With the news of the Jerry Seinfeld/Microsoft commercials being put aside for now (only 14 percent of you liked their ads more than Apple's "Get a Mac" ads), Microsoft has revealed that their next campaign will be a more direct hit at Apple (and thankfully, more direct in general).
Known as the "I'm a PC" ads, Microsoft will portray various non-dorky Microsoft users attesting to what they do and what they're like — ostensibly not nerds like John Hodgman's portrayal. In addition, they have a more direct anti-Apple attack with a John Hodgman clone who satirically declares he is a PC and has "been made into a stereotype."
On the one hand, it's kind of a "Touche" on Microsoft's part, but since these are so hot on the heels of the universally confounding Seinfeld ads, I can't help but feel like these were thrown together to try to salvage their image and just went for a cheap shot — and worse, lazily imitated a successful ad campaign.
What do you think? Is Microsoft right on, or just hanging on?
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I like them. Stick up for us PC people. I really like my PC. I love my Blackberry.
It's weird. It's like being a republican if you're a PC person. I actually get looked down upon for not having an iPod, an iPhone, or a Powerbook.
Whatever, my Dell and my Blackberry Curve (which also holds my music) are just fine for me.
1Love the ad! Apple's ads are like political slander. Glad to see that Microsoft is just sticking up for itself and the billions of other PC users.
-I'm a PC
2I think they are a bit ridiculous...Apple's ads are cute and humorous, the PC ones have a strong underlying whine to them:)
3I'm a little sad to see the Seinfeld ads go. I thought they stupid, but I kind of looked forward to seeing what was next, haha.
4I like them. I always felt that Mac users were a bit snobbier. Wasn't there an article that said Mac users are snobs? lol. Yay, for PC!
5Totally lame. It just reinforces the idea that Microsoft can't come up with anything original. I think the Gates/Seinfeld ads are fine.
6I'm tired of the Microsoft vs Mac thing these days. Why can't you like both? I use a PC for my computer, have an Ipod, and plan to get an Android phone when it comes out.
Besides, until more game companies make games on the Mac, and until more offices use Macs instead of PCs- PCs will always be king.
7I'm so tired of this Mac vs PC hooplah. I have worked on PCs all my life and hardly ever had problems with them. And if I do, I can easily fix them myself. It's cheaper for me to buy a PC that is just as powerful if not more so than a Mac, and I know that I can get any program that is compatible or play any game I want on my computer.
Another thing, I'm a designer not a techie, so naturally people assume I have a Mac - but I don't. My entire office works on PCs. That doesn't mean I don't like Mac, and I don't have anything against them. In fact, if I could afford it I would definitely get myself a new Macbook Pro (but keep my PC!)
My friend just got herself a new iMac - and she has had TONS of problems with it. So much for plugging it in and everything going smoothly! She has had more problems with her Mac in a month than I have ever had with any PC in my entire life.
Also, I don't have any problems with Vista either. Am I the only one? Besides a couple of twinges here and there, I really don't see the big deal.
Haha, end of rant!
PS: On point, I do think that Microsoft copying Apple in their PC vs Apple ads is super lame. They have so much cash, surely they can get an amazing marketing and advertising team behind them to turn their image around.
8I second Berlin. They could make a rebuttal without coming across as such... dorks?
9I agree with mn48225, Mac fanboys (and fangirls is that really a term?) tend to be huge snobs, worse than heavy linux fans.
10it's already been done. get a new idea.
11I like the ad because I sometimes catch myself being annoyed with the Mac ads. I have a laptop with vista and really think that half of what Mac says in the ads is just a bunch of BS. Yes there are problems with vista just like there is and always has been problems with Mac's OS. I think that both operating systems have their strengths and weaknesses and would use both if I have the money. I think it is about time that Microsoft lashes back at all the crap Mac has put out there.
12Apple users are not all snobs, that is a harsh and rude generalization. As PC users are not all loser geeks who wear suits and glasses.
