New Microsoft Ad: I'm a Mac, but I'm Listeninge

Apple has been having its way with Microsoft for a while now, but the one-sided televised fight for tastemaker supremacy has just gotten interesting. Microsoft, after taking it lying down for what seemed like an eternity, hired hotshot ad shop Crispin Porter & Bogusky (think Volkswagen, Burger King and the Truth campaign) to even out the playing field. And if this effort--light years better than the funny but predictable Seinfeld/Bill Gates spot--is an example of what's to come, it's going to be a lot harder for "I'm a Mac" to say it all.

CP&B was brought on to take a little wind out of Apple's sales (intended), but it remains to be seen what kind of listening Mac users will be capable of. We're an elite bunch. The agency is known for recharging sagging brands through sharp, unconventional brashness, typically inventing memorable new themes or characters in the process. To get PC users feeling less inadequate, and Mac users less mighty, it will take a gifted campaign. In a Fast Company article, Crispin figurehead Alex Bogusky put it like this: "What Crispin has been able to do consistently is not just produce breakthrough work, but actually create new audiences for brands." It may be the perfect time for a new PC audience.

Let's face it, we live in a moment where the same forces that brought the once written off underdog Apple (yes, there was a time, kids) into stylistic prominence--along with 14% of the U.S. market share--also exist for the other side. This shift--the rise of the creative class--can effectively be used to promote PCs since this strata exists in all professions and social groups. Whereas when I started my magazine on a Macintosh 18 years ago, my defiant claim was Apple was the tool of the creative vanguard. The company had already put that seed--an accurate claim back then--in hearts and minds with their groundbreaking Ridley Scott '1984' commercial. And I was the living embodiment of that hammer-swinging rebel in the ad, an indie publisher, creating something with technology that wasn't even available a few years before.

More importantly, I felt that Apple was building machines specifically for me, my generation. And PCs, not entirely by their own fault, fell easily into the 'your dad's computer' pile. everything from the way Macs were designed, to their packaging, to the vendors that sold them, was fresh. And when you looked around, even in those early days, Apple users were pushing the envelope in creative ways. I wanted in. Apple spoke to me. PCs weren't ever even a consideration.

The brand new Microsoft commercial takes dead aim at this presumed hegemony. By brilliantly confronting the Apple spots (produced by LA-area Media Arts Lab) head-on, Microsoft has pushed back hard against their PC-mocking assertions. It's the kind of ad a) you'd expect from CP&B and b) that Microsoft had to do if they were going to make any noise at all. Call it their Palin moment. By utilizing a vast array of individuals, from the famous (Deepak Chopra, Pharrell, Eva Longoria) to the un-famous, but original (a black astronaut, a graffiti artist, an animal activist), the spot shows what PC users have probably all wanted to yell out: We're cool too.

Now, a commercial can't change the world. You still won't find me on a PC anytime soon--though I'd love to try out a Zune one of these days. Apple is also great at reminding you--and many a PC user will grudgingly testify--that Mac's are still ahead in terms of ease and intuitive design. Not to mention, to many, trying to paint PCs as the tools of change is like putting John McCain's face on the Obama 'Hope' posters. And the elegance of Apple's design, their innovation and the genius of lord/guru/god Steve Jobs is going to continue to produce the most coveted plastic and aluminum around. But if a commercial can say something something 85% of U.S. computer users have probably felt at one point, it's that Microsoft can bring as many counterparts to John Hodgman's character as the Apple side can. As a die-hard Apple fan, I got the message.

This editorial originally appeared in my blog.

Update: The 'graffiti artist', as it turns out, is well known LA artist Man One, somebody I know and admire.

Follow Raymond Leon Roker on Twitter: www.twitter.com/raymondroker

Comments

[Mattjoe]

Technology is all in how you apply it.

If you are in professional print production, digital photographer, colour editor and or simply a heavy Adobe user, you can still do your spreadsheets on both operating systems.

If you’re the accountant producing spreadsheets. You wouldn’t justify the expense.

Simple.

