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Topic: Apple

Goodbye "Get a Mac" ads - Despite the FUD, I'll miss you

Summary: It seems that Apple's award-winning "Get a Mac" ads are no more.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

It seems that Apple's award-winning "Get a Mac" ads are no more.

I've been wondering where these ads had gone. We saw the last one back in October of 2009, and since then we've not had a peep of propaganda from "Mac" or "PC".

Shame.

I really liked those ads. They never made me want to buy a Mac, and even though the FUD content was very high, I admired the brutal nature of the ads. They had a knack of homing in on those chinks in Microsoft's armor. There was also just that something about them that managed to hit the spot. Whether you love Apple or hate Apple, I'm pretty sure you'll agree that they were pretty funny.

The ads are now banished off Apple's website. But don't worry, you can still catch them on YouTube (along with a ton of spoofs).

 

What ads will we see next from Apple? No idea, but it's a fair to assume that Ellen won't be asked to appear in one.

Topics: Apple, Hardware

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Talkback

64 comments
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  • Have to agree

    Don't like Apple, don't buy their products, but I did enjoy those ads. They were as good as MS's ads were pathetic.
    Economister
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Goodbye

      @Economister

      I would have to agree with you on that!
      jrizal1900
      Reply Vote

  • Most of them were funny

    One of them (Beancounter) is probably the funniest ad I've ever seen.

    But a few of them were downright vicious and bad taste.
    honeymonster
    Reply Vote

  • Apple/Mac & Ellen DeGeneres . . .

    Regarding Ellen DeGeneres & Mac, is it possible that you've missed underlying point?
    lekoerber
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Goodbye

      @lekoerber it's not ellen degeneres that he was talking about, and i'm pretty sure you didn't watch previous get a mac campaign. otherwise you would've known
      sfazly
      Reply Vote

      • It was Ellen Degeneres.

        @sfazly You must have missed the dust-up over her bit on the iPhone.
        Lester Young
        Reply Vote

      • The reference to Ellen DeGeneres that he speaks of

        is in light of her paradoy commercial in which she has difficaulty in actually using the iPhone (making it look really hard to use).<br><br>Apple called to say they would sue if Ellen DeGeneres didn't publicly appologize, which she did and teh appology really sounded as though it was written by Apple's PR division.
        John Zern
        Reply Vote

  • They made me avoid Macs

    Those ads only convinced me that Apple was out of touch with reality and still living in the 90's. One of the primary reasons I avoided Macs was the arrogance and ignorance those ads demonstrated. Kudos to Apple for finally dumping ads that even my wife said "made Apple look clueless."
    BillDem
    Reply Vote

    • Amen! -nt

      @BillDem
      ItsTheBottomLine
      Reply Vote

      • Same thing happened with Burger King

        They ran those anti-McDonalds adds left and right, in the exact same vein as the Apple PC/Mac commercials.

        They found afterwards that it actually turned people off to their products.

        Maybe Apple just learned the same thing?
        John Zern
        Reply Vote

      • Maybe

        @John
        The Mac vs. PC campaign simply isn't relevant to where Apple is trying to go right now. iPad anyone?
        oncall
        Reply Vote

    • Really

      @BillDem
      You were able to make an informed decision about a relatively expensive purchase (a computer) based upon a 30 second ad? Those were some damn good ads if they were able to get you that fired up ;)

      All kidding aside, whether you personally liked them or not you have to admit they were some very memorable ads. They struck a chord, good or bad, with consumers and established Apple's computers with the name "Mac" and everyone else (read Microsoft) was "PC".
      oncall
      Reply Vote

      • That's the idea.

        @oncall The whole point of ads is to influence purchase decisions. In some cases, they do not have the desired effect. Apple must have figured that out.
        Lester Young
        Reply Vote

      • And it worked

        @Lester Young<br><br>I am going to go out on a limb here and propose that those who were strongly offended by the Apple ads, like Billdem here, were never going to buy a Mac. But my point stands, it was a name branding campaign not a side by side comparison. The comparisons are forgotten, what's left is Apple computers are "Mac's". Even Microsoft's latest ads "I'm a PC" shows how well it worked.
        oncall
        Reply Vote

      • insightful

        @oncall I didn't notice until you said so-- but those ads were fairly successful at reducing the Windows brand. Not so much associating it with bad, but by displacing the Windows brand with the more generic term PC. It's akin to getting people to call Band-Aids sheer strips or call Kleenex tissues.
        Fortunately, Microsoft countered with a version named such that it's hard to say without saying Windows as well. You could say Vista and the Windows is assumed. 7 doesn't stand on it's own. I think this will mitigate the damage over the next year as Windows 7 rises to the number one slot on the OS marketshare list.
        ericesque
        Reply Vote

    • Really?

      You didn't attempt to determine if a Mac may be the computer that actually suits your needs best? You really buy products solely on the basis of your reaction to ads?
      msalzberg
      Reply Vote

      • Heck no!

        @msalzberg <br><br>Why the hell should I give my money to someone who is trying to get me to switch, but at the same time, stereotyping me into a low life, business oriented, retarded PC user? Not to mention the smug arrogant attitude they displayed in the later ads, that was just downright nasty and embarrassing to watch. <br><br>Turn of you Steve Jobs suck up mode, and go re-watch them, you'll see what I mean.
        The one and only, Cylon Centurion
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Goodbye

        @NStalnecker<br><br>The ads were not for those that's already 'emotionally' tied to the Win PC universe, and get easily hurt when they see anything going after their favorite company. They were for those who don't give a damn, they just want something that works better than what they've experienced with PC's.
        dave95.
        Reply Vote

      • @NStalnecker

        Do you really have such little self-esteem that you buy products based on what others may think? Do you have so little respect for others that you judge them based on the logos on their possessions? Believe it or not, there are many people who buy products that they feel are right for them, no matter who made them. I know that you've stated that you buy by the logo (I think the quote was "I bought a Zune specifically because it wasn't an iPod"), but not everyone works that way.

        Ironically, you don't seem to understand that the PC and Mac characters in the ads represent the computers, not users. "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC." Not "I'm a Mac user, I'm a PC user." "I can do this, I can do that." Not "My computer can do this, my computer can do that." Too subtle for you to pick up, I guess.
        msalzberg
        Reply Vote

      • Good point

        @msalzberg <br>I often wonder how many people actually *know* what they need in a computer. The image-makers really know how to manipulate thought, and they probably would prefer that nobody really knows.
        _Papa_
        Reply Vote
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