Dueling Computers
- Do you think Apples comparison advertising between Mac and PC works? Why or why not?
From a personal perspective, it almost seems as thought that everything that Apple does turns to gold in some sort, including their advertising campaign. This campaign better known, as “Get a Mac” appears to require thought at first glance due to the uncommon nature of comparing two objects, but is truly straightforward. Apples uncharacteristic way for comparison, I believe is the true reason for its success. This advertising ploy is somewhat comical but also gives life to two competitive computer operating systems, which in any case could be uninteresting. With this being said I absolutely think that apples comparison advertising between Mac and PC works, myself being proof. When this advertising campaign began I really did not know much about a Mac mostly due to the computers that I have owned were a PC. When I first saw this campaign the first thing that caught my eye was that PC’s were much more vulnerable to viruses as to Mac’s. Apple did a great job at showing this by simulating two actors as if they were computers. I believe this also caught the eye of the computer illiterate nation as well. These comparison commercials were easy to follow and made a very complicated product easy to understand.
- How important do you think each of these elements of the commercial is to the campaign’s success: music, actors, dialog, setting, and tone?
Although all of these elements work great in creating a successful commercial collectively in other campaigns, but I find some of them are not relevant to the success of Apple. For instance, I myself had to go to YouTube and research the elements of the commercials due to some not as appealing as other were. Music- Generally I think music is a key aspect in commercials and sets the mood for its entirety, but the music in Apple’s advertising campaign was somewhat vague and forgettable. While the music was somewhat dull it did allow for the understanding of the actors dialogue. Actors- Although these actors were not exceptionally well known as a superstar athlete or a movie star, they did appear in some other types of television. This I believe gives the television audience some sort of familiarity with the two actors. The actors did however work well together in showing the differences between the PC and Mac. Dialogue- This commercial used dialogue that a computer illiterate was able to understand. In my life experiences simple and to the point was always the best way of putting things, especially in a business type atmosphere. Setting- The setting of these commercials was a blank background. This I believe is a metaphor for the simplicity and user-friendly Apple products. Tone- The tone of the advertisement was somewhat vague but worked perfectly for Apple and its appearance. I do not think that this was a great element for this advertisement.
- What audience that is Apple trying to reach with these ads?
I believe the simplicity of these adds and Apples products are more focused toward the more technical handicapped individual, especially those of which that still use and own a PC. Their commercials look down on PC’s and give examples of why the apple product is better than others. Apple appears to keep much of their advertising extremely simple and easy to follow.
