‘Portly old dweeb’ versus ‘smug little twit’
—Posted by Tim Nudd |
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June 19, 2006 in John Hodgman | Permalink |
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Another reason to hate Slate and online journos who think New Journalism means discounting every experience other than your own.
Clearly Stevenson is not the target. My guess is the goal is to get all of the iPod users to realize what a better machine a Mac is, how much easier, etc. It's for technophobes who are going to buy a new computer and want something that works with their ipod and the digital camera they got for Christmas. Not for self-important snobs.
Ads are well cast, IMHO, and very, very well-written. As in "I'm very jealous someone wrote dialogue that good (or directed an ad-lib) good." I've actually slowed down TiVo to watch them.
Posted by: Alex Cross | Jun 19, 2006 11:00:12 AM
yeah, ditto on what Alex said. The basic message is that Apple is hip, and Windows is not, and that seems to come through.
Apple has had better machines for years, but it is the iPod and the subsequent new "ultra" hip image that has made such a difference in the couple of years.
So if people like Stevenson are still sitting at a PC, waiting to be persuaded by the perfect commerical, then he really isn't a viable marketing target, at least not at this point. Getting through to people like that is like interjecting oneself into a redneck argument over Ford versus Chevy.
Posted by: Ray | Jun 19, 2006 11:34:15 AM
I use both PC and Mac, at work and at home, and I agree the Mac guy comes off a little smug. He's not mean, but again, he's not exactly nice. John Hodgman, on the other hand, is just far too funny to represent the PC. His book? Hilarious. His appearances on The Daily Show? Always top-notch. Do PCs really have that much personality? But I guess I'm confusing users with their machines. I enjoy these spots, but Mac dude's just a little creepy.
Posted by: Moroni Q. Hokamp | Jun 19, 2006 11:35:00 AM
I'm an apple user, but the first time I saw the ads I thought the pc guy came across so much better. he just seems like a better actor. I actually give apple credit for not casting a more heinous stereotype for the pc guy
Posted by: mingthemerciless | Jun 19, 2006 11:38:23 AM
Let me join Moroni in recommending Hodgman's book, "The Areas of My Expertise." It's a nice intellectual palate cleanser. I didn't even realize that was him in the commercials until I read the Slate piece.
I'll let the rest of you debate the effectiveness. I'll just point out that when I tried to watch the new ads the other day, my Mac choked, sputtered and crashed. Just like my PC does.
Posted by: CorruptedJournalist | Jun 19, 2006 12:00:40 PM
Ming- If you're looking to convert PC users because your new Mac also runs Windows XP, you probably don't want to insult the PC too much- it makes perfect sense to keep it likeable, since you're telling people that they can get the best of both worlds- PCs business acumen plus Mac's media-friendliness.
PS: If you needed further proof of Stevenson's complete incompetence, he doesn't even pick up on something that's been floating around the web for months (I may even have first read it here on adfreak): The actors bear more than a passing resemblance to a young Steve Jobs and a chubby Bill Gates.
Posted by: Alex Cross | Jun 19, 2006 12:01:28 PM
I don't have a problem with the casting at all. Hodgman is great, and doesn't alienate PC users. Justin Long has always seemed to me a lot more geeky than "hipster," so he don't come across as a "smug little twit" at all.
Posted by: Bob | Jun 19, 2006 1:49:42 PM
Chalk me up in the "pro" column as well. I like the ads. The casting, good writing, and subtlety save what definitely COULD have been a painfully cliched concept. I've been a little put off by the tragically hip, "oh-aren't-we-artsy-and-you're-so-not" Mac ads in the past, but these work for me.
Posted by: Cheryl | Jun 19, 2006 4:18:47 PM
Don't forget that Slate was owned by Microsoft until late 2004. And Stevenson's other ad reviews are just as literal as this one - which may explain why he prefers PC's.
I think the ads are great - especially the networking one with the lady speaking Japanese.
Perhaps as the campaign progresses Apple may introduce other character-types with the PC guy to visually connect other people to the Mac movement...
FWIW even my developer guys, who aren't young hipsters, want to trade their PC's for a Mac.