[JeremyO]

I love how the Microsoft commercial attacks Mac for having a "cool" image. In the Mac commercials I've been watching the message was that PCs are crappy OSs that crash and get viruses every other week. That is exactly why Mac is better, coolness is another matter altogether.

And by the way, why do PC users who have never used a Mac claim to know that Microsoft is better? I used a PC for my whole life before I switched to Mac, that's why I am fit to compare the two. My Mac has not crashed once in the 5 years I have had it.

[Phaedrusnyc]

I've used both. I have no problem with people anthropomorphizing their Macs as they seem to, but I have trouble with Mac's ad campaign for being A. Unbearably smug, and B. full of untruths and half truths. Yes, Macs crash. No, macs don't run as much software as PCs. Yes, macs can be hit by viruses when hackers wish to target them. Moreover, Mac does some pretty crappy stuff to its consumers (like making it impossible to replace a battery on an iPod, or limiting users' rights to use their audio and video where they want it.) Your choice is your choice, but must consumer purchases be proselytised? Spare me the religious fervor, Mac people.

[ramblingjohnny]

I used all of three major OS and I got to say all three have major issue, OSX is over hyped and way overpriced when you factor in the hardware. Windows is a resource hog and a pain in the a$$ to maintain. Linux... Well Linux need to do thing simpler the average user don't want to use terminal command to installs a simple program. Linux also need one voice, one Distro to become THE Linux Distro for the average user Ubuntu is getting there and that might just change the game!

I don't want to hear about Windows having security problem Windows is just the biggest target to exploit for hackers and virus maker. And beside if you follow a few rules you never and I mean never get into problem first get Firefox with the no script ad-on and discard IE just that solved more than half of all the vulnerability of Windows. Get a router and keep your home network behind it. That way you can discard the Windows software firewall for an hardware firewall. Use a web base email account like Gmail instead of a pop server that send your mail directly to your computer. And for the love of god don't install anything that you don't know where it from! If you follow these four rules and get a good anti-virus like AVG Free you never get infected! And I mean never!

[Mr Grey]

I'm a Mac. Problems with my computer in the last 5 years .. 1. I fixed it myself. My PC friends have problems ranging from having to restore their computers on a regular basis and fighting viruses to just giving up and buying a new one. Good luck with that new Vista thing.

[Ockham]

I dislike macs solely because those "I'm a mac" commercials piss me off so much it's persuaded me to never buy anything from apple. Then there's the whole putting a lower case I in front of everything to make it seem ingenious, and then there's the whole love saga between my fellow high schoolers and apple's products that just makes me sick of this company that's brainwashed people into thinking Apple technology is more useful than Windows. I've never seen the purpose of paying more for less, so I'm a PC, thank you.

[CurtisEMayle]

Extraordinarily rational reasons for choosing a technology solution. You therefore are a suitable match for your choice.

[Ockham]

I'm slightly dismayed that sarcasm isn't noticeable in type.

[FanofPaine]

I use a PC at home and a Mac at work. I'm about to buy a new laptop and I will be splurging for a Mac. It is the best computer I've ever used. I love it.

That said, the ad with all the "I'm a PC" people is intriguing. Not intriguing enough to make me not buy a mac, but still intriguing.

[rjmiller]

Obligatory response: install Linux, problem solved.

In all seriousness though, Apple was not saved from near bankruptcy in the 90's by appealing to the cool, hip artist crowd; it was saved by putting a blue panel on its computer. Indeed, the shiny, blue panel on the iMac appealed to people less interested with the computing power and value of their computer and more caught up in the styling and aesthetic of the packaging. That's still the essence of Apple's marketing campaign: good looking, young actor-comedians use Macs, stuffy accountants use PCs.

[mheister]

No ad is going to change Vista's buggy OS, or the huge virus/malware problems Windows users deal with all the time.

I used to be a PC. I became a Mac for good reasons.

