"I'm a PC" ad campaign made on a Mac - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Baraka_Guru · 09-26-2008, 05:18 AM

Quote:

'I'm a PC' made on a Mac

Asher Moses
September 24, 2008 - 10:33AM

Microsoft's "I'm a PC" advertising campaign was created on a Mac and the celebrity spruikers brought in by the software giant are all professed Apple fans, it has been revealed.

Hidden information contained in images from the ads published on Microsoft's website show they were created on Macs, a Flickr user revealed in a published screen shot.

Microsoft responded by quickly scrubbing the hidden "metadata" information from the images.

It issued a statement saying: "As is common in almost all campaign workflow, agencies and production houses use a wide variety of software and hardware to create, edit and distribute content, including both Macs and PCs."

The revelation is ironic because the ads are part of a broader $300 million campaign designed to spruce up Windows Vista's image and tout the PC's advantages over the Mac.

Microsoft has already run two ad spots featuring Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld awkwardly meeting in a discount shoe shop and attempting to reconnect with real people by moving in with a normal family.

But even though a third ad featuring Seinfeld was filmed, Microsoft dumped the comic last week in favour of new ads featuring more current celebrities such as actress Eva Longoria, singer Pharrell Williams and even author Deepak Chopra declaring "I'm a PC".

But all three are Mac fans, Silicon Valley gossip blog Valleywag revealed. Longoria owns a MacBook and Williams carries an iPhone encased in gold, while Chopra, in a column on nuclear weapons published in the Huffington Post, said it was "good to sell more iPods" as they were "entertaining and harmless".

Seinfeld used a Mac in the apartment he lived in on his namesake show and has even appeared in an old Apple "think different" ad.

The Seinfeld ads didn't mention Microsoft's products but now the focus has shifted to Windows Vista in a second wave of the campaign dubbed "I'm a PC".

The new ads are a direct attack on Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads, which portray the Mac as cool and intuitive and the PC as boring and clunky.

Microsoft has ignored Apple's ads at its peril, allowing the Mac maker to own the narrative and frame the PC's image. Now the company is looking to use Apple's stereotype to its advantage.

The ads will seek to counter Apple's elitist Mac user vibe by including a slew of everyday PC users, such as scientists and teachers, espousing the virtues of their platform of choice. In one spot a diver appears in a cage surrounded by sharks holding up a sign saying "I'm a PC".

Microsoft is encouraging people to "tell us what kind of PC you are" by submitting their own videos to its website centring on the "I'm a PC" theme.

The company will choose some to display on the big screen in New York's Times Square and in its online advertising.

'I'm a PC' made on a Mac - Articles - Laptops - Digital Life - smh.com.au

All I can say is: It figures.

Glory's Sun · 09-26-2008, 05:52 AM

I'm a PC but I have to switch to mac and Final Cut to make our commercials.

heh.

PonyPotato · 09-26-2008, 06:04 AM

Something else to note: their new saying, "life without walls."

How can you have windows without walls?

Glory's Sun · 09-26-2008, 06:59 AM

I'm really anticipating the Apple ads that slam this campaign.

Willravel · 09-26-2008, 07:43 AM

I'd prefer to see ads that concentrate on policy instead of slinging dirt.

MSD · 09-26-2008, 08:49 AM

How does having an iPhone or supporting iPod sales exclude someone from being a PC user?

Leto · 09-26-2008, 08:58 AM

Doesn't exclude me. We have 4 ipods in our house. We also have 2 PC's and 2 Windows laptops . so there you go.

Glory's Sun · 09-26-2008, 09:02 AM

well it would exclude people if iTunes and all that were Mac only..

tenchi069 · 09-28-2008, 07:20 AM

want to play the latestest computer game? buy a pc.
want to have "mostly" compatible formats and use the same core programs that alot of the public is using? buy a pc

do you work in mass media or want to? buy a mac
do you want to design and create advertisements? buy a mac ( though alot of the software is becoming available/useful on a mac

-and finally a little humour-
do you want to be ridiculed for using a "crashing, burning, BSOD, tool of the corporate giant?" buy a pc
do you want to be the envy of all "Vente double-latte with a shot of cinnamon and just the tiniest hint of vanilla" drinkers? then buy a mac

thespian86 · 09-28-2008, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenchi069

do you want to be the envy of all "Vente double-latte with a shot of cinnamon and just the tiniest hint of vanilla" drinkers? then buy a mac

dude it's "hey, can I have a grande, triple shot, skim, carmel macchiato with whip but no carmel drizzle"

Willravel · 09-28-2008, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenchi069

do you want to be the envy of all "Vente double-latte with a shot of cinnamon and just the tiniest hint of vanilla" drinkers? then buy a mac

Since PC users like to build their own computers, it might be like "give me some coffee beans, a cow, a sugar cane, and some vanilla beans. Oh, and a spoon! I'll be done in 3 weekends and I'll have to optimize the coffee so that it doesn't spill."
And Ubuntu users? "I'll just take some tea."

09-26-2008, 06:04 AM	#3 (permalink)
PonyPotato Soaring Location: Ohio!	Something else to note: their new saying, "life without walls." How can you have windows without walls? __________________ "Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark." — Henri-Frédéric Amiel

09-28-2008, 07:20 AM	#9 (permalink)
tenchi069 Lost Location: One step closer to the padded cell...	want to play the latestest computer game? buy a pc. want to have "mostly" compatible formats and use the same core programs that alot of the public is using? buy a pc do you work in mass media or want to? buy a mac do you want to design and create advertisements? buy a mac ( though alot of the software is becoming available/useful on a mac -and finally a little humour- do you want to be ridiculed for using a "crashing, burning, BSOD, tool of the corporate giant?" buy a pc do you want to be the envy of all "Vente double-latte with a shot of cinnamon and just the tiniest hint of vanilla" drinkers? then buy a mac __________________ ERROR- PLBSAK Problem Lies Between Seat and Keyboard.

09-26-2008, 05:52 AM	#2 (permalink)
Glory's Sun Registered User	I'm a PC but I have to switch to mac and Final Cut to make our commercials. heh.

09-26-2008, 06:59 AM	#4 (permalink)
Glory's Sun Registered User	I'm really anticipating the Apple ads that slam this campaign.

09-26-2008, 07:43 AM	#5 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	I'd prefer to see ads that concentrate on policy instead of slinging dirt.

09-26-2008, 08:49 AM	#6 (permalink)
MSD The sky calls to us ... Super Moderator Location: CT	How does having an iPhone or supporting iPod sales exclude someone from being a PC user?

09-26-2008, 08:58 AM	#7 (permalink)
Leto Junkie Location: The Danforth	Doesn't exclude me. We have 4 ipods in our house. We also have 2 PC's and 2 Windows laptops . so there you go.

09-26-2008, 09:02 AM	#8 (permalink)
Glory's Sun Registered User	well it would exclude people if iTunes and all that were Mac only..