Microsoft Launches Ad #3: Are You a PC?
Microsoft Launches Ad #3: Are You a PC?
by , 11:50 AM EDT, September 19th, 2008
Microsoft launched its third in a series of special ads to spruce up the image of Windows on Thursday night. The ad features a selection of cameos, some famous and some not, showing that Windows is used by all kinds of people. The ad opens with a comment by a John Hodgman lookalike, Microsoft employee Sean Siler, that PC users have been stereotyped.
The ad shows many different kinds of people who do lots of different things for a living. The one thing they all have in common is that they don't look like John Hodgman and don't act like him, thus trying to lift the stereotype.
The ad also raises the question whether there ever was a stereotype of PC users and whether that was the point of the Apple "Get a Mac" ads -- because John Hodgman portrays a computer, not a person.
 "I'm a PC" |
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The campaign, which is now taking a different direction after a generally negative response to the first two ads with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, never mentions Vista, but it does try to reinforce the idea that a lot of smart, interesting and diverse people use Windows PCs in productive ways.
Yesterday, a New York Ad executive doubted whether the defensive approach, casting Microsoft as the stereotyped victim, will be effective with customers.
The ad has also been posted at YouTube.
Observer Comments
Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:34 pm Subject: I'm a PC and...
Macs are PC's too. Nice looking PC's with a different operating system - big deal. If you use Boot Camp to run Windows, is your Mac somehow not a "PC"? Remember - a "PC" just refers to the original IBM architecture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_compatible
...and John Hodgman is NOT portraying a computer; he's portraying an operating system (Windows, specifically Vista as of late). There's a BIG difference.
Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:03 pm Subject: Re: I'm A PC
Umm....ok so lets say that the "PC" shown in the Mac commercials does portray users as nerds; In the world of computers, I'd much rather associate myself with a nerd than a geeky looking 30 year old that's trying to look 25. And if he were portraying a PC instead, well, nobody cares. Your cannot relate human emotion, reaction, and physical appearance to a computer. However, that's the magic of marketing; they make you believe what they're saying has some sort of validity. And those that do buy into the apple commercials (or even think they're funny at all) are the same people that buy and talk about Mac all over the place. "Dude, did you see that new Mac commercial? Like whoa, I'm totally going home now and boot up my $3000 laptop." - That's the equivalent of free advertising for Mac....good job sheep, now go eat your Apple.
I'm useful for something other than editing movies of my stoner college friends and videochatting with the 2 dudes I met in Amsterdam when I went there to research plants....
The Mac commercials are wildly entertaining, don't get me wrong, but PC's are still the gold standard. The reason Mac can claim to be better or more stable is because the operating system is designed to work with a specific set of hardware, whereas Windows is designed to work with almost all hardware.
So if you like having a machine that contains obsolete hardware after 1 year, and is almost completely non-upgradeable, get a Mac (or buy a useful PC and send me the extra money you didn't waste for Leopard).
Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:09 pm Subject:
Here's my take on a counter advertisement:
PC is standing in front of a display running Vista. The screen flickers and there is a brief static sound. PC growls in frustration.
Enter Mac followed by a Leopard screen running scientific software flawlessly. Mac asks PC how its going.
PC's screen, only now launching an Excel spreadsheet flickers again, and there is more static. In the corner a Windows Notification pops up about device driver problems. PC responds. "Just getting some work done."
Mac says. Yeah, me too. The screen behind Mac shows Spaces come up with 3 other screens of applications. Mac takes time to explain what applications are on each screen to emphasize the point.
PC growls again. His screen blacks out longer and when it comes back up there is another driver warning with a prompt to install new drivers Windows found on the web. PC clicks on the prompt to go get the new drivers installed and a series of allow or deny prompts follow in rapid succession followed by a restart prompt.
Mac asks PC if he would like to share his hardware, opens Windows on his screen via Parallels or Fusion and then opens an Office Spreadsheet document.
PC bows his head and shuffles over to Mac's screen.
Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:17 pm Subject: I'm a person...
not a PC or a Mac.
The point of the I'm a PC/I'm a Mac ads was that they are antropomorphizations of the two OSs. Now MS is completely missing the point and having people say they ARE a PC.
If you are really a PC you;
Would only follow orders
Could not think for yourself
Would not be creative at all
Would become obsolete in less than 10 years
That is true whatever OS you are running.
These ads strike me as exceedingly insulting to PC users.
You are completely delusional!
Sorry, but your comments and argument make no sense, are off base, contain no reals facts and, in general, suck. I work with both platforms on a regular basis. After 15 years experience with Macs and Windows, having a stable, reliable, productive machine means less stress and more money. It's as simple as that. Plus, we have our Macs in service well beyond Windows boxes.
