Apple UK: "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC." Smashing, isn't it?

Japanese isn't the only language barrier Apple's decided to cross with its "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads. Those UKians love their "shenanigans and tomfoolery" just as much as the next guy, and Apple has hired the Peep Show's Mitchell and Webb to do the honors as PC and Mac, respectively. The casting is in keeping with Apple's penchant for casting total squares as the Mac, but the pair do a good job of spicing up the commercials with a bit of dry British humor and sexy good looks. Peep some YouTube versions after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[chay @ Jan 29th 2007 11:38AM]

Utterly perfect casting.

Plus Mitchell and Webb rule!

[Nersh @ Jan 29th 2007 11:40AM]

"The casting is in keeping with Apple's penchant for casting total squares as the Mac"

Don't you mean casting total squares as the PC?

[Brandon @ Jan 29th 2007 11:51AM]

Unless one of these gents has written a book of complete world knowledge, color (colour?) me unimpressed.

[uNext @ Jan 29th 2007 2:07PM]

And the pc is once gain the most likely character out of the 2.

If i had a choice i would pick the pc guy.
I MEAN HE IS FUNNY AND OUTGOING. while the
mac guy just throws a im better then everybody persona.

PC GUYS RULE.
but i still own a macbook pro.

[Osiris @ Jan 29th 2007 1:29PM]

I love Peep Show, but not sure I like them participating in Mac ads..
Seems a little exaggerated if you ask me.

[gaz.williams @ Jan 29th 2007 11:53AM]

the ads were funny to start with but tbh theyre old hat now. the month of apple exploits makes me chuckle, "im using mac osx10 i dont get spyware" heh.... just wait...

[mapin0518 @ Jan 29th 2007 2:39PM]

"heh just wait" ?? I'm sorry but I've been waiting for 7 years now since the release of OS X for a single spyware or virus. I don't doubt they'll start coming eventually, but do you realize how long it will take for os x to ever reach the level of insecurity that windows has reached? Windows is up to 114,000 viruses and counting. So while someone may come up with one or two OS X viruses in the near future...it will be a VERY long time before Apple can no longer portray OS X as more secure than Windows.

[Dylan @ Jan 29th 2007 11:56AM]

Being a massive fan ofpeep show these ads really bug me. As a rule, if you are going to pull two characters out of a popular TV show for an ad they need to have the same character attitude as in the show, however in these ads they just dont have the chemisry they do on screen, thumbs down, the americanads were acted and implemented far better.

[srw985 @ Jan 29th 2007 12:11PM]

its all in english why tf not just use the original ads!

[Tom @ Jan 29th 2007 12:46PM]

I don't think that the English would appreciate a company trying to sell them a product via spokespeople from a different country. Although it's the same language (er, for the most part), accents do a whole lot to stir up confidence.

[Matt @ Jan 29th 2007 2:11PM]

Because a lot of people in the UK dislike the USA, so using an american advert will make people less likely to buy a product.

Not to mention it stinks of arrogance - a trait that is already used as a excuse to hate americans - that they are just showing the same ad they used over there and think it is "good enough" for us.

[Nick @ Jan 31st 2007 11:40AM]

except the two brit actors are horrible... if you watch the acting in the Brit version and American version in the "spyware" advert... the Americans kill it.. and the brits leave me with with the feeling of "oh wait was i supposed to laugh at that?.. was that supposed to be funny?"

[Bazza @ Jan 29th 2007 12:12PM]

I just coughed up blood.

[ssuk @ Jan 29th 2007 12:21PM]

I'm a mac
and I'm a PC
Mac can do a lot of fun things like... Photoshop... ... Photoshop... CS3... And... Microsoft Office... A fairly rubbish version of it...
Well, I am a highly compatible operating system which, although has many flaws and is fairly unreliable, can actually do stuff of interest. Sorry Mac.

Lol marketing!

[Lemmiwinks @ Jan 29th 2007 1:00PM]

I could never get PC Office to work with IMAP without locking up for a few minutes at a time, every day. MS never bothered to fix it.

