The Odd PC Out
In this TBWA\Chiat\Day ad, one of six just released for Apple on TV, actor Justin Long portrays the hipper, and more in-tune, Mac to humorist John Hodgman's PC.
(Apple Computer Inc.)
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The ad: In six new ads that just hit television, Apple Computer Inc., flush from its success selling the iPod digital music player, is taking on PCs and the Windows operating system, a market into which it has made few inroads. Apple has only about 5 percent of all computer sales.
Like previous Apple ads, these show actors against a plain white background, emphasizing ideas over flash. They show an agreeable, middle-aged guy (played by "The Daily Show's" John Hodgman) meant to represent the square PC. Alongside is a scruffy, laid-back dude (Justin Long from "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story") meant to symbolize Apple's sleek desktop Mac and its hipper, younger, slightly patronizing demographic.
The agency: Like previous Apple ads, these come from mega-firm TBWA\Chiat\Day, headed by Lee Clow, a hero of the industry. He was behind Nike's Air Jordan campaign and Apple's legendary 1984 Super Bowl ad directed by Ridley Scott that compared International Business Machines Corp. to the world of George Orwell's "1984."
The pitch: "Hello, I'm a Mac," the hip dude says. "And I'm a PC," says the square guy, creating an instant entree into the intimidating world of computers. In one ad, the PC guy sneezes repeatedly with a virus. The Mac dude is sympathetic, but only to a point -- he claims that Macs are far less vulnerable to viruses than PCs. In another, PC and Mac are holding hands, saying they can now network together, which had not been possible in the past. But then, a Japanese woman enters the frame and clasps the Mac's hand.
"Who, now -- who's this?" PC stutters.
"Oh, this is that new digital camera from Japan. Just came out," Mac says, then converses in Japanese with the woman.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait -- you speak her language?" PC says.
"Oh, yeah, absolutely," Mac says, "everything just kind of works with a Mac." More Japanese.
" Buon giorno ? " PC attempts, fruitlessly trying to get her attention. "Hello?"
The message: Macs have a closer relationship than ever to PCs, thanks to their new Intel chips, but Apple wants to assure everyone they're still a lot cooler.
-- Frank Ahrens
