Gateway officially announced its new Profile PC yesterday, along with marketing info that compares it to the iMac (read TMOis full coverage on that story for more info). Today, the company began showing its TV ads for the new PC, and the company has gone so far as to feature the iMac in those ads.

The commercial shows the new Profile sitting next to an iMac, as a voice over explains that the Profile has the same features, which is not true in that DVD-R is not offered, and the low-end model doesnit even feature a CD-RW drive. The voice over then tells us that the Profile is faster than the iMac, which is true from a MHz standpoint. At that point in the spot, the Profile leaps over the iMac in a leapfrog metaphor. The movements of the Profile are similar to the ones Apple used in the iMac Window ad. In that commercial, a man watches the iMac in a window as it moves about as if alive, including a moment when it seems as if the iMac is sticking its tongue out at the man.

Gatewayis commercial also plays upon a perceived weakness of the Mac platform when the commercial says that the Profile can run "thousands more software titles" than the iMac. The Profile leapfrogs the iMac again at this point.

At the end of the commercial, the voice over asks, "Oh, and did we mention that the Profile is cheaper than the iMac?" The Profile emphasizes this by sticking its CD-ROM "tongue" out in a CG animated raspberry.

We were unable to find the commercial on Gatewayis Web site. If you know of an online showing of the spot, let us know, or drop a notes in the comments below.