RIP: "Get a Mac" ads

According to Mashable, everyone's favorite Mac campaign (and the campaign of the decade, according to Adweek) is no more.



Justin Long (Mac) himself broke the news last month in an interview with A.V. Club, saying "I think they might be done. In fact, I heard from John (Hodgman, AKA PC) I think they're going to move on."

It's always a shame when great campaigns die. What made these spots so great (and this coming from a PC user) is that they created the PC brand. What I mean is that there is no company called "PC," it's a category made up of every personal computer manufacturer: HP, Toshiba, Dell, etc. By making "PC" the bad-guy brand, it changed the question from "What kind of computer do you have?" to "Do you have a Mac or a PC?" Props to TBWA Worldwide (the agency behind the campaign) for an excellent strategy and execution. It helps that Long and Hodgman were impeccable in their respective roles.

Little did I know that my Halloween costume would be inspired by the very last spots in this campaign:


Very few campaigns get the chance to transcend the realm of advertising and join the world of pop culture. Get a Mac was one of those campaigns. Cheers to Apple, TBWA, Justin Long, and John Hodgman for that.

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50th post: Best ad on TV 11/10/09 - Captain Morgan

The reaction has to be mixed for this one. Some are amazed by the ability to pour 40 shots from one container of booze. Some probably find the spot and/or the campaign amusing if not hysterical. And others are just freaked out by the reverse ventriloquist.

While it may indeed be a great example of a "random act of creativity," the ad in general is great because the branding is pretty clear (plus "Calling All Captains" at the end, which has been a campaign going for most of 2009) and the USP is made known in the first 2 seconds of the ad.

Besides Captain Big Shot, there are also Captain Improv, Captain Keymaster, and for Halloween Captains Monster Party and Extra Mile:



The spots are all the work of Grey Worldwide

Verizon: Don't you forget about me

With all the buzz building around Apple's iPhone, it's about time the guys at VW retaliated.

There's a Map For That:


They could have gone the parody route, saying "there's an ap for" various ridiculous things, but the way they did this I think is awesome. Verizon has been using the "map," that is, the one of their 3G coverage, for a while. Finally they hammer home with consumers the basic advantage they have: if you buy an iPhone and go to AT&T, you'll lose 80% of the 3G coverage you could have with Verizon.

Excuse me as an aspiring ad practitioner for not bowing to the mighty Apple, but finally someone is swinging back at their snarky, indie spots they've been running for years.

It's good to see Windows taking a shot too, with the "I'm a PC, and I'm..." campaign. In the spots, they give people cash if they can find a computer within their budget, and it's always a PC because Macs are too expensive. Another clever way to take a shot at the ad giant's chinks in the armor.



Then again, if everything was about cost and functionality, this industry wouldn't exist. Thanks, Mr. Jobs.

RIP: Kobe and Lebron Puppets

RIP 5.30.09

Lebron James' dreams of a 2009 NBA title with the Cavaliers weren't the only casualty following Cleveland's loss to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. Also destroyed was the potential for some Nike on Nike play between the two best players in the world, and consequently, an epic advertising opportunity for the country's biggest shoe brand.

Of course, the company had been showing the Kobe/Lebron puppet commercials, which portray the pair of superstars as Sesame Street esque puppets talking smack to one another, in order to hype up the inevitable match up in the NBA finals:



Uuuuunfortunately for Nike and for funny commercial loving folk everywhere, the campaign must now die a quiet, painful death as King James will not be participating in the Finals. In his stead will be Dwight "Superman" Howard and his Orlando Magic. As great a character as Howard is...



...you won't be seeing him in stuffed, stringed effigy form. Howard is a spokesman for rival adidas. This poses an unbelievable opportunity for the Germans to strike back. Their arch nemesis just had a campaign blow up in their face, and they now have their Super spokesman battling with Kobe and the Lakers. If they can throw something together in time, it'd be an awesome shot at Nike. They have until Thursday, Game 1 of the Finals, to get something on TV, assuming they were forward thinking enough to have purchased some spots.

If not, a giant puppet of Superman in downtown Orlando (or Cleveland, if they were ballsy) would suffice.

As for Nike and the rest of the sports and advertising worlds, we continue to wait for a modern version of Magic/Bird. I'm sure ESPN will do just fine in the mean time.

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