Apples vs. Oranges

I’ve railed on about Apple’s marketing on here before. Many times. If that type of thing doesn’t float your boat, you may want to skip on down. Aaaanyway, you know those Apple vs. PC ads they put out last year. The one with the trendy, hip “Apple” that you wanted to slap in the face. I hated them. I fell squarely into the target demographic and yet after I watched them I ended up with a sour taste in my mouth. They ended up making me want to buy a Mac less, not more. Buh? Then I read Seth Stevenson’s piece on Slate that said everything I had been thinking, but better:

My problem with these ads begins with the casting. As the Mac character, Justin Long (who was in the forgettable movie Dodgeball and the forgettabler TV show Ed) is just the sort of unshaven, hoodie-wearing, hands-in-pockets hipster we’ve always imagined when picturing a Mac enthusiast. He’s perfect. Too perfect. It’s like Apple is parodying its own image while also cementing it.

Get to the point, Dan. Get to the point. Well, Apple have just launched the same campaign in Japan and they have completely and utterly nailed it. They’re hilarious, even if you don’t understand Japanese. Check the third one along if you doubt it.

I think it’s amusing looking at how this contrasts to the campaign we saw in the West. The most immediately apparent difference is that the two Japanese characters are about the same age and physical build. You could swap their clothes and roles and the commercial would work equally well. The “Apple” guy is cool, but not too cool. He looks like he’s just got home from the office and slipped into something more comfortable. Neither is he condescending. The PC guy isn’t billed as old and boring, but rather as too business-like and a little out of touch. The first ad pretty much goes on about how people call the Mac, “Mac” but PC’s don’t have a special name. The Mac suggests that maybe “Work” is a good idea, y’know, because of all the business stuff and all.

And there’s the distinction. In the West, Apple are pushing the Mac platform as a safer, easier and funkier alternative to the has-been, unsafe, boring old PC, whereas in Japan it seems to be a more a case of “Hey, leave the business at the workplace and come home to your Mac. We’ve got photos.”

But, at the end of the day, I still have a sneaking suspicion that I’d rather get drunk with the salaryman that’s got an iPod full of Eurobeat and is trying to dance on the table but his glasses keep on falling off and why is his tie tucked into his shirt, and oh man, now he’s hugging me?!

Posted in Tech on Monday November 13, 2006.