Will Apple Ever Advertise Mac OS X?

by , 10:00 AM EDT, October 26th, 2001

"I call it a white book of a thousand pages --- and hidden in those pages are a few haiku, written, perhaps, in invisible ink."

I'm sure you did the same thing...

When Mac OS X was released in March, I wondered if I would see any Apple commercials soon thereafter:

The TV screen is filled with a close-up of the OS X desktop. As some techno song plays in the background, a cursor flies across the desktop, moving over the Dock; it then clicks on the Finder icon, opening a Finder window, moving and playing with the interface elements therein. We are treated to shots of the Aqua interface. The commercial ends with shots of iTunes burning a CD, iMovie editing a movie...

The screen goes black, upon which we see the following words: "OS X. The world's most advanced operating system. Think Different."

We gave Apple the benefit of the doubt. After all, OS X, admittedly, wasn't ready for prime time. When version 10.1 ships, we thought, THAT's when the rubes will be treated to ubiquitous commercials showing OS X in all it's glory.

But that didn't happen either.

So now, we're scratching our collective heads. Why, oh why, isn't Apple hyping the you-know-what out of OS X? Sure, sure, there are positive OS X reviews in nearly every PC publication around. Apple couldn't buy better reviews. But where's Apple's ads? Where's Apple's ad company, and why isn't that ad company advertising the spit out of OS X? What up wit' dat?

I'm sure there are good reasons why Apple isn't advertising OS X. Here's three theories that I came up with:

The Far-Fetched idea Theory -- Apple will never advertise OS X. Suppose that Apple doesn't feel that the OS is the reality. Suppose that Apple intends to focus on the hardware -- after all, the company is a hardware company.

Suppose that Apple wants to make OS X the best operating system it can be, but, suppose that Apple wants to make it a transparent OS. Suppose Apple plans to let the OS speak for itself. Suppose that Apple will never draw attention to OS X through advertising, because it already has the computing world's attention and any more would be redundant (you must admit that OS X gets as much media face time as Windows).

Maybe Apple's not advertising OS X is making a statement, a statement in contradistinction to Microsoft's plan to make the world nauseous with Windows overkill. Hey, I'd buy that.

This would be Apple's way of staying above the fray, lumping OS advertising with "Megahertz madness."

I told you it was far fetched.

The Logical Theory -- Apple doesn't think it's the right time to advertise OS X. Maybe Apple doesn't want OS X to be lost in Microsoft's marketing orgy. Apple is waiting a) for Windows XP to have its day in the sun and b) for OS X to develop a little bit more.

On the surface, this would be a good idea. But I don't buy my own theory after the first sentence. It makes no sense for Apple not to advertising OS X, now that version 10.1 is on the streets. OS X is bigger and more landmarking than any hardware product heretofore. Yet, Apple is focusing none of its advertising dollars on the central (software) component included in each of its hardware products, iPod notwithstanding.

The Paranoid Theory – Apple made a deal with Microsoft. In order to be allowed continued existence (Office for the Mac, Internet Explorer, Outlook for Exchange Server, etc.), Apple promised back in 1997 that the company would not go head to head with Microsoft Windows. Hence, no advertising.

I know, I know. Never smoke crack before writing.

All that said, I have no idea why Apple isn't advertising OS X. Okay, I can almost buy the argument that a mere Operating System isn't synonymous with "sexy advertising." But if Apple doesn't advertising OS X, then what a waste, I say.

It is really odd and disappointing that Mac OS X isn't being plastered around the world on billboards and magazine- and newspaper ads, because, contrary to our incestuous Mac media and community, very comparatively few people know that Apple has a new Operating System. And that is pathetic. The computing world needs an OS X ad blitz that would show people that Apple is alive and well in the OS business (and advertising would finally convince white people to relax around me, since they would then know that my wearing a T-shirt with a blue X on it doesn't mean that I'm a Louis Farrakhan follower paying homage to Malcolm X, but, instead, I am a computer geek showing my OS partisanship).

Apple's OS X packaging calls it the "world's most advanced operating system." Therefore, Apple should either advertise OS X like it is the "most advanced operating system," or remove that cover copy.

Why be the best if you don't let everyone know. Being humble isn't kosher behavior for a company trying to increase its market share from five to ten.

Rodney O. Lain thinks Apple should make a "Whassup!" commercial. When he isn't trying to convince everyone with that advertising idea, he is a regular contributor to The Mac Observer with his "iBrotha" column.