The 15 minutes I save every day using Mac Entourage to do my email drudgery has paid for itself in a few months. I don't think I've even installed another app, not even tattyshop.

Mac Mini, DVI KVM. Job done.

[Ignacio @ Jan 29th 2007 6:38PM]

"I'm a mac
and I'm a PC
Mac can do a lot of fun things like... Photoshop... ... Photoshop... CS3... And... Microsoft Office... A fairly rubbish version of it...
Well, I am a highly compatible operating system which, although has many flaws and is fairly unreliable, can actually do stuff of interest. Sorry Mac."

*cough*bullshit!*cough*

Seriously, take a look:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/

[WedgeTalon @ Jan 29th 2007 2:09PM]

"I could never get PC Office to work with IMAP without locking up [so I bought a Mac]"

Ok, maybe it's just me, but personally I would've tried a different email client before buying an entirely new computer. The time/cost savings in using Thunderbird (or somesuch) would surely have been better than that of buying a Mac.

[KG @ Jan 29th 2007 3:01PM]

These two are rather famous as "mitchell and webb." They star in the BRILLIANT series peep show and also have had 2 successful sketch shows on uk tv called "the mitchell and webb situation" and "that mitchell and webb look."

http://myspace.com/mitchellandwebb

[GunForHire @ Jan 29th 2007 1:06PM]

I hate these Apple ads, they're so smarmy and up their own arses it actually makes me dislike Macs.

Nobody likes an arrogant bastard Mr Jobs.

[one1082 @ Jan 29th 2007 1:18PM]

i'm not a mac user but i do think their ads are clever... these british ones suck though, the originals are way better.

[Stephan @ Jan 29th 2007 1:09PM]

I hate all of these commercials. I wish it would say I am a "Mac" If you enjoy paying twice as much to be "cool" then you my friend are in idiot, welcome to the club.

[Bad Beaver @ Jan 29th 2007 1:24PM]

"Hi, I'm a PC and I neither have the slightest clue about what "compatible" means nor am I informed about the cost of a Mac, not even to speak about total cost of ownship. I am convinced one can buy "cool" though."

"Hi I'm a Mac and these ads are getting terribly long in the tooth."

[Chris @ Jan 29th 2007 1:51PM]

Or just watch the original Quicktime rather than compressed-to-death youtube:

http://www.apple.com/uk/getamac/ads/

[Neil @ Jan 30th 2007 9:47AM]

Great! Apple are doing something specific for the UK market. Unfortunately, I'd have preferred them to sign some deals to get us films and TV shows for iTunes, or maybe sort out their very poor UK pricing policy for content. But this makes up for all that doesn't it? Does it? Hmm. No, it doesn't actually.

[Rokcet Scientist @ Jan 30th 2007 1:42PM]

Like Winnie said: "the English and Americans are one people, divided by a common language".

[JJ @ Jan 29th 2007 1:32PM]

They should do an Irish version! The Irish PC would beat the snot out of the smarmy Mac.

[arteekay @ Jan 29th 2007 9:51PM]

"They should do an Irish version! The Irish PC would beat the snot out of the smarmy Mac."

All the while screaming "I'm an artist dammit, an artist!!!!"

[I'm a PC @ Jan 29th 2007 1:47PM]

I agree with GunforHire, these commercials are totally Jobs up his own arse. They're derogatory, inaccurate, and defamatory. If a pc maker used the same type commercial against mac, you cab net Apple would sue. I don't dislike macs and their unix based OS, I just hate Apple for beeing total arses

[j @ Jan 29th 2007 2:19PM]

hehe. english accents make me giggle.