The Seinfeld ads were just like Windows, pointless and confusing.
The new Ad is well done.
13They'd be clever if they aired 2 years ago.
14@ Surreal Hippie. As a windows user I see a lot of the Mac OS as confusing. The ads were pointless but did you expect anything from something with Seinfeld to have a point, his show was based on pointlessness.
As far as Mac users being snobs I've heard way more bad mouthing of windows from mac users than vice versa. The Mac vs. PC ads show that in there Mac good, PC bad format.
15RE: LittleRedRyan
Seinfeld's stand up has a point...
And maybe it's more slanted towards Mac People having bad things to say about Windows because there is not much to slam the Mac for? I am an Apple user and I am not a snob, lots of us aren't... and it is unfair to assume everyone who uses a Mac is based on an ad campaign.
16Snobs? Hahaha, that hurts. No offense mn48225 and LittleRedRyan, but I sincerely hope you don't make your judgements of someone solely off of the brand of computers they use. I love my MacBook but that does NOT make me a snob
I was very skeptical about switching over from my faithful PC (*my Toshiba lasted me 3 years!*). I love my Macbook, but there are some things about PC that I miss. It's really all a matter of preference and it's silly that everyone gets so up in arms about the Macs vs. PCs.
That said, yes, Microsoft does seem to be copying Apple's commercials (*isn't PC from Apple commercials a Mac user in real life?*), but I like these commercials. They prove a point, you can be anyone, work anywhere, do whatever, and still use a PC.
17I don't think it's a copycat. It's taking Mac's "I'm a PC" insult and trying to show that owning a PC can also be cool. I like this ad much better than the Seinfeld ad, but I find Seinfeld incredibly annoying.
My next computer will probably be a Mac though. Microsoft totally f*cked up with Vista--that OS is the worst thing ever. My entire life has sucked for the last year, which happens to be around the time I got my new laptop. I blame Vista....no seriously, I think Vista is a bad business move. The main reason I haven't switched to Mac already is because I find it confusing. Of course, once I start using it, I'll get used to it, but Windows is so comforting. Until Vista came around and I had to relearn everything. Don't change something unless you improve it--change for sake of change is lame. *Rant Over*
"*isn't PC from Apple commercials a Mac user in real life?*"
It's called acting--an actor will say what s/he is paid to say.
18I agree ChickBookFiend. This ad just reinforces the fact that PC is not innovative. Mac is the computer for digital media (i.e. music, video, image editing, etc). The thing I do like about this ad, however, is that Microsoft may finally be realizing that they should stop trying to target that demographic and start addressing "everyday" type of customers. Xbox is the only Microsoft product that truly satisfies a wide variety of customers. I think one of the problems with Microsoft is that it equates an abundance of features with value and satisfaction, and that is simply not the case. People are more satisfied when the feature they want surprises them and functions at a higher capacity than they expected. This is why I have converted to Mac.
19I liked these commercials much better than the other ones. I think it does a much better job at doing what Microsoft was setting out to do.
As far as the Mac vs. PC thing goes. I think both machines have their place. I used to be much more of a PC hater and thinking back it was due to getting so much crap for being on a Mac. If you are constantly getting punched you tend to fight back. I don't really have these issues any longer and find that in my day to day life the PC vs. Mac thing isn't really much of an issue. Sometimes I forget that Mac is only 10% of the market share as I and my computer are much more accepted everywhere (thanks iPod). The only place you still really see these fights are in the comments sections on the internet
20I think it's a clever copycat. I like Jerry's and Bill's commercials a lot better. Their commercials are a little more creative because they don't stay in the same place doing the same thing.
21I like what, Macgirl said. I think each machine has it's place!
Why does it have to be mac vs. pc?
I think the ads are annoying. I wish both companies would come up with something other then putting themselves up against one another. It's almost like watching the ads for Obama and McCain. They point out their competitors instead of focusing on their own products.
