Apple Takes a Swing at Microsoft's $300 Million Campaign
Apple has released the latest couple of clips in its "I’m a Mac" series of commercials and some people could be inclined to think they’re a little harsher than they should be.
Apple’s "I’m a Mac" advertisements have always pointed out the problems users can expect to run into when owning a PC and gone on to point out how a Mac is far more superior. Eventually, growing tired of constantly being portrayed as a tool in a suit, Microsoft launched a series of its own, showing people from all kinds of walks of life using PCs. With the end result, “sure, the geeky guy in the suit uses a PC but so does Eva Longoria,” Microsoft endeavored to drive home the fact that the PCs are diverse, just like the people that use them.
Apple recently launched a couple of new ads and it looks like it’s going for the jugular. Gone is the usual, “PCs can’t do blank, but Macs can,” and in it’s place, “PCs can’t do blank. Period.”
The first ad shows PC splitting a pile of cash in two. To his right lies a mountain of money which he’s putting aside for advertising and to his left lies a significantly smaller pile set aside for fixing Window’s Vista. When Mac points out that perhaps such a small amount of money wouldn’t fix the problems users have with Vista, PC agrees and throws all the cash into advertising. It’s no secret that Microsoft’s new campaign is costing the company $300 million. However, we were waiting for some comments on how Apple handles advertising, but at the same time addresses problems users put forward and they never came. Instead of advertising its own product (didn’t Apple just release a new line of MacBooks?), the Cupertino company has taken a cheap shot at Microsoft.
Similarly, the second ad refers to how Microsoft’s new ad don’t use the word Vista. PC says the company is no longer mentioning Vista because it doesn’t sit well with “frustrated PC users” and from now on, the company will use a word with less baggage — simply, "Windows." PC has a buzzer which he uses anytime Mac utters the dreaded “V word.” Again, no mention of Apple solving users’ problems by doing x, y or z, just a TV spot that points out how little Microsoft is doing to pacify all those “frustrated PC users.”
We’d be inclined to believe Apple has sort of lost sight of the point. While it’s first commercials were clever and did point out the advantages of owning a Mac rather than a PC, these new spots sort of say the only advantage to Mac is that you don’t have to buy a PC. Apple ran with a stereotype in its first ads and Microsoft pointed out that stereotypes often aren’t true. Apple’s new ads have taken things to a whole new bitchy level. While we don’t approve, we can’t help but hope Microsoft releases a couple of segments of its own in return. Nothing like a corporate cat fight in time for Halloween.
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Not a big surprise coming from Apple. Getting tired of hearing their commercials, it seems to be all about slander now rather than actually promoting their own products.
Lol, Apple is so pathetic.
sounds like PE... profit-envy, of course, what were you thinking?!
i actually think they are pretty funny... who cares if they aren't accurate... most people aren't THAT stupid... so they can't make huge mistakes if they aren't that stupid... however... people who really buy into these adds are stupid... so idk...
@thogrom,
I have to disagree, most people ARE that stupid. The fact that Mac's market share is increasing is evidence of that.
who cares if they aren't accurate... most people aren't THAT stupid...
Um, actually, most people are that stupid. Sorry, I'm just not that comfortable with allowing companies to portray inaccurate information in their advertising.
Also, some of the claims made by Apple aren't inaccuracies - they are outright lies. Honestly, how much do you think Microsoft has to spend annually? You think $300 million is the majority of their budget, or are they spending much more developing Vista SP2 and Windows 7 than $300 million? Inaccuracies become distortions, distortions become lies - I don't think we should it slide.
It's kinda like the presidential commercials - "Hmmm lemme say what sucks about this guy so they don't realize how much I suck"
Hmmmm, I wonder which one Apple is...
No, but seriously, I hope M$ takes the higher ground and keeps making it's positive commercials
The first add is a bit hypocritical. Apple is paying for advertising to point out Microsoft is paying to much for advertising..
but its still funny
i love their commercials no matter how dumb / poorly thought out they are...
Soo stupid.. That's all apple has.. WOW. I'm sure they spent big bucks on that waste of commercial shit. Though its a bit funny, it is totally pathetic and juvenile. Let's see what Microsoft has up its sleeve for stupid shit like this.
That's low.
Very well said. Google should jump in this fight and make desktop version of Android and allow public download and install for free.
I am not really a big fan of apple or their shots at Microsoft, however, I think these are funny. Its so clear these days that Microsoft is being run by business and marketing people rather than engineers. The whole windows XPerience and Vista names, stupid if you ask me, i would be just as happy with windows 6.0 or windows 6.1. Xbox 360 is the same way, sacrifice functionality and quality in order to deliver a product faster, then spend more time in marketing to hide any bad things that may arise.
Why is this news?
I was just thinking the same thing. Why is this news. It sounded more like someone venting then news. It is called advertising you cannot take it seriously. It is up to the consumer to look up figures and make comparisons on a product they are interested in. So to be upset because company X,Y, and Z have stupid or immature commercials and base a decision on that or even argue it is very stupid.
Looks like Apple took a page from the McCain playbook
Excuse me but..LMFAO!!!!!!!