Do some research dude.
Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:19 pm Subject: Re: Trolls?
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
How about how many trolls write these articles in a slightly barely hidden way.
Not sure how this article is trolling. It is fairly straight-forward. It didn't say "Microsoft released another stupid, pointless ad to save their crumbling empire" or something like it. THAT would be trolling, ala MDN.
MS started an ad campaign. They aborted it before it was done (there is reportedly a third ad that won't be shown). They switched to another ad campaign, and the message is "I'm a PC." It shows regular people who use PCs. It appears to be trying to counter the perceived message from the Apple ads. Many question whether this is a defensive move and whether it will work. That is basically what the article says. What part is trolling?
This was supposed to be a reply to the following comment by Guest, 'I'm a PC...':
"So if you like having a machine that contains obsolete hardware after 1 year, and is almost completely non-upgradeable, get a Mac (or buy a useful PC and send me the extra money you didn't waste for Leopard)."
Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:34 pm Subject: Google Alerts
QuoteIntruder wrote:
Wow. It is amazing how many trolls come out to post on Mac sites when articles like this come out. Truly amazing.
I wonder if they are using Google Alerts, or a similar service, to find for Window and MicroSoft articles on Mac-centric websites.
Also I wonder how many different "Guests" comment on stories such as this one. Is there really a dozen different guests or just a few, what would the weblogs show?
Anyway, I was enjoying the Gates and Seinfeld ads and will miss them. I don't care for the new ones very much, maybe they will get better.
As to the Mac and PC characters in the Apple ads. I resemble John Hodgeman in looks and personality more than I do Justin Long, but I have been a Mac user since the late '80s.
QuoteGuest wrote:
So if you like having a machine that contains obsolete hardware after 1 year, and is almost completely non-upgradeable, get a Mac (or buy a useful PC and send me the extra money you didn't waste for Leopard).
So how come a lot of the home use computers from PC manufacturers are now coming in a similarly non-upgradeable format?
Usually those that bash Apple the most are the ones that can't afford their hardware.
Apple makes top quality luxury PCs. They run both Windows and OSX (something many pc users cannot grasp).
Hey some like riding in a Lexus others drive a Yugo.
Face it. One day when give up playing WOW and Counterstrike and actually get a job you can move out of the basement and actually be able to afford a computer that costs $599-$2999.
Keep smiling! One day you may just realize that using cheap stuff gets you cheap stuff most of the time in life.
After all you get what you pay for is a commonly used statement.
I'm a PC, and I like having more than one button on a mouse.
I'm a PC, and I believe it's idiotic to put "Ctrl" anywhere but on the very bottom left edge of a keyboard.
I'm a PC, and I believe in function over form.
I'm a PC, and Safari sucks, stop forcing me to download it.
I'm a PC, and I don't think charging suckers $800 upgrading to 4GB laptop ram is fair (they really do! check yourself!).
I'm a PC, and I'm smart enough to set up a HTPC instead of buying that POS Apple TV.
Fri Sep 19, 2008 2:40 pm Subject: Excellent points!
QuoteGuest wrote:
I'm a PC, and I like having more than one button on a mouse.
I'm a PC, and I believe it's idiotic to put "Ctrl" anywhere but on the very bottom left edge of a keyboard.
I'm a PC, and I believe in function over form.
I'm a PC, and Safari sucks, stop forcing me to download it.
I'm a PC, and I don't think charging suckers $800 upgrading to 4GB laptop ram is fair (they really do! check yourself!).
I'm a PC, and I'm smart enough to set up a HTPC instead of buying that POS Apple TV.
Macs have shipped with multi-button mice for some time. However, the person who designed the Apple "hockey puck" mouse should be forced to use one for the rest of their life.
Control Key location? A person can usually learn how to type on a keyboard different from their regular one fairly rapidly. Depends on how hidebound one is.
I believe in form AND function, but you are certainly free to use what ever tool fits your personality.
Safari is just fine and no one is FORCING you to download it, Encouraged maybe, but not at gunpoint.
4GB of MacBook Pro RAM is $82 at Crucial. If someone wants to buy RAM at a higher price from Apple then that is no concern of yours.
Just because you can set up a HTPC doesn't mean Mac users can not.
Yes, it seems like Guest(s) is/are flocking to The Mac Observer to troll about a bit:) Well, if they/he/she find any pleasure in it, be my Guest:)
Anyway, I think this lates ad was rather good - much better than the two with Seinfeld which only left me with a huh? in my mind. OK, the second was not bad at all - but as a mini series, not as an ad, methinks.