[SKayum]

I may be in the minority here (and believe me I’m quite used to it), but for me a computer is just a computer; and while only 25 years old, I'm only just now getting over a long and deeply held belief that the damn thing hates me. As I was only 9 months old when the 1984 ad first aired, I was not as inspired by it as you were. But even if it aired for the first time today, I still don't think I'd be as inspired since both Macs and PCs have been around longer than I’ve had need for either. Besides, my only experience with Macs involved the poorly maintained ones I had to bear with when the college computer labs were full and all the PCs were taken.

So, I don’t buy the “new and hip” ads, but then again I don’t really buy ads altogether. I don’t even get the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ad. Even if I weren’t a fan of John Hodgman’s, I’d still want to be around PC more than I’d want to be around Mac. Those Alltel ads are better. The Alltel character is just as devoid of personality as Mac, but the jealous cell phone crew is not nearly as likeable as PC.

[RuthAlice]

The I'm a PC is cute, but we already know more people use PC's. It's not news. Bottom line, Apple gives 100% to Democrats. Al Gore was on the board - maybe still is. Bill Gates and Microsoft give over 80% to Republicans.

[JinChicago]

that right there makes me want to switch alone!

[Jingo]

I'm a PC and I don't get the point of that ad.

[OkieIntellectual]

I find it funny that all these Mac users fail to grasp the fact that the one major thing that set Apple apart from PCs, the RISC architecture of the Motorola processors that they used to use, is no longer an issue since Apple swutched to Intel processors. Yeah you know, Intel, as in the exact same processor architecture that PCs use.

Mac used to be the shizznit for multimedia because the RICS processors handled that kind of data better than the industry standard Intel processors­... until engineers figured out that you could push vastly more power through an Intel chip than you could a Motorola, thus the big switch to the superior processor. And lets face it folks, the OS is little more than window dressing. Yeah the Mac OS is very pretty, but so it Vista, which I've been running for over a year without a single crash yet.

[wolfgangmo]

In the fight between Mac and Windoze the winner was Unix.

[OkieIntellectual]

EPIC FAIL! Unix is a great OS... IF you're a hardcore geek or IT professional, which 90% of computer users are not. Plus there are no good games for unix, so there! :)

[CurtisEMayle]

My experience in the industry suggests that a responsible selection between RISC and CISC was beyond the engineering performance specs of processing power, but also included marketing's required matchup to the processor manufacturer's extended product path/timeline (and willingness of the mfg. to incorporate mods to Apple's future product requirements).

From my reading, in the end it was the later that proved a superior match of Intel's plan vs. IBM/Motorola's to make the switch (although there'd long been a processor shadow project).

[jcahill]

no matter how rich
no matter what they 'once' were

gates and seinfeld=has beens

sorry
the cash don't count in the zeitgeist and these guys are yesterday-just like microsoft

sorry
mac kicks pc's ass up and down the block and it's not even close

[dadw5boys]

who cares if it works use it if not dump it.

[jsinclair]

Five words from a PC lover: "User control, software, and affordabil­ity"..

If I want to pay for modern art, I'll go to an art gallery. I want a TOOL that gives me the most (yes, creative) bang for my buck.

As for the commercials, I thought Gates did very well. Too bad he wasn't paired with someone other than Seinfeld (the epitome of the "tired, old, uninspired" image I thought MS wanted to get away from.)

[rcpmac]

jsinclair said "Five words from a PC lover: User control, software, and affordabil­ity"..

That cool aid sweet enough fer ya?

Longtime Windows development chief James Allchin wrote in an e-mail to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and company co-founder Bill Gates that the software vendor had "lost sight" of customers' needs and said he would buy a Mac if he wasn't working for Microsoft.

[wolfgangmo]

Our company [medical clinic] used to use both types and have switched to MAC exclusively.

Why? First, since the switch to intel chips any Windoze only program will run on our MACs. Second, my IT costs dropped 97%. Third, every productivity program that ran on both [with the exception of QuickBooks] that our staff used worked easier, better, and in less time with the MAC versions.

And all of our staff were MS users before the switch. None of them would ever buy a MS product unless they had to now.

I defy jsinclair to tell me how I have more control[over what exactly], software [almost 100% of all programs and effectively 100% of new programs for Windoze run on Mac], or affordability [I pay a heck of a lot less now].