Apple, now the obnoxious asshole from your high school reunion.
In: Humor
20 Oct 2008
You know the drill, there was the guy that was kind of dweebish in high school. Not too many friends, got picked on for his forward thinking style (Chucks before they were cool kind of thing) and his penchant for out of mainstream music and insisting on listening to vinyl instead of CD.
Fast-forward to your fifteen year reunion and he is a successful stock broker at Ima, Asshole & Stien, and he shows up with his obviously an ex-stripper girlfriend and status quo BMW 3 Series M model macho dick car.
Do I sound angry? Sorry about that, I am one of the few people around the office that like and support Apple, but being that I do work for Microsoft, some of the latest “Mac vs. PC” ads are starting to work my nerves a bit.
First it was the “Screw you Windows, we can run Office too.” Conveniently forgetting that WE write office for them and if we stopped they would be in a serious disadvantage. Second came the iLife commercial advertising that while the Mac comes with all this cool software, Windows comes with stuff like Calculator. Nevermind the bundle of games that are included now, or the video editor, photo catalog and editor, really all the stuff in iLife except Garageband.
The latest is this monster that seems to be making fun of Microsoft for spending money on advertising? Seriously? How many ads do you see Apple put out that are specifically targeted to badmouthing Windows, not really advertising their own product. I would be willing to bet that Apple spent more on music licensing for Cold Play than we spent on ad production entirely!
So that’s how I am starting to feel about the Apple marketing machine, you were cool and chic when you were the underdog, now that you are building momentum, it’s starting to come off and arrogant and, most of the time completely not true.
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Jason Burns is a technology enthusiast, Microsoft guy, photographer, musician and all around geek. This blog is the general rambling one, check out the links for the specific ones!
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10 Responses to Apple, now the obnoxious asshole from your high school reunion.
Dom Barnes
October 20th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Not to cause an argument, but why don’t the make these points in their adverts, rather than just making a point of the wide variety of PC users out there, with the “Life without Walls” campaign? They can do perfectly good ads showing all the built in features (which seem to be slowly built-out) without resorting to bashing the competition.
I do however agree that Apple need to stop the Vista bashing and focus on selling the features of OS X that make it appealing and have done so far.
Arnan
October 20th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
The apple ad campaign while sometimes funny is very immature…
And with the coming of vista most of the mac software has an equal/similar app on windows. As you pointed out in your post.
if Apple would spend a little less on those silly things and spend a bit more on faster/better servers for MobileMe and invest a bit more in their Server package… Or offer a decent, matte screen, macbook pro 15″. Now that would be a killer move. But hey, that’s just me
John
October 24th, 2008 at 8:18 am
MS should run an ad with an actual apple support call, if they can ever get someone to answer. Not sure if MS is any better, haven’t had to make the call.
Mimsy
October 25th, 2008 at 9:58 am
This comic pretty much sums up my feelings on Mac’s ad campaign:
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20060513
I didn’t find it funny when they were the underdog either.
Of course, for me a computer is a gaming console first and foremost, so Macs have never even been an option. Very poor native gaming support, and they won’t let me upgrade individual components. There’s just no point wasting money on one.
John
October 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am
For me, the ads compelled me to go to the Apple store to see if OS/X was a better user experience. It was, and I bought a MacBook Air on the spot. Apple products are better designed and don’t look like they were cobbled together from lots of parts source from different manufacturers. The look and feel is consistent all the way through, from the time you turn on the device, till the time you turn it off. Consistency is key, because it helps you figure a new feature out; the paradigm is there to help you. Everything feels really smooth, and the focus then is on the work at hand, not the computer – it becomes transparent.
I wish I could say that about MSFT products. They’re klunky, they’re not consistent with the user interface, and everything feels cobbled together. The unease of using a Windows PC always bothered me. The ad was what compelled me to go to the store – it worked, and I should share this with you.
Ines
October 26th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Apple is constantly trying to sell their hardware as a way of living. Meaning, if you purchase a MAC you might get laid.
Jason Burns
October 26th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
@Ines: I guess that’s about right, I just got a Mac Pro and my wife would do anything to get her hands on it. lol
Karen
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I completely agree that the Mac ads have gone from kind of cutesy and funny to downright obnoxious. It’s like they’re trying too hard to be cool…
Kenn
May 12th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Carping aside the are the most successful ads in apples history. They run because they work. Meaning they test the sh*t out of them and most people respond positively. If I don’t like an ad I simply don’t watch them I suggest everyone do the same. BTW I think they are funny. But if i didn’t I wouldn’t watch em.
jT
October 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am
@Kenn: Do you actually turn off your TV for 30 seconds everytime a commercial comes on that you don’t like? Please. That argument just doesn’t work here.