At no point did apple point out how a Mac is far more superior.
wow apple...so low...i knew i should have never bought a mac! stupid comercial...
Apple is a FAD, they all die.
I use a Mac from day to day, but to be honest I am shopping for a Vista based laptop, and maybe also will build a powerhouse desktop for around $1000 with a quad core processor, 16GB ram, and an ATI 4870 video card. Sounds like more bang for the buck when editing, than spending twice that for 1/8 of the hardware power.
Unfortunately, the quips about Vista have a ring of truth to them. It looks nice, but it takes twice as long to start up as XP, runs noticably slower, needs twice as much memory, and doesn't seem to do anything extra. What a rip off. No doubt it takes 300m and a name change to get people to forget that. I've been lied to by Msoft so many times that I have zero sympathy for them now. Still, looking at those adverts, I'm too old, and just not arty enough to own a mac!
The foundation of the advert is all off. Just about every vista problem these days is from user error or do to a misunderstanding of how vista works.
Macs are nice because they look nice on the outside but are a load of sh*t on the inside. I cant stand mac fanboys who think that they paid good money for a good product when I can do just as many things on a pc for 1/4 of the price of a mac and even perform some thing better! Apple needs to stop the commercial bullsh*t. I laughed at the first Apple commercial I saw, thinking that Apple has to try to reduce PC's in order to sell its product. I dont see microsoft making commercials bashing macs all the time.
@michcato:
have you ever used Vista? Maybe on build 6000 Vista was 'noticably slower' but since SP1 was released, it takes about as long as XP to start up (I wish it fast quite faster) and barley runs slower than XP. However keep this in mind, Vista ISNT perfect, XP ISNT perfect, MACS ARE PERFECT! STEVE JOBS IS THE ALL MIGHTY GOD! ALL HEIL APPLE! ^_^ I hate Apple. Vista will take time and money to improve and eventually make faster than XP (I get 48FPS on Crysis in Vista and 53 on XP) But the difference isnt that much, a home user will barley notice the difference; the gamer, enthusiast will though; which is why many custom build their machines. Vista is a resource hog but honestly, who can't afford 20 bucks for 1gb of ram if they REALLY need it?
Love hearing the M$ fan boys complain about the funny Apple ads. Poor, poor M$ with their 90+ percent market share, being portrayed in an unfavorable light by a much smaller company. I'd be more sympathetic if Windows wasn't such crap. Not that I think Macs are the answer, but I'd prefer more competition.
@LAN_deRf_HA
"Just about every vista problem these days is from user error or do to a misunderstanding of how vista works."
Do you really think that? What you are basically saying is that the OS is not designed well enough for people to use. So, all of Microsoft's development time - what was it? 6 years? was spent designing something that the user doesn't understand? Don't you see what is wrong with your argument? Don't you see what is wrong with an OS that works in a way that the "target audience" doesn't understand?
One would have thought that if Microsoft HAD done their homework these "user problems" wouldn't arise.
I want a system thats nice... functional... has "gaming" features... fast... and isn't a OS designed for idiots... AKA Apples OS X and MS's Vista... both are oriented to idiots... in Vista however... you can turn that crap off in OS X its just part of the system... thats why so many of my friends like it because its easy... who cares if they pay more for worse hardware... or the ability to not learn how to do anything yourself... I mean really... I'd love to be stupid... hehe
I find the commercials funny. Apple seems to think that they can scare people away from PC’s. I find it laughable. Laughable, just like when a new Mac user goes to buy a video game. Apple is hoping that there are more ignorant people than informed people.
Just talk to any Mac user. They will spend most of their time justifying why they made a good decision and why you should also buy a Mac. Take your shoes off and drink the kool-aid. This is not a shot at the Mac OS but the average Mac user.
I believe that Apple is shooting themselves in the foot. When you market to people of lesser intelligence you are lowering the collective I.Q. of your average end user. Eventually the average Mac user will have to find a PC guy to hook up their Internet and download the latest crazy Mac game.
I honestly hope that Apple increases their market share. Microsoft needs some competition. Microsoft’s monopoly is not good for the consumer.
I have a PC ( a highly overclocked PC ) because I play games.
I am an IT guy would works with both Macs and PC’s and I prefer the PC at work and at play. Most users drive me nuts but the Mac users are worse than the PC users because
And Macs don’t get viruses because nobody wants to bother. This is because of Apple’s small market share not because of a superior product.
If I was ignorant and was in the market for a computer, I would want to know what your company did well, not what the competition does poorly. I’m buying a computer not voting for the president.
I doubt MS, as the market leader, would bother slap Apple. By slapping Apple, MS recognize Apple as a legitimate competitor instead of a fad.
Sorry for the unfinished sentence.
Most users drive me nuts, but the Mac users are worse than the PC user because they feel superior ( thank you Apple for making my job tougher)
'nuff said.
The rebuttal to this article should be "Microsoft takes a bite out of Apple's new advertisement"
C'mon that's just gold.
O and, how many people here still have problems with vista? I've heard nothing but pluses for a few months now...