Apple UK: "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC." Smashing, isn't it?
By Paul Miller 
posted Jan 29th 2007 11:32AM
posted Jan 29th 2007 11:32AM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
Utterly perfect casting.
Plus Mitchell and Webb rule!
"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?
Unless one of these gents has written a book of complete world knowledge, color (colour?) me unimpressed.
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.
I love Peep Show, but not sure I like them participating in Mac ads..
Seems a little exaggerated if you ask me.
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...
"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.
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.
its all in english why tf not just use the original ads!
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.
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.
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?"
I just coughed up blood.
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!
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.
"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/
"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.
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
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.
i'm not a mac user but i do think their ads are clever... these british ones suck though, the originals are way better.
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.
"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."
Or just watch the original Quicktime rather than compressed-to-death youtube:
http://www.apple.com/uk/getamac/ads/
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.
Like Winnie said: "the English and Americans are one people, divided by a common language".
They should do an Irish version! The Irish PC would beat the snot out of the smarmy Mac.
"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 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
hehe. english accents make me giggle.
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)
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?
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......
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!
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.
brilliant much better than the american ones
"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...
"(* - 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.
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!!
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.
so this is what its like for mexicans to watch a spanish commercial....
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.
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.
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.
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.
I'm still waiting for a mac and pc add that is actually true...
mac = crap with design..
So what you are saying is that Intel is crap? Care to reconsider? Or do you prefer AMD?
This is making PC's cool.
I think next Mac will be advising us that it can even save us from meteors a la Ron Livingston in the Sprint ads.
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.
GunForHire, Microsoft pays a whole lot of poeple for a whole lot of things, directly or indirectly. You wish to google for "Microsoft bribes bloggers". It can be assumed that a company with the given funds employs people to spin a certain opinion. Please beware that I am not saying that they actually do it, so I would not state it as a fact.
#3, there should be SOME mac viruses out already, and besides all of the fun stuff I keep hearing about, macs are slow (based on experience).
So what you are saying is that Intel CPUs are slow?? Please update your memory. There are NO viruses for Mac - concepts that show potential, without methods of delivery (except downloading a binary executable and RUNNING it).
GunForHire,
Microsoft can and would pay people to comment and blog negatively about Apple across the internet. I suggest you do some research before called me the asshat. How about you start here:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/F6DC3D84-5B4D-43D4-B9ED-1F2033A895DA.html
I'm also interested in where you have this hatred for Steve Jobs? Have you ever met him? Have you even heard the guy speak more than 5 words? I'm sure you'll say you will but I think that's probably not the truth. Try watching this video (all of it):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
My problem is Windows people that bash Apple so viciously and publicly. How can you bash a company that just tries to make great products?
i was entertained by the ads, to be honest. i love mitchell and webb, they're consistently funny, and even though it's the same concept as the US ads, it still kind of fells like a sketch from "that mitchell and webb look"...
Gunsforhire,
I've never had the urge to post here before but I'm going to. Just for you.
I know of a fake company set up in the UK by Microsoft for them to solely watch forums and post on them.
This is not rumour but fact.
Do I think other companies pay people to go onto forums and blogs and post information that benefit them? Course I do.
And do you know why? Because word of mouth campaigns are huge and because companies know how much people communicate on the web now.
I also know of a few companies who have hired people to badmouth rival companies. It does happen. Take your head out of the sand and then shove it in the pool of reality.
It's big business out there and every viable way of making more money.
Personally, I think these adverts are tongue in cheek and a little but funny but a bit too smug. I'm an Apple fan and have never bonded with PCs. Doesn't mean I hate PCs just means that I prefer the OS that Apple created which bonds well with their architecture.
I wouldn't buy a car from one company and the engine from another. So I don't buy a computer with an OS from someone else. I like them to be designed to work together and I like it to look nice and be simple to use.
It has the programs I want on it, and it doesn't crash on me. It's something I want. I'm not bothered if other people want PCs. I know what I like and I know what I'm going to keep using.
All the best,
Phelan
Mitchell and Webb r0x0rs my s0x3rz indeedy!!! perfect! couldnt of picked a better duo :D as adverts go there are very well made.. pc fanboys are just jelious even tho im a pc user. as we cant be pinned down to single makes appart from those aweful mundane dell adverts. funny adverts capture my interest alot more than info-friendly boring adverts.
Well, it is well known, that these ads are not intended to make people switch to Mac. They are intended to make people that already did the switch feel better about it and about themselves. Like injections of superiority.
oh, and in addition, ben holmes is definitely right: smashing? really?
oh, and in addition, ben holmes is definitely right: smashing? really? have you met and english person before?
I appreciate the localization (or should I say "localisation") efforts, but anyone who's seen the show knows that the "Mac guy" is an irredeemable pervert loser - so, unless the Mac is supposed to be superior for surfing for "adult entertainment", I must say it is not the wisest casting coup.
http://off-centred.blogspot.com
PC: "Hi, I'm a computer."
Mac: "Hey, I'm also a computer."
PC: "I'm used for work and entertainment."
Mac: "So am I."
PC: "But I'm more customisable and I can play loads of cool games"
Mac: "Ah, but I can do most of the things you want to out of the box, and I'm more reliable"
PC: "Fancy a pint?"
Mac: "Go on then"
...3hrs and several drinks later...
Mac: "yu kno wat man?..."
PC: "nah, wat?"
