http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lO8b8HLfh0
Wrapped up in these simple yet amusing commercials is yet another exchange in the seemingly eternal debate of Mac vs. PC. The commercials don't strive to distract, filmed as they are on a white field and with only the occasional prop. Most of the brief ads tend to be relatively straight to the point, suggesting that PCs are slow, clunky, no fun at all, and vulnerable to disaster. On the other hand, Macs are portrayed as simple, streamlined, stylish, and secure. Even the appearance of the actors makes a suggestion about those who own one of the two. PC owners are portrayed as chubby and nerdy, with Mac owners portrayed as easygoing and cool. A few of the commercials even mention how well the advertisements are working. It appears that, if you wish to be a cool, trendy young person like everyone else, you'll buy a Mac. If it worked for cigarettes in the 20th century, it can work for Mac in the 21st! (Incidentally, I'm comfortable in assuming no computer has been involved in causing lung cancer.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNpp7OkP0Qc
The "Get a Mac" ad campaign did well enough that Microsoft responded with its "I'm a PC" advertisements. They sought to combat against the image that all PC users are silly nerds and that PCs are only used to crunch numbers. The second in the series of commercials even started off with an obvious connection to Apple's campaign, including the white backdrop and a decent approximation of the nerdy fellow portraying the PC.
I will admit I liked the relative simplicity of the advertisements, and I had a chuckle or two. However, I didn't like either campaign as a whole for the same reason I'm not fond of political commercials: They're far too skewed to one side or another and any basis of truth is buried under an aggressive (or passive aggressive) attempt to say "Hey, I'm better.” It’s made worse by the comparable effort to explain in any real detail the product either company is trying to sell beyond the ability to identify as one side in a pointless, silly pissing match going back as far as the first personal computers.
In the process of hunting down more information on both campaigns, I actually discovered an article written by Seth Stevenson of Slate Magazine that rather neatly encapsulated what I did and did not like about the “Get a Mac” campaign. Here’s a link: Click me!
I want to bring my ranting to a head before I get carried away from the point I’m hoping to make. First and foremost, I actually find the assumption that PC and Macs are different a silly thing. A PC is a personal computer, roughly defined as a computer for “personal” use, and nowhere in that definition is there any division based on the operating system. A Mac is just a PC running Apple’s proprietary OS, but not all PCs run off of Microsoft’s software.
My second and final point can be summed up as simply “To each their own.” I use a PC, and I run Windows XP on it. I built my rig myself, not only to avoid brand name nonsense, but because it is one of my hobbies in addition to the games I play or the code I attempt to write. That suits me and my wallet. If I had the money to burn, wasn’t quite so tech savvy, and was solely interested in making movies, music, or other multimedia files, then I might be more inclined to lean towards a Mac.
Advertising is there to help convince you to part with your money, not necessarily to care what you’re spending your money on. When it comes to figuring out computer what suits you best, just take a look at what you actually need and can afford and then compare it to what you want. Don’t be swayed by the smug pollution emanating in spades from either side of the argument and just do what makes you happy. And avoid Dell like the plague.
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| Image by: GIRLintheCAFE |
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