[Mikeyg @ Jan 29th 2007 1:53PM]

PC should have been a chav (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav for those of you who are not from the UK) and the Mac a public school boy Rah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rah)

[CRASHLOCK @ Jan 29th 2007 2:03PM]

I think they should make a version that tackles the problem of ignorant Windoze people. You know the types. The ones that are so thick in the head that they feel the need to publicly bash Apple. OS 10 is technically breath taking, it's also just beautiful to look at. So what is your problem? Are you just jealous? Are you just cheapskates? Do you just not recognize quality? Maybe it might be the fact Microsoft is paying people to write negative comments and blogs on Apple across the internet?

[Ayle @ Jan 29th 2007 2:34PM]

beauty is a subjective notion : when I compare my Alienware Sentia to the macbook pro of the guy next to me....I find mine way more attractive....and I find mac osx plain and boring......

[Prestwick @ Jan 29th 2007 3:10PM]

For the love of god, its just called "PEEP SHOW" not "*the* Peep Show", just "PEEP SHOW".

Its like how Radiohead is just "Radiohead", not "Radio head" or "the Radio Head" and how Muse is just "Muse" and not "the Muse!"

Rawr!

[burn @ Jan 29th 2007 2:08PM]

The El Dude Brothers strike again.

I cant wait for Peep Show to get to Region 1 DVDs. Best show on the BBC right now.

[Ruff @ Feb 1st 2007 7:28PM]

brilliant much better than the american ones

[Matt @ Jan 29th 2007 2:21PM]

"I am a PC - I am hard working, trying my best against adversity to support my children and wife - sorry I mean Night Manager - and to keep a cheery persona and see the bright side of life."

"I am a Mac - I am a surly, arrogant wank-stain who will look down my nose and mock you in an oh-so-subtle manner at any opportunity without actually adding anything of value to the conversation, other than lies*."

(* - claiming not to get viruses etc. I am sure advertising standards will have a word or two to say about that...)



On the whole, the British love the underdog...

[KerryB @ Jan 29th 2007 2:52PM]

"(* - claiming not to get viruses etc. I am sure advertising standards will have a word or two to say about that...)"

I doubt it. You see, to get hit for lying, one actually has to lie, which not one of these ads do. There were thousands of viruses for Windows. There were not thousands of viruses for Macs. In fact, there weren't even tens of viruses for Macs.

None of that says there couldn't be or that there won't be. Just that there aren't, which is irrefutable and has nothing to do with one's bias. This is called research and you can do it too.

Say what you will about Apple and it's fanboys being smarmy and elitist (which I don't refute), I've been running Macs since 1985, have used Windows both at home and at work for nearly as long and have never gotten one virus on my mac. As I'm sure you can guess, that's not been the case on my PC's. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

As with most silly wars of this type, it all comes down to what you want to do and how you want to do it. My Mac works better for me. I know many people for whom it provides a better, more efficient, more pleasant experience, and a few for whom it does not. That's ok with me. Use a pc if you want. I really don't care. In fact, evangelize the PC and point out the flaws in the Mac if you want -- that's good and can only help us both -- but make sure they're legitimate flaws. Alas, that would require knowing your subject matter, and sadly, getting your hands "dirty" with a Mac.

Oh well, I suppose you can continue to repeat silly unsubtatiated memes that make "your side" feel good about themselves by taking the "elitists" down a notch.

[Phoenix Enigma @ Jan 30th 2007 6:38AM]

I agree, I find my Sentia looks way better then it's comparable apple counterparts. And way more cool factor - I've had tons of people come over and check it out, never seen that for a mac, they're too generic looking now. And, to top it off, my notebook does something that the macs can't - gaming!!

[Ben Holmes @ Jan 29th 2007 5:49PM]

Use the orignals because they're in the same language? Hardly. Also, these guys are well known and liked comedians in the UK - It's a coup for Apple to get them, as doing commercials like this often damages the 'cred' of people like Mitchell and Webb. It's either a tribute to the cleverness of Apple's marketing (and you can't call any ad campaign that gets this much free attention a failure) or its money.

I also suspect that M&W had a lot of say on the 'feel' and specific scripting of the commercials. It's just the way it's done here - even though some of these are similar scripts to the US ones, they carry enough of the touch of M&W to make these a lot funnier than the US versions - mostly 'cos that US Mac guy was a talentless robot I guess.