But it is funny how many people thinks that Justin Longʼs Mac in Appleʼs campaign is arrogant, condescending etc. Why, he is being portrayed as one who is sympatethic to PCʼs many problems, isnʼt he? But so many people - also Mac-users seems to watch their own ad in their minds, superimposed on the actual ones. And Hodgemanʼs PC-character is a very likeable portrait, I think. I think that is why those ads are successful. They are really not evil although some people get upset - like Bill Gates?
And, of course, the new ad from Microsoft misses the fact that Hodgeman is not portraying a PC-user, but a PC - or as someone here pointed out; Windows, really.
And perhaps I may be allowed to comment on some of the trolls?
First; this thing about the computer being a tool. Yes, it is and everyone who has done some real work knows that there are good tools and poor tools. There is no such thing as "just a tool". That attitude is for amateurs, not professionals.
Second: you canʼt do crap on a Mac. Oh yes, you can! It all depends on you:)
Third: is it not funny how some people accuse the Mac for being just a toy and the next thing you hear is that you cannot run as many games on a Mac as on a PC?
I think we are all tired of the now so mythological one-button mouse, so I will leave that:)
* ?Usually those that bash Apple the most are the ones that can't afford their hardware.? -Just your subject line and this first sentence says ?pampas.? I am neither poor nor uneducated and I prefer Windows.
* ?Apple makes top quality luxury PCs.?
-Last I checked your Mac uses the same Samsung memory and the same Seagate hard drive as most consumer Dell?s. They just charge twice the price.
*?Hey some like riding in a Lexus others drive a Yugo. Face it. One day when give up playing WOW and Counterstrike and actually get a job you can move out of the basement and actually be able to afford a computer that costs $599-$2999. ?
-You do realize that you can spend as much as you want on a Windows PC right? I mean you can get a water cooled Voodoo that will play Crysis in all of its glory.
The sad thing is you actually identify with who you are by the computer you use.
QuoteGuest wrote:
I'm a PC, and I like having more than one button on a mouse.
I'm a Mac and have more than a one button mouse.
QuoteI'm a PC, and I believe it's idiotic to put "Ctrl" anywhere but on the very bottom left edge of a keyboard.
I'm a Mac and my control button is on the very bottom left edge of my keyboard
QuoteI'm a PC, and I believe in function over form.
I'm a Mac and I believe in function and form and that form should be in the service of function.
QuoteI'm a PC, and Safari sucks, stop forcing me to download it.
I'm a Mac and I find that Safari is the fastest and most standards compliant browser available.
QuoteI'm a PC, and I don't think charging suckers $800 upgrading to 4GB laptop ram is fair (they really do! check yourself!).
I'm a Mac and I enjoy the fact that if I don't like Apple's upgrade prices and can go to third party sources to meet my needs.
QuoteI'm a PC, and I'm smart enough to set up a HTPC instead of buying that POS Apple TV.
I'm a Mac and I love my Apple TV and its compactness, total silence, easy setup and operation, superb image quality, and support for true multi-channel audio.
Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:14 pm Subject: I am a PC and am a babe. So Vista must be a babe, right?
The genius of the new ads is that they casts users of PCs, not Microsoft, as victims of Apple's stereotyping. Of course, that's beside the point in at least two ways. First, the issue is Vista: Is Vista or isn't it substantially inferior to OS X? Second, because the issue is Vista, the personalities, careers, endeavors, and other personal qualities of those who use PCs is irrelevant to the issue of whether Vista is substantially inferior to OS X. And, of course, as Mr. Martellaro discussed, supra, in Apple's ads, PC is a computer running Vista, not a person or any group of persons.
So what Microsoft has done in its latest ads is to change the subject from the qualities and virtues of Vista, or the lack thereof, relative to OS X to the qualities of those who use PCs. That Microsoft has found it necessary or advisable to change the subject from Vista to those who use Vista leads to the inescapable conclusion that it knows that it can't win the argument on the basis of Vista, so it must try to shift the argument to Eva Longoria's beauty and to the charms of the other beautiful woman pictured, supra. Notwithstanding OS X superiority as an operating system, it certainly can't compete with either of them, when it comes to looks.
The coolest thing about Microsoft advertisements is how much notice they bring to Apple. The more Microsoft complains or whines, the more press Apple gets. They'd get more traction out of sticking to ads like the one currently out there which purportedly shows people being impressed by a new Windows and then even more impressed that they've been looking at Vista. No mention of Apple anywhere, no comparisons to be made, and the mindshare stays with Microsoft.
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
* The sad thing is you actually identify with who you are by the computer you use.
The most ridiculous thing I have ever read in regards to self identification. My personal take on this whole Mac/PC thing is: people get a life. When I meet a new person I never ask "what type of computer and OS do you use? I usually ask what their name is. Do any of you people have anything better to do? How about read a book. And yes, I do get the irony of that last statement.
