For all those people who think Apple shouldn’t be running competitive ads against the Windows 7 launch because it’s bad taste, here’s what Microsoft pulled when Sony launched the PS3. Or how about setting up a windows 7 booth across the road from the Japan Linux Symposium ? So, I really don’t think Microsoft needs defending from “big bad Apple” over a few ads when they’re mild compared to the stunts Microsoft has pulled over the years when its competitors launched products.
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seems people are against the apple ads because they’re effective sting right to the bone
I have to say that, while I’m definitely a Mac guy through and through, I do think Apple’s Mac vs. PC ad campaign is in bad taste. Macs offer tons of noteworthy advantages over PCs, yet rather than touting these benefits creatively in their advertising, they continue to go for the cheap smear tactic by gratuitously bashing the competition.
Basically these ads all say the same thing we’ve heard from Mac-heads for years: “PC is old and lame and sluggish, Mac is young and hip and awesome.” Um, OK maybe… but if you’re gonna be cocky about it, you better have some evidence to show the non-believers.
Sure, these ads definitely help stroke the egos of existing loyal mac uers, so if that’s Mr. Jobs’ goal then, Mission Accomplished. However, what bothers me about them is that they blatantly reinforce the stereotype that Mac people are elitist pricks. While this may be true among a small minority of obsessive mac fanatics, it’s a misconception that continues to hinder Apple’s image and its ability to gain new users.
I’ll admit I found the campaign mildly amusing at first but at this point (several years later) it’s about as fresh and creative as the cheese curls under my couch… you know, the ones with all the dust-bunnies stuck to them.
If Steve Jobs wants to launch a marketing campaign against Windows 7, then he ought to have his creative team get CREATIVE for a change. Here’s a thought: Rather than having a 25-year-old dude in a sweater-vest blabbering the same old “Mac good, PC bad” message, how about having me kick that dude’s ass on national TV? Oh yeah… then I could show the PC world that Macs aren’t more expensive than PCs because they look pretty.
Anyway… sorry to rant and rave like this, but I’m of the belief that Macs are truly great – but they’re great for EVERYBODY, not just for the blogging hipsters you see at Starbucks every morning.
I haven’t see the latest wave of Mac vs PC ads, mainly because the first bunch lost their humour rather quickly (and boiled down to propaganda BS). However, I have to agree that while corporations are corporations when it comes to getting an advantage over competitors, Microsoft has pulled some annoying stunts over the years.
While I’m not really a Mac fan, I like the idea of making MS sweat. If people move away from MS platforms to Mac/Linux ones, good. Healthy competition helps the customer as it forces everyone to improve products.
And regarding Dale’s comment about the prices of Macs, I understand that in Europe and the US the prices of Macs are quite competitive, however in other countries like South Africa, Macs are usually completely overpriced putting them out of range of the target market. To put it into perspective, I’ve seen the Mac Pro Quad-Core advertised for over R30k (over $3800), and MacBook Pros for over R20k (over $2500). The only people who regularly spend that much money on a computer are hardcore gamers and those buying high-end servers, neither of which will go for Macs.
Apple has good products but their marketing campaign remind me of the communist propaganda (which I hate it at the time..about 20 years ago), very biased and with a tunnel vision: we cannot look left or right, we are not supposed to put questions and the west (Microsoft) is bad… We have to be enthusiastic and cheer accordingly when we buy an i-whatever… Microsoft was/ is monopolistic but they still can get lessons from Apple. And honestly, their old ad campaign with the 2 guys already went from boring to me to…embarrassing; unless they do a Brokeback Mountain scene or something, I am not interested and I have to change the page/ flip the channel exactly.. immediately. For a wanna-be elitist, clever, intelligent crowd this back-stabbing persisting and again embarrassing marketing campaign, quite doesn’t fit. As one of our fellow poster said, how that nobody sees that Apple has the monopoly not only on software but even on hardware and they dictate their exaggerate prices as they please ? I am even afraid to think that if I would have lived in a parallel universe where Apple would be Microsoft and viceversa…, believe me, I would be really scared having the sad, previous experience with the communism.. monopolist, totalitarian, communism -these are bad words. The good life is based on diversification, colours, blondes, brunets, different architectural styles, countries, languages…how the life would be if we would all eat hamburgers and have ipods stuck in our ears? I wonder if I would go to an Apple convention and I would ask the same questions what they would do to me ? Ignore me ? tape my mouth with duck tape ? Hey Apple, don’t discount your (potential?) customers: we have brains (sometimes we might even use them) and we cannot all be hypnotized by biased propaganda… As long as the competition exists, the consumer is happy: Apple’s good, Microsoft is good, Intel’s good, Amd’s good and we are happy. What about gaming, Apple ? I heard you cannot even dream about the performance of Windows in this field. Till you decide to release your limited numbers of models/ machines your hardware is already 10 steps behind Microsoft…so many things to say ..but ask me…I’ll tell you everything, ask the Hackintosh community – they might tell you even more and help you increase those 5 – 6 % you have in the computer world; don’t be arrogant and elitist: it will not increase your numbers in your natural, physiological evolution
While I may have understood the funny ads against Vista, what’s going on with this intensive campaign against Windows 7 ?
Are you afraid?
Who’s saying that Windows 7 is bad ? Only Apple ? What if you will remain the only one and your ads will be a total fiasco and… 5 years from now will laugh (only at you) when we’ll be remembering this campaign?
You know how Vista was transformed in Windows 7 ? By communication. Microsoft has really listened. carefully. everything the hardware/ software producers had to say. Some say for the first time there was a 2 way communication. not only one way as before. We might as well learn from others’ people mistakes.