BTW - ref: "smashing, isn't it". Dicks.

[signoretotti @ Jan 29th 2007 3:22PM]

so this is what its like for mexicans to watch a spanish commercial....

[GunForHire @ Jan 29th 2007 4:29PM]

CRASHLOCK, you are a total asshat.

Do you really, really believe Microsoft would waste time and money paying people to badmouth Apple on comment boards?

I don't like the Mac vs. PC adverts because they're arrogant and smarmy as hell. That doesn't mean I don't like Macs, I think the OS X interface is great, and Apple's hardware design is excellent, but as I said before, nobody likes an arrogant bastard, and these adverts portrait Macs and by extension, Mac owners, as being just that.

[SporkRocker @ Jan 29th 2007 3:41PM]

Hi I'm a Pc.
Hi I'm a Mac.
I can very versatile with the many computer games out there.
I can't even run most of them. *Cry*
I'm sorry mac, let's start hating on me so you can feel better about yourself.

Hi I'm a Mac.
Hi I'm a Pc.
I never have virus, spyware, and etc.
I envy you. I wish I had a fanbase of hackers that were that small. I'm tired of my insides being messed with from foreign entities.
*Cries*
It's okay, let it all out. That's a good mac.

These mac commercials are so bias and incorrect. I never really thought much of Steve Jobs except him being a nerd that tries to conform to the popular crowd. Props to Bill to being a full out nerd and brought DX out there for gaming. Steve Jobs is just desperate.

It's funny. Steve can dish it out, but can't take it. You know what we call that? A B****. Like a poster above said he would retaliate with a lawsuit so fast. I just can't wait to see Pc vs Pc on the Daily Show and see what that entails from Apple.

I like macs, not to the point of literally whoring my hard earned cash to every apple product release and having sex with it to satisfy my carnal apple fanboydom.

Oo, Ipod kudos to you apple with you for your silhouetted dancing people with a white Ipod commercials. Also kudos again for jumping the gun with beating other big name players to the mp3 market.

Iphone? Cingular is harsh enough. So nuff said.

[VL @ Jan 30th 2007 12:32PM]

Why are people complaining about the ads being bias? It's a freakin' Mac ad! You expect them to make the PC look like the better option? I've never seen a Coke advert that makes Pepsi look like the best carbonated cola-flavored drink available.

Thats what this is. A Coke Vs Pepsi thing. Totally pointless. I have grown up with and used Windows for many years but I also use Apple. I use Windows at work cos I have to and I admit there are some things i prefer (not many). The ability to upgrade all hardware parts is excellent. At home I almost exclusively use Macs! Cos it's stable, good looking, powerful and fun - I just hop into Boot Camp for the occasional game.

It all boils down to personal preference / needs. Each has pro's and con's. And with an Apple you can now triple boot OS X / Windows / Linux. That is a win win win situation.

[Alex @ Jan 29th 2007 3:41PM]

OK, the first few of these were funny, but can't they come up with something else? They're becoming increasingly annoying. You'd think Apple, being the marketing geniuses that they are, would move on after a few months. This has been going on for nearly a year.

[pyro @ Jan 29th 2007 3:43PM]

I'm still waiting for a mac and pc add that is actually true...

[dov @ Jan 29th 2007 4:44PM]

mac = crap with design..

[Andrew H @ Jan 29th 2007 9:00PM]

So what you are saying is that Intel is crap? Care to reconsider? Or do you prefer AMD?

[mikee @ Jan 29th 2007 6:40PM]

This is making PC's cool.

[Wardell Latham @ Jan 29th 2007 4:44PM]

I think next Mac will be advising us that it can even save us from meteors a la Ron Livingston in the Sprint ads.

[KC @ Jan 29th 2007 4:47PM]

Hi, I am a PC. My web browser is full of holes.
Hi, I am a Mac. No one uses my web browser, it does not matter if it's full of holes.