QuoteYou also happen to be grossly misinformed. Is that representative of a "typical" PC person, or do you have blood flow issues?Guest wrote:
I'm a PC, and I'm smart enough to set up a HTPC instead of buying that POS Apple TV.
I have a Mac, which I'm seriously considering turning into an HTPC. Oh, and come to think of it, my OS comes with Front Row... and I didn't have to look at a features comparison chart & shell out extra $$$ just to have that built-in functionality.
Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:52 pm Subject: RAM is nice & cheap
QuoteYeah, I maxed mine out in my recently bought MBP. I was pleasantly surprised by the price, especially considering you always figure laptop parts are going to be more expensive than desktops.Sir Harry Flashman wrote:
4GB of MacBook Pro RAM is $82 at Crucial. If someone wants to buy RAM at a higher price from Apple then that is no concern of yours.
Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:56 pm Subject: Freedom of choice...
I can't believe all this crap! It's like a whole village of trolls or something... Where is my sword and magic helmet? : )
PC people... If you honestly like windows better, don't gripe about Mac prices, OK? It's a different animal entirely from your "norm" and has a different value to it's users. (Ask any Mac power-user if he paid too much for his machine... I bet they'll say no. I know I didn't pay too much for what I got!) Until you let go of your pre-conceptions and windows-oriented view, you'll never really understand the significance.
Also, have any of you PC guys ever actually taken an Apple machine apart? I have... Sure doesn't look like any other "generic PC hardware" I've ever seen. In fact, it's quite elegantly built. Like my Mac Pro... ZERO cables anywhere. Definitely NOT an off-the-shelf "generic PC" motherboard, either. The case sure isn't the tin can like my rather nice and rather expensive PC has. So what if it has a standard-issue hard drive and RAM in it? It's good enough for mighty Windows, isn't it? I like being able to buy big drives for cheap, just because of how popular windows is! : )
And the one-button mouse crap makes you guys look really behind the times, not to mention proving that you've never used a Mac at all...
Hi I am a Mac.
I am much better than a PC and here is why:
1. I don?t get viruses because I have less than 15% market share and no one cares about infecting the bottom of the pack.
2. Who needs a PC when you can run Windows on boot camp? After 25 years of trying to get programmers to write software for everyday users we gave up. We will just use Windows.
3. The Mac OS is perfect**
** this statement does not include the 400 security fixes for the Mac OS or security breaches to I-Tunes and critical flaws in quick time over the past year. After all, the quick time issue happened on Windows machines.
4. I never have to pay for an upgrade!! Since the Mac is a closed system I can not upgrade any of my parts. Instead I get a new computer every year!!!! On top of that I get to pay a premium just to say ?I am a Mac?. Life is good!! My son did not need a college fund anyways?
5 We have Steve Jobs. He is the omnipotent being which has brought peace and justice to empire which is Apple. I would give up my first born just to touch him!!!
6 Twenty five years ago we stole most of the ideas for the modern computer from Xerox? The best part is that a few years later we convinced the world that Bill stole these ideas from us? you guys are soooo gullible.
Its good to be a Mac?good day all?. I am off to the pasture to graze with the rest of the sheep.
Sat Sep 20, 2008 2:11 pm Subject: Re: I am a Mac
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
Hi I am a Mac.
I am much better than a PC and here is why:
1. I don?t get viruses because I have less than 15% market share and no one cares about infecting the bottom of the pack.
2. Who needs a PC when you can run Windows on boot camp? After 25 years of trying to get programmers to write software for everyday users we gave up. We will just use Windows.
3. The Mac OS is perfect**
** this statement does not include the 400 security fixes for the Mac OS or security breaches to I-Tunes and critical flaws in quick time over the past year. After all, the quick time issue happened on Windows machines.
4. I never have to pay for an upgrade!! Since the Mac is a closed system I can not upgrade any of my parts. Instead I get a new computer every year!!!! On top of that I get to pay a premium just to say ?I am a Mac?. Life is good!! My son did not need a college fund anyways?
5 We have Steve Jobs. He is the omnipotent being which has brought peace and justice to empire which is Apple. I would give up my first born just to touch him!!!
6 Twenty five years ago we stole most of the ideas for the modern computer from Xerox? The best part is that a few years later we convinced the world that Bill stole these ideas from us? you guys are soooo gullible.
Its good to be a Mac?good day all?. I am off to the pasture to graze with the rest of the sheep.
Congrats. You win the prize for the dumbest post on this thread.
Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:09 pm Subject: A photo of me and PC
I was at the grand opening of the Apple Store at North County fair this morning and had my photo taken with PC
Actually he was a look-alike, but there is a very good resemblance.
Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:33 pm Subject: pc is for gamers macs are for loser pencil pushers
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