Mostly Again with the Advertising

I’ve taken to listening to music in the morning. The kind I can sing along to, like Lionel Richie or Laura Pausini. It’s a good way to build up your stockpile of good-moodiness in case some of it is depleted during the morning commute by irritating or mean people.

What is it about Mac commercials that are so money? I saw one on TV last night and it struck me as being better than most commercials out there.

Now, I don't want to get into the whole Macs rule/PCs suck war or anything--jeez, people, calm down... It's like people who argue cats vs. dogs or men vs. women. Each has their purpose and contribute to the world in their own special way... la la la, singing and flowers. I'm not making a comment on which computers or operating systems I like better. But looking just at the commercials, I'm sorry--Apple/Mac wins.

You can't deny that for however fancy and "new age" Windows makes their commercials (how much money did they pay back in 1995 to buy the rights to "Start Me Up" by the Stones?), Apple/Mac commercials and print ads just floor them effortlessly with a few simple words and images--a person or two in a blank frame, maybe a line or two of words, and you're sold. They're really good at, whenever possible, letting the product speak for itself.

Take the iPod nano. When it first came out, the ads you saw on airport walls and buses were just simple photos of a hand holding the iPod nano in which the size of the hand completely dwarfed the iPod nano. You already know what a regular-size iPod does, and this ad blasts you in the face with, "Wow, look how tiny. So pretty. Me want." And then you buy it.

Apple/Mac ads manage to come off as being smart but not snobbishly so. "Here's our product--we think it's cool. If you think it's cool too, then buy it." They don’t go so far as call you stupid if you buy the competition’s product, yet they frame the commercial in such a way that you tell that to yourself. That, my friends, is genius.

In contrast, most other commercials, both for PCs/Windows and for just about any other technology product, dress the ad up with gimmicks like fancy music and whooshing graphics. "Ooh! Ahh! So cutting edge! Look how With It we are!" Makes me think of the way middle-aged folks (this'll be us someday--yow) flock to the dance floor whenever "Celebrate" comes on at a party or wedding. "Woohoo! Let's get down and FUNKAY! Look how CRAAAZY we're gettin'!" Similar properties at work.

So what’s a PC company to do, if it wants to compete with these unstoppable commercials? Here's my solution: If you want someone who’s good at speaking to the audience’s intelligence, keeping up with popular culture, and saying what needs to be said by not saying much at all, I’ll tell you who you gotta go to. You gotta go to Joss Whedon. I think if PCs (or any other industry, for that matter) wanted to increase sales, they’d make him head of the marketing department. (Although I hear he’s got lots of other stuff going on, so prob’ly not so much with the availability.)

Like how I worked in that Joss Whedon plug, did'ja?

I gotta make a field trip now to get my shoes. Left ‘em at Tango on Friday. D’oh!

Big Event of the Day: Pick up tango shoes
Percent Chance: Well, now that I spent over an hour looking for links, I'm starting to get lazy... oh, come on. It's already 8:02... Ride a bus to and from, then the el train, then walk 6 blocks home? 11%.