I am not a Mac or a PC.
After the abortive “Bill and Jerry” series, Microsoft has unveiled the next phase in their rebranding campaign. The “I’m a PC” spots, created by agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, directly answer Apple’s long-standing, highly successful “I’m a PC and I’m a Mac” ads.
Except they don’t.
‚What Crispin has done, using the kind of strawman assault beloved by belligerent talk radio hosts, is respond to Apple’s portrayal of PC users as boring and out of touch. The only hitch is, Apple has made no such portrayal of PC users.
Think about it. What does the charmingly clueless John Hodgeman actually say in the Apple commercials? “I’m a PC user”? No. He says, “I’m a PC.” This is meant literally. He is an anthropomorphized computer, not a stereotyped computer user. Apple is not saying that people who use PCs are hopelessly lame, they’re saying that PCs are.
I’m sure the people at Crispin are fully aware of this distinction, but felt comfortable assuming that most people wouldn’t see it. And this assumption was central as they began their bold counterattack against charges that Apple never actually made.
In the interest of full disclosure, I think I’d rather cook and eat my own dog than trade in my Mac for a Windows computer, so I was never rooting for Microsoft in this ad fight. But I’m a huge fan of Crispin, and on some level I did want to see them do the impossible and make Microsoft cool.
But a montage of colorful and diverse talking heads looking to the camera and proudly proclaiming “I am (product name here)”? I’ve seen it. Lots of times. That Crispin’s version of this advertising warhorse is really well executed isn’t surprising, given the talent and budgets involved. But it isn’t exactly a big idea. Or a new one.
Ultimately, it feels like the attempt of an dull, stodgy brand to whip up some defiant resentment against a hip, “elitist” one. Which is vaguely reminiscent of another campaign going on this fall. I wonder if subtly deceptive advertising will be used in that one, too.
Tagged with Apple, commercial, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Mac, PC, Windows