Silence-time finally ended for Apple, after they decided it
was time to respond to Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign. And as “surprisingly”
as it may seem, Apple couldn’t resist the temptation to mock Microsoft’s blunder
commercials to revamp Vista’s name. The problem is that Apple might have actually
forgotten to send a message to consumers who are not preoccupied by the
never-ending rivalry between the two companies.
The two new ads, called “The V Word” and “The Bean Counter,”
are in fact just another hit aimed at Microsoft, rather than an impulse for
consumers to go and buy a Mac instead of a PC.
In “The V Word,” Apple is reiterating something consumers
already knew: Vista continues to be an operating system with problems, which is
why John Hodgman, in its famous PC role, explains to a Mac how from now on,
they will refer to their operating system as Windows, instead of using the “V”
word. Not saying the word Vista is not the same as fixing Vista problems, the Mac
says.
The second ad, “The Bean Counter,” takes a funny approach on
how Microsoft invested a lot of money in its advertising campaign, instead of
investing that money in fixing Vista. But again, Apple forgets to mention
anything relevant about its Macs.
The message is simple: Microsoft invested way too much money
in something consumers may not quite get. But shouldn’t that be Microsoft’s
problem?
As much as Microsoft may be struggling to get the most out
of the much talked-about campaign, perhaps not quite as expected, and may not
be as straightforward as Apple in its clearly anti-PC campaign, Apple ran out
of ideas this time. And as much as I would have liked to say 1-0 for Apple, I can’t,
because Apple’s latest commercials are just as pointless for consumers as the
first Microsoft ads featuring Jerry Seinfeld.
So far, we’ve seen Apple producing very funny comparisons
between Macs and PCs, aimed at convincing people to buy a Mac. And it’s no
secret that Apple’s market share has also increased thanks to these ads, but
the question now is: how are the latest two commercials going to help Apple
increase Macs’ popularity even more?
While the audience may laugh over them, it doesn’t seem like
the brightest idea to release them, especially since repeating the same idea
over and over again will eventually get the same consumers who had a good laugh
in the beginning pretty bored.
Everyone expected Microsoft to adopt a more aggressive strategy
to respond to Apple’s hits over the past years, but instead, Microsoft chose to
focus on diversity. It is not the campaign everyone expected, it does not help
Vista much, but Apple should learn something out of it, and focus on diversity
for a change.