Mac: "I luv you man"
PC: "I luv you too man"
Mac: "I luv you mor' man, hell I even run your os"
Linux: "Oy lads, I think you've had enough, time to go home"
Um.. yeah.. Apple bothers me... they're like Middle schoolers... "Teacher, Timmy took all the cookies, so I don't get any!" Apple just needs to make things to compete with Windows... rather than bashing Microsoft. There's a reason that Microsoft is dominating.. and Apple isn't. Microsoft has Windows, which is great as long as you have common sense, Zune still has yet to become a real competitor for the iPod (Although, I love my Zune), and Xbox 360 and Xbox, I love both my Xbox and my 360... Apple should spend it's money on improving Mac OS instead of bashing Microsoft..
Awesome, but I'm not sure about it for two reasons...
1) Why have they just recycled the American ads :( Can't we have some new material?!
2) It doesn't really work, as the point behind Peep Show was that they were BOTH total losers! Its quite fitting that Robert Webb (who plays Jez in Peep Show) is the mac, since Jez was the totally deluded one who never did anything useful!! :P
I'm a mac fanboy BTW!
Damn it, some of those are a lot funnier with the British actors... "Restarting" and "Pie Chart" most definitely.
I still think the Japanese versions are the funniest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk15iIkKofc
It's rather interresting.. I use both Windows and OSX on a regular basis and I actually have more software crashes in OSX than in Windows. Neither OSX nor Windows hardly ever crash nowadays due to the memory management of modern operating systems, so that ad is just odd.
Hardly ever crash was refering to the actual system. Applications ocasionally crash in both operating systems.
Hi! Sorry PC guys but I understand that you dislike this, at the end of the day is only making fun of you all! Yeah I have 2 macs, they crash sometimes, and I can't run some of your silliest stuff. Nevertheless I run more "useful software" than any of my friends.
My girlfriend uses my computer a lot. Her brother bought an acer laptop the same day that I did buy my macbook and guess what, he has already his system taken by viruses and he doesn't have a clue how to use the "features of his notebook, not even the webcam. She, my girlfriend, is been using the mac since the start, and know is able to connect my 2 computers wireless to share a folder and some other "tasks" that are not easy to do for mostly all the Windows users.
The last is that I'm studing computer software development and my mates at university are struggling to get their work done while I feel flying with the abilities of my macs...that were a lot cheaper than the same system characteristics is a PC!
So this is the summary, it costs cheaper, it is more powerful, it's easier to use, it's safer, it's funnier, it looks better, they provide you a better service...do I forget something!
ijoselito-iMac 24" and MBK
What would you Brits think of having Ricky Jervais as the PC? I think it would be perfect to have the Mac guy say something about how Macs are great for having fun and listening to music; then Jervais as the PC says something he thinks is incredibly witty but really sounds idiotic. He then does that little half laugh and looks at Mac, then the camera with a smile that says, "I want you to believe that I knew what I was saying all along, but I'm really a moron."
David Mitchell trumps Gervais as the PC, purely because he's nerdier. plus, if Gervais played PC, then Steven Merchant would have to play Mac, and that would be oh so very wrong...
As a relative neutral I have to ask the question - why are most Macheads (and Apple) complete c*cks about PC's? Frankly, most companies moved away from marketing their products by denigrating the competition in the 80's. Certainly I've never seen a Coke ad in the UK say "buy Coke because Pepsi is minging".
I'd love a Mac for home but the cost of buying it IS more expensive in the UK than an equivalent PC (£1169 vs £813 - with the Mac not actually matching the PC specs). Now I realise that the software can play a part in that but for most home users it isn't 300 quids worth. You know, I love my iPod, but I don't particularly like iTunes. And the fact is, it's years since XP crashed on me and because I'm sensible, I've never had a virus. So that ain't a selling point to me. So if any Mac evangelists want to send me 300 quid I'd be more than happy to buy a Mac - but only if I don't get assimilated...
Funny... I switched from Apple to PC for the affordably fast user experience with Linux and Windows. There is no looking back: I love the software availability on Linux, I love Linux's stability, and I love Windows for all of its applications even if they just happen to run "directly on the hardware".
Check out www.technologian.co.uk to see what a real Brit thinks about these particular remakes of the original Apple ads.
I think you meant to add http:// as in http://www.technologian.co.uk to the address to make it a live link. But, yeah, this guy is pretty cool 'cause even I read his techy-blog-thingy and I don't read that many. :)
finally i understand where greenpeace got their idea from (rhe last add)
i dislike these adds too, and curiously am now using my new mac mini for windows as osx was hanging all the time (512mb ram intel core solo) and picasa is only windows (iphoto is useless) plus finder a joke compared to explorer
just your 2c
aurin
finland
i like that show on bbcamerica but i always thought that guy looks a bit like hitler :/
I think it's funny that people bitch and moan that an ad promoting one product does so at the expense of another. Welcome to TV children. Ever watch a car commercial, to have one car pass others on the highway to make them look like crap, and you couldve sworn you saw a debaged BMW, Mercedes or an Audi amongst the proclaimed losers? People can complain about the Mac ads all they like, but the simple truth is that this is how lots of companies run their ads. The aforementioned Coke ads promote what's supposed to be a great tasting drink, even though the reality is that Cokes of all varieties taste like crap compared to Pepsi.
Here is my take on the Windows vs. the world strategy:
http://www.osxautomation.com/2006/12/10/the-microsoft-bubble-in-2006/
Hi, I'm a Mac
And I'm a PC
I come with everything already set up how we want it in a nice shiny box
I can be built to your own specifications for about a third of the price
You can buy all the hardware you need for me from Apple
There are lots and lots of places that do hardware for me, so you can get some that's better and cheaper
When I get old you need to buy a whole new computer
You can very easily upgrade me (or get someone else to do it quite cheaply) with added RAM etc
I'm a smug wanker
I just get on with it