Posted by: Ed O'Meara | Jun 19, 2006 5:09:14 PM
Now I finally know what flawless execution looks like.
Posted by: Robert Rosenthal | Jun 19, 2006 9:56:15 PM
My money's on the dweeb to buy the hipster out and ruin his life. And that's a good thing.
Posted by: Martha Stewart | Jun 19, 2006 10:32:19 PM
Who is Seth Stevenson?
Posted by: Jonah Hughes | Jun 19, 2006 10:59:15 PM
does anyone else sense an uncomfortable sexual tension between the two characters?
Posted by: HighJive | Jun 19, 2006 11:37:44 PM
Yes I do, High Jive. Strangely enough, it seems to be young Justin Long who's hot for middle-aged John Hodgman. I see a marriage here in Mass., followed by the inevitable celibrity divorce. But only after going to Africa to adopt a baby, who they'll name (naturally) Apple.
Posted by: Bob | Jun 20, 2006 8:56:39 AM
I think the ads are great. I am a long time PC user. And I think the ads just nail the whole comparison PC v.s. Mac right on the head. I don't think the ads are mean spirited, I think they're perfect. And they're funny.
Posted by: Tim | Jun 20, 2006 9:11:34 AM
Apple delivered the same message 20 years ago without much success. Why do it again? The execution has that minimalistic Apple slickness I give them that, but I think that spaced out girl and the "blue screen of death" from years ago were cooler.
Posted by: Lost | Jun 20, 2006 11:20:46 AM
HISPTER: Hello I'm a Mac
DWEEB: And I'm a PC
HIPSTER: You know, I have a lot of fun software, like Garage Band.
DWEEB: I have fun software too, like games.
HIPSTER: Games?
DWEEB: Yeah, like Grand Theft Auto, Halo 2, Final Fantasy...
HIPSTER: Oh, that. I have games too.
DWEEB: Like?
HIPSTER: You know, puzzle, chess...
DWEEB: Oh, that.
Posted by: Copywriter | Jun 20, 2006 11:32:09 AM
Apple historically has preached to its own choir, with the Switch campaign shot by Errol Morris the only (and insanely great) exception.
Also, given the still-in-beta level glitches in the Intel platform, PC users may want to think twice about holding hands with the mac dude. See my post on the subject at http://belly-full.blogspot.com/2006/05/cooties.html
Posted by: Steve Feinberg | Jun 21, 2006 9:49:35 AM
I use macs and pcs and prefer macs for every reason that comes across in the ads. The reason mac people may come off a bit smug is rational. Macs ARE better. To hear someone who only uses PCs exclaim how great they are and how macs suck is akin to someone who rides in a '78 , what a smooth ride it is to someone who's riding in a plush Caddy. It's very hard NOT TO have the Mac grin when coming upon such folks. Sorry.
Posted by: girl | Jul 11, 2006 9:03:14 PM
The point of the ads is this:
The PC guy has a stick up his ass.
No one likes a guy with a stick up their ass.
Lesson: Don't do things that make you look like you have a stick up your ass. (i.e., be afraid of using a Mac for lame reasons that make no sense and are irrational).
Apparently, the Salon columinist missed the point. Probably because his stick is so far up there, he's just naysaying anything that he can.
"Creepy?" If he's creepy, it's time to up the dose.
He's actually extremely indifferent and breezy to PC, and does his own thing, even though he's also smart enough to realize PC is an irrational loser.
If this guy comes off as "smug" then he probably is hitting too close to home. That's not Apple's fault.
The problem is between the TV and the sofa, and not the bag of potato chips you're munching on (although that's not helping either).
end of story.
Posted by: tim | Sep 11, 2006 6:07:57 AM
Apple is selling a lot more computers recently. Arguably, that means something was done right, regardless of what the nay-sayers think.
Posted by: Realist | Dec 28, 2006 5:43:02 AM
Tim: You are a dweeb.
Posted by: Death Metal | Mar 1, 2007 4:15:22 PM
Oh, and guess which hit movie that 'sumg little dweeb' just friggin' starred in??
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