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Ulrich Kinbote · May 14, 2006, 04:32 AM

I'm sure there's been a thread about this, but I can't find it.

What does everyone think of the "'I'm a Mac', 'And I'm a PC'" video at apple.com?

Somehow, when someone says, "Look at me, I'm cool and he's not", it yields a negative return on the intended effect.

subego · May 14, 2006, 04:49 AM

They're hit and miss.

I like the guy who plays the PC (he works on the Daily Show), which saves them somewhat. His schtick dovetails well with the role of a PC.

Overall however, yeah, they're no Ellen Feiss.

Ulrich Kinbote · May 14, 2006, 05:10 AM

About that Ellen Feiss commercial. Wikipedia calls it a "cult hit". What's the big deal? It ain't all that.

Eug Wanker · May 14, 2006, 12:46 PM

Ellen Feiss's is the best Mac commercial of all time. And yes I think it's much better than that 1984 commercial.

Ulrich Kinbote · May 14, 2006, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Ellen Feiss's is the best Mac commercial of all time.

Prithee, Eug Wanker, your reasons.

itistoday · May 14, 2006, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Ellen Feiss's is the best Mac commercial of all time. And yes I think it's much better than that 1984 commercial.

Agreed. The reason is because it's the first time somebody visibly stoned advocated a product for a major American corporation (I think).

tooki · May 14, 2006, 02:50 PM

Well, she and Apple swear it was allergy medications, not weed...

tooki

itistoday · May 14, 2006, 03:33 PM

Well of course they do, what else are they supposed to say? That it was an illegal drug?

tooki · May 14, 2006, 03:51 PM

Well in all fairness, have you never had a case of allergies bad enough to make you feel like crap, with red eyes and a runny nose and all that? If you haven't, consider yourself lucky!

tooki

itistoday · May 14, 2006, 03:59 PM

Yeah, you're right actually. I've experienced those exact side effects, and benadryl doesn't really help clarity of thought either... Still, that doesn't prevent everyone from enjoying the commercial with the thought that she was high.

hndsmman · May 14, 2006, 04:34 PM

*ahem* back to the topic on hand.....

I really liked how they casted Justin Long for the Mac part. He really suits Apple well. I'm sure this will pressure a lot of families who don't know much about computers to go out and buy an apple. Here in the OC they're all the rage with the popular folk.

Visnaut · 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Ulrich Kinbote

Somehow, when someone says, "Look at me, I'm cool and he's not", it yields a negative return on the intended effect.

I agree with you completely. These latest batch of ads are just as foolish, if not more so, than the Switch ads. They're a monumental waste of money.

You're not going to convert people, especially in the pro market, by insulting the platform choice they've already made. In fact, all I see these ads doing is eroding the respect that Apple had begun to muster in the PC community.

It's one thing to highlight platform strengths. In fact, that's all Apple should be doing. Apple's hardware and software have quite honestly never been in better shape, especially now with BootCamp in the mix. You're basically getting two machines for the price of one.

But portraying the hardware you picked out as a bumbling, hapless idiot, (and by extension, you, since you bought into it) and simply following it up with "Get a Mac" is belittling and short-sighted. Same with the Intel "dull, little boxes" ad; same with the Switch campaign. That's why neither of them did anything to move switchers in any significant numbers.

If Apple is going to sell Macs to the masses and the pro users who guide them, they need skip the chastising, and go straight to the virtues of their hardware and software.

subego · May 14, 2006, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by Ulrich Kinbote

Prithee, Eug Wanker, your reasons.

It was really good delivery.

The editing was superlative. Both on its own and in tandem with the music bed. The part that comes most readily to mind is how Ellen's "beep, boop, bop" mimicry of the noise a computer makes was counterpointed with the background music.

It's been a few years since I've seen it. If someone could point me to a copy I could put in my permanent collection (oh what a fool was I for not keeping it) I'd be tickled to give a more in depth analysis.

Well, that's Eug's opinion at least, I won't tell you what I think.

Dark Helmet · May 14, 2006, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Ellen Feiss's is the best Mac commercial of all time. And yes I think it's much better than that 1984 commercial.

Someone has a crush

Eug even had the video on his cell phone. Not sure why you like it THAT much though as you don't seem like the pot smoker type to me.

tooki · May 14, 2006, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by Visnaut

But portraying the hardware you picked out as a bumbling, hapless idiot, (and by extension, you, since you bought into it) and simply following it up with "Get a Mac" is belittling and short-sighted. Same with the Intel "dull, little boxes" ad; same with the Switch campaign. That's why neither of them did anything to move switchers in any significant numbers.

But you missed one little point: most people didn't choose to get a PC. They got it because they didn't even realize there is an alternative (or because it was the same as what their workplace had). Showing people that the problems that plague PCs don't have to be part of your life is a big deal.

This is really the first time Apple has outright said what the advantages of the Mac platform are. It's about damned time.

tooki

Eug Wanker · May 14, 2006, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by itistoday

Agreed. The reason is because it's the first time somebody visibly stoned advocated a product for a major American corporation (I think).

Originally Posted by subego

It was really good delivery.

The editing was superlative. Both on its own and in tandem with the music bed. The part that comes most readily to mind is how Ellen's "beep, boop, bop" mimicry of the noise a computer makes was counterpointed with the background music.

It's been a few years since I've seen it. If someone could point me to a copy I could put in my permanent collection (oh what a fool was I for not keeping it) I'd be tickled to give a more in depth analysis.

Well, that's Eug's opinion at least, I won't tell you what I think.

Ellen Feiss's commercial will persevere throughout the ages...

itistoday · May 14, 2006, 08:02 PM

"What was the secret of her smile?"

That's just great.

Ulrich Kinbote · May 15, 2006, 05:51 AM

Whether she actually was stoned is beside the point. The question is, was she meant to look stoned. It seems likely. After all, if she'd truly come down with an allergic reaction just before the shoot, they would so have postponed the shoot or recast it if it wasn't what they were after. An advertising campaign at that level is too expensive, and bears too importantly on the identity/image of the company, for them to compromise. But what's their point? I think they're trying to engineer the Mac image. Mac users are "cool, youthful, laid-back, and even pot-smokers." If that is in fact what they are doing, they're excluding a large part of their customer base, I think.

subego · May 15, 2006, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by Ulrich Kinbote

Whether she actually was stoned is beside the point. The question is, was she meant to look stoned. It seems likely. After all, if she'd truly come down with an allergic reaction just before the shoot, they would so have postponed the shoot or recast it if it wasn't what they were after. An advertising campaign at that level is too expensive, and bears too importantly on the identity/image of the company, for them to compromise. But what's their point? I think they're trying to engineer the Mac image. Mac users are "cool, youthful, laid-back, and even pot-smokers." If that is in fact what they are doing, they're excluding a large part of their customer base, I think.

You have it back-asswards. There is so much money on the line that the people involved would do almost anything to make sure it worked with what they had.

Apart from the extra time and money expense of postponing/recasting and reassembling all the **** they need, which would come directly out of the profits for the agency, I'm sure there were pretty severe penalties in the contract if they didn't meet deadline, which would also come out of agency profits.