BTW If I could afford a mac I'd get one since I'm big into graphic design and music...but until then I'm perfectly fine with my pc.
22I'm just tired of Mac, they're nice for graphic design users but I hate how they force you to do things the "mac" way. It's not "user friendly" it's just being trained to one OS or the other. I do like the design of the machines they've got that going for them.
23i think i'd have to see the add before i could say. sounds like a copy cat, but it could be used in a very clever way.
24im really interested in seeing them
Eh, there are plenty of mac-haters who calls all mac users idiots and elitists all the time. While the mac ads portray the PC as a "lame" suit-clad man, the average mac "fanboy" and PC-hater, as far as I've seen, doesn't badmouth PC users at personal levels. Nope, they just bash the Windows OS itself.
Come on, I use both, and I don't magically become a different person just from using one versus the other. They're just computers.
Seriously, if problems exist with certain computers, just keep the argument on the computers. Bashing the users just make it seem like there aren't any valid criticisms to be made about the computers. And there are. Oh are there ever.
I'm so sick of the whole mac vs PC thing and how personal it gets. The two should be able to work together. Computer users should focus on taking Microsoft and Apple to task when they screw up with their systems, instead of letting them divide and conquer us with their stupid manufactured brand war.
25Portions of the "I'm a PC" commercial was made on a mac! Even Microsoft knows that mac does a better job. I'm not anti Microsoft, I'm just pro Apple. I use both but i definitely use my mac more.
http://cultofmac.com/microsofts-im-a-pc-ads-made-on-a-mac/2971
26Portions of the "I'm a PC" commercial were made on a mac! Even Microsoft knows that mac does a better job. I'm not anti Microsoft, I'm just pro Apple. I use both but i definitely use my mac more.
http://cultofmac.com/microsofts-im-a-pc-ads-made-on-a-mac/2971
27I think the whole Mac vs. Apple thing is so ridiculous. People are allowed to prefer whatever they prefer.
28I use a PC for work and I use a Mac in my personal life. Personally, I do prefer a mac, but I don't have anything against PCs. I was a PC user for most of my life. Just because someone has a preference doesn't mean that they are hating on the competition.
I do agree with macgirl, though...I do tend to have people make snarky comments to me for using a Mac, and when that happens, you want to fight back. But I'm not seeking out arguments!
It was just a comment. I didn't write the article. And, it's nice that the ad came to the defense of PCs. =P Goodness!
29that just a copycat, i wonder my microsoft always copy other people good ideas thats so unoriginal
30i know that a lot of people think that they are copycat ads, but if you compare them, they aren't the same. MAC is all about white space in their creative and about being focused on one person whereas the PC ads are showing that they are global, and diverse and that anyone can be a user - celebs, regular folks, braniacs...everyone!
31they seem like they're being whiny and all "don't try to label me!" way to flex your identity money like a middle schooler.
32They are responding to not copying the apple ads. It's abundantly clear, the beginning of the ad parodied mac ads to knock them down. It's like saying Spaceballs copied Star Wars, it's a nonpoint.
I do think the ad was well made, and accomplished it's point. To show that PC users aren't nerd, yet still somehow dumb.
33Apple's having the last laugh; from Gizmodo:
"Turns out that phase two of the 'I'm a PC' advertising counterattack against Apple was... created on a Mac.
"The offending evidence was metadata found in the images of the PC user featured on the “I’m a PC” web site. The data exposed the fact that the images were produced using Macs running Adobe Creative Suite 3.
"Microsoft has since responded to the controversy, saying in a statement that 'as is common in almost all campaign workflow, agencies and production houses use a wide variety of software and hardware to create, edit and distribute content, including both Macs and PCs.'
"They then scrubbed the metadata from the imagery."
34When will Microsoft stop ripping of Apple?
35orbital others comments 2008 clathrate adaptation
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