Must See Tv
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Hi! Im a Mac.Im sure that everyone has seen at least one of the Mac ads that depict the differences between a Mac and a PC computer. The commercials are really used to show the ongoing “war” between the two giants in the computer industry. This series of ads are what I believe are theepitome of what television advertising should be. They explain why one option is better than theother without flashy graphics or a complicated picture. The simplicity of these ads is what makesthem truly great. What is on the surface, however, is not all that there is to see. The Mac drivenads take sharp stabs at the PC and point out its many obvious faults. These commercials showwhy a Mac is the hub of the newer, hipper, and more creative generation by comparing the youngMac kid to the stiff office working, suit wearing PC.To start off, I should explain the ad for anyone thathas not witnessed it. There are two people standing infront of a white background. The person on the left isan older, middle-aged man wearing a suit, and the person on the right is a younger man in his earlytwenties wearing, usually, a t-shirt and jeans. Theyounger guy says, “Im a Mac.” The older of the twomen then replies with, “Im a PC.” From there, theMac goes on to point out some of the Macs features
Paff | 2that deal with music, overall creativity, and stability. The PC is then stumped and tries to make a pitiful attempt to out-do the Mac. He fails to do so every single time.These commercials use a very simple technique to show the benefits of a Mac. Thistechnique is simply pointing out benefits of a Mac that a PC does not have. These benefits often point towards the values of the younger generation. Glenn Derene, a writer for PopularMechanics.com, points this out in his article “Mac vs. PC: The Ultimate Lab Test for new Desktops and Laptops”.Derene says:There are two types of people,Mac peopleand PC people. And if the marketing is to be believed, the former is a hip, sport-coat-and-sneakers-wearing type of guy who uses hiscomputer for video chatting, music mash-ups and other cool, creative pursuits thatstarchy, business-suited PC users could never really appreciate unless they tried them onthe slick Apple interface (1).This is especially true of my generation. The kids of the late eighties and early nineties havegrown up with technology. My generation has always had a Playstation, an iPod, or somethingsimilar. My generation is also known to love creating and listening to music. TheMacs musical creation abilities are often brought up in the commercials. Alongwith music goes the creation and manipulation of photos. The current collegestudents have also grown up in a world with digital cameras. We all use them totake pictures that usually end up on Facebook or MySpace. The majority of us, however, do notlike the boring average picture. Mac pulls the creative audience in with these commercials by pointing out the different photo editing applications that come standard on every Mac computer.
Paff | 3In accordance with this appeal to the younger, more creative audience, Apple also usesthe actual actors to pull at people of all ages. The PC is depicted as an older man wearing a suit.He is a business man, a boring man. The Mac is a young guy dressed casually, and he looks likehe has fun with his Mac computer. Apple, the creators of the Mac, uses this so when peoplewatch the commercial,