mac ads by visiting the Apple Get a Mac site.

Thanks to Steve and Ton for the tip!

Apple just released a new "Get a Mac" ad entitled "Sad Song." In this commercial, PC is singing a country inspired song about how Vista saddens him. This commercial was released and played during the American Idol show tonight on the FOX network. You may remember that Apple also released 2 new Get a Mac ads last night. You can watch this and other Get a Mac ads on the Apple website.

Apple just released two new "Get a Mac" ads -- Pep Rally and Group. In Pep Rally, PC tries to pep himself up despite the fact that the Mac is the "number one notebook on college campuses." Just when PC finishes his rant, the cheerleader squad starts cheering for Mac.

Last night Apple released a new Get a Mac ad showcasing Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. Apple seems to keep releasing new ads during the American Idol shows on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can watch this new ad by going to the Get a Mac page on Apple's website and clicking "Office Stress."


Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Tonight, Apple premiered two new "Get a Mac" ads: Yoga and Breakthrough. These ads where shown during tonights episode of American Idol. You can look at these and other "Get a Mac" ads on Apple's website.

These weren't the only new Apple ads to appear lately, Apple also released some new iPhone ads.


Thanks Bob!

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]

InsanelyGreatMac has an excellent article outlining another point in the ongoing battle of which is better: PC or Mac? The article gives the examples of computer companies such as Sony, which install "crapware" (or demo versions of software that you have to manual uninstall) on new machines. At the time of the IGM article, Sony was charging $150 to get your machine free of unwanted software -- a $50 fee for not installing the extras, and $100 for an upgrade to Microsoft Vista Business Edition (whoa, say that 5 times fast). Wired has since reported that said Sony has removed the $50 "Fresh Start" fee, making one only pay $100 to upgrade to Vista Business.

IGM also made the point that Mac users may pay a premium, i.e.the "Apple tax", to get a better, crapware free product.

Apple has posted a special Christmas flavored Get A Mac ad. This ad, as you can see above, features a stop motion-esque (I'm going to assume that they are actually CGI) PC, Mac, and Santa singing a little Christmas carol for you. PC makes sure to let you know to never buy a Mac, or else Santa might not like you.

Thanks, Matthew.

Back in early November, PC World magazine gave a wet, sloppy kiss to the MacBook Pro, noting that "[t]he fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year--or for that matter, ever--is a Mac." Apparently this rousing endorsement of a laptop so freakishly powerful, so undeniably force-of-nature fast that it flat-out screams while running an OS that it happens to support only in 'bridesmaid mode'... well, that is the sort of thing that causes marketing executives to cock their heads and listen like extras in an E.F. Hutton ad.

Apple's new "Misprint" ad, appearing online and on TV now, features an irate PC calling the editorial offices of PC World to complain about this obvious benchmarking error. It's a funny ad, but along with the recent Podium and PR Lady ads, this new spot provokes some fascinating cognitive dissonance. We're told that Vista is undesirable, that users are 'upgrading' back to XP -- but hey, if you're gonna run it, you could run it awful quick on a Mac. Is it just me, or is that somewhat weird?

Thanks Alex

Ever since the iPhone was released it seemed that Apple was funneling all of its advertising budget into iPhone advertising. This meant a lack of those fun Mac vs. PC commercials that we have all grown to love. Luckily for us, Apple has just started airing three new entries into their 'Get a Mac' ad campaign, and i must say that these are the best yet.

All two of the three ads (Podium and PR Lady) focus on the general public's lackluster response to Vista, and the fact that some PC users are actually downgrading to XP. The Podium ad actually made me laugh out loud, which is high praise for a commercial.

The remaining commercial (Boxer) focuses on people switching to the Mac for its ease of use.

All of the ads have been updated with an iMac sporting Leopard's default desktop.

What do you think of the new ads? Sound off in the comments.