UK Mac ads

On 21/3/07 19:06, Glen McAllister wrote:
> You're all probably familiar with the Mac-PC ads. Over here in the UK,
> Apple performed a bit of a coup and got a pair of actors who were
> already working together (Peepshow) and with their already existing
> dynamic, fitted *perfectly* into the Mac & PC roles. There's a lot of
> overlap, but it's not 100% and I find Mac is just a *little* bit less
> 'nice' to PC. Just a tad more 'edge' to him ;)

And much more than the US ones, I found these appallingly misconcieved,
obnoxious and off-putting.

The established characters of the two actors (in the series that made them
famous, Peepshow, and much of their other work together) are a good fit for
the Windows world stereotypes of Mac and PC, not for the message that any
sensible Apple marketeer would want to push: Mark (Mitchell/PC) is sensible,
educationally (but not socially) sophisticated, mature, well-meaning,
intelligent, responsible; Jeremy (Webb/Mac) is an immature, vain,
self-obsessed, stupid, braggart.

It's as if someone in Apple's ad agency (or their eight year old child) saw
five minutes of the show and thought "he's square and dull, he's hip and
exciting! - they're perfect!" and cast them for that. But they've completely
misunderstood (or I'm just a fusty old git who's got the wrong end of the
stick... but I've been a fan of peep show from it's earliest showings, and I
don't think so).

Unless I've badly misunderstood my cultural references, this is the reverse of
both the US and Japanese versions; where the PC is louder, stupider; the Mac
character smarter, more modest, and tries to protect PC's self-respect.

I fear it's a classic case of the ad guys slapping each other on the back in
the bar, while actually damaging their client's interests. Coup, pah.

- Ben

On 22-Mar-2007, at 15:21, Ben Rubinstein wrote:
> And much more than the US ones, I found these appallingly
> misconcieved,
> obnoxious and off-putting.

I'm not familiar with peep show or the actors, but I thought the 'PC'
came off as much more pompous and self-involved than the US version.
Especially in the "Court" ad, but to some extent in all of them.

At 14:21 on 22-03-2007, Ben Rubinstein wrote:
> Mark (Mitchell/PC) is sensible, educationally (but not socially)
> sophisticated, mature, well-meaning, intelligent, responsible;

I'm not sure I would classify Mark as 'mature' and 'well-meaning'.
He's somewhat of a selfish character himself and his insecurities
lead to behaviour which I wouldn't always call mature. But this is
maybe too much of a Peep Show character analysis (and it's a
brilliant programme, I highly recommend it to those who haven't seen
it).

On the larger point, I tend to agree that I'm not convinced of the
fit. However, the adverts aren't meant to actually be Mark and
Jeremy. With the first set of adverts, I found PC more likeable than
Mac. This second set has improved considerably in my opinion, so
we'll see... Incidentally, I thought the one with the Japanese
printer (camera in the US version, I believe) was funnier than the US
original and the best UK one so far.

_________________
=> Jolin

On Mar 22, 2007, at 5:21 PM, Ben Rubinstein wrote:

> On 21/3/07 19:06, Glen McAllister wrote:
>> You're all probably familiar with the Mac-PC ads. Over here in the
>> UK,
>> Apple performed a bit of a coup and got a pair of actors who were
>> already working together (Peepshow) and with their already existing
>> dynamic, fitted *perfectly* into the Mac & PC roles. There's a lot of
>> overlap, but it's not 100% and I find Mac is just a *little* bit less
>> 'nice' to PC. Just a tad more 'edge' to him ;)
>
> And much more than the US ones, I found these appallingly
> misconcieved,
> obnoxious and off-putting.
>
> The established characters of the two actors (in the series that
> made them
> famous, Peepshow, and much of their other work together) are a good
> fit for
> the Windows world stereotypes of Mac and PC, not for the message
> that any
> sensible Apple marketeer would want to push: Mark (Mitchell/PC) is
> sensible,
> educationally (but not socially) sophisticated, mature, well-meaning,
> intelligent, responsible; Jeremy (Webb/Mac) is an immature, vain,
> self-obsessed, stupid, braggart.

The idea isn't to be sensible, but to make a very emotional and
memorable connection within a 30 second time frame. This is something
that is difficult to do for computer hardware and software. IMHO, the
only other recent ad campaign of this type that could come close was
HP's "picture this" and "hands" series, which must have cost a
boatload more cash to execute because of the special effects and in
the case of "hands," name brand figures that were also involved.

>
> It's as if someone in Apple's ad agency (or their eight year old
> child) saw
> five minutes of the show and thought "he's square and dull, he's
> hip and
> exciting! - they're perfect!" and cast them for that. But they've
> completely
> misunderstood (or I'm just a fusty old git who's got the wrong end
> of the
> stick... but I've been a fan of peep show from it's earliest
> showings, and I
> don't think so).

Even if you were a fusty old guy, you're a TidBITS reader. Obviously
you already "think different." This series of commercials targets
switchers, rather than preaching to the converted. I think they
succeed in making a connection with people who have been frustrated
with viruses, unintuitiveness, having to buy stuff that comes free
with Macs, etc. I'm A Mac does a great job of shifting the emphasis
on what you do and how you do it in a digital world - how you
interact with a computer and use it to connect with others, along
with emphasizing that Macs are cooler.

Marilyn (I'm a Yank that has never seen Peepshow, but it looks like
I'd like it)

 > On the larger point, I tend to agree that I'm not convinced of the
 > fit. However, the adverts aren't meant to actually be Mark and
 > Jeremy. With the first set of adverts, I found PC more likeable than
 > Mac. This second set has improved considerably in my opinion, so
 > we'll see...

I agree that the adverts have improved. And I won't get started on the print
ads launched in parallel (that baldly state: 'Windows best for office stuff,
Mac best for home stuff' - are they running those in the US as well?). And of
course 'PC' and 'Mac' aren't 'meant' to actually be 'Mark' and 'Jeremy'....
but they exactly cast and dressed them to cash in on that link, and my point
it was a really ill-thought out choice.

- Ben

Jolin M Warren wrote:
> ... Incidentally, I thought the one with the Japanese
> printer (camera in the US version, I believe) was funnier than the US
> original and the best UK one so far.

I seem to be a group of one but my favorite in the US is the one called
"Better Results" about making a home movie. I guess that's somewhat due
to me getting to listen to folks talking about what they go through with
there home PCs to do such things.

On Mar 26, 2007, at 8:46 AM, David Ross wrote:
> I seem to be a group of one but my favorite in the US is the one
> called
> "Better Results" about making a home movie. I guess that's somewhat
> due
> to me getting to listen to folks talking about what they go through
> with
> there home PCs to do such things.

My favorite is Security...

"You are coming to a sad realization. Cancel or Allow."

David Weintraub