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Justin Long puzzled about point of Mac ads By Tim Nudd on Aug 30 2010 Tweet Time magazine's Techland blog has posted a new interview with Justin Long in which the actor talks about working with John Hogdman on Apple and TBWA's famed "Get a Mac" campaign. The two big takeaways:   1) Long preferred the PC character to the Mac, and therefore, he didn't really get the point of the campaign. "I revere John Hodgman. He's far smarter and funnier than I could ever hope to be. That's why the point of those commercials was a little lost on me. I'm actually jealous of things he got to do. I preferred the role of the PC guy because he got to do all the fun underdog stuff. The big choice I had to make was when do I take my hands out of my pockets and how do I gesture or roll my eyes."   2) There are a crapload of unseen spots floating around out there. "They have them. I keep trying to get my hands on them. We would shoot four to six a day. So, we would do a lot at a time. So, most of them we didn't air. They probably aired about 15 percent of them. There were tons we shot. I remember we shot one with Zach Galifianakis where he played a drunk Santa Claus. And we did one with Paul F. Tompkins that was similar. … I hope they use outtakes. Because when you're standing in front of a white abyss like that for 12 hours at a time you start getting a little punchy."   Long also says he wasn't told officially that the campaign was over. "I personally haven't heard anything. I could get a call next week," he says.   As we've mentioned previously, you can see all 66 TV spots from the campaign here. Going by Long's estimation, they filmed several hundred spots that never aired.

Filed under Apple, Nudd, TBWA Permalink | Comments (7)

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Not sure it's over? Once Jobs reads Justin Long prefers (to be) PC over Mac it'll be over.

Posted by: tomeegee | Aug 30, 2010 3:47:36 PM

Zach Galifianakis as a drunk Santa Claus in a Mac ad? I would pay to see that!

Posted by: Katie Earley | Aug 30, 2010 3:48:08 PM

Long: 'That's why the point of those commercials was a little lost on me.' But he still collected the checks without issue.

Posted by: deb | Aug 30, 2010 8:06:50 PM

Justin Long doesn't get it? It came through in the ads. Though I'm a Mac user because they make better products, I thought Hodgeman was the character in the ads that elicited sympathy and empathy. Long came across as a smug jerk. I suppose some might say that was just fine for the target market, but I would disagree, and also note that if that's the case, it's not great strategy...

Posted by: Account Exec | Aug 30, 2010 8:14:09 PM

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Posted by: cq | Aug 30, 2010 9:39:03 PM

Disclaimer: I'm a Mac user.
Personally I thought the ads were genius. Anyone who's ever had a PC has probably had 5 that had all the issues they played out in the commercials. That's why I liked them. They were funny and I could relate.
I do agree with Justin that the PC character would have been much more fun, but I thought they cast correctly. Too bad it looks like the end.

Posted by: Brett Relander | Aug 30, 2010 10:30:58 PM

Justin, stop your whining. You work in films. You should know that not everything that's caught on camera is going to make it on air.
If you can't handle having to answer to the wants and needs of a client (one, by the way, that's paying you boatloads of cash), don't agree to be in ads.

Posted by: LH | Sep 1, 2010 12:09:29 PM

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