iProduct Placement: The Office

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The sharp-eyed folks at iphone savior spotted a MacBook Pro cameo on the season premiere of The Office.
In it, receptionist Pam appears in the Scranton branch from New York via iChat video.

While it’s easy to understand that Office followers — wry code monkeys and creative types alike — would appreciate the nod, Dunder Mifflin seems so much more PC than Mac.

How many places like that use MacBook Pros?

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48 responses to “iProduct Placement: The Office”

  1. luke says:

    honestly, i believe it was more Jim’s MBP than Dunder-Mifflin’s. Pam was also using a MacBook on her end.

  2. theguycalledtom says:

    I think it’s actually Jim’s personal computer. Pam is away from Scranton branch to study graphic design and her entire classroom was filled with Macs. Pam has obviously bought a Mac for school and Jim has obviously bought one just so he can iChat with her, although maybe he already had one… but I’d say Jim is the PC and Pam is the Mac in the relationship.

  3. Andrew says:

    The MacBook Pro was Jim’s personal machine, not a Dunder Mifflin computer. Also, in the scenes in which Pam was at college, it seemed that every student was using a Mac.

  4. Ratty says:

    True dunder-Mifflin is a PC shop but Jim and Pam are obviously mac people . . . this MB Pro was Jim’s personal computer, not a work computer.

  5. Alex says:

    If you watched the episode last night it appeared that the MacBook Pro was personal property of the Jim Halpert character, and not simply an office PC.

  6. Pepperguy says:

    Actually, I think it was Jim’s personal computer… or that’s how I took it. He brought it in from home because his desktop (Which have always been HP I believe) wouldn’t work.

    You’re right though, the Dunder-Mifflin office is definitely PC.

  7. Halibetlector says:

    I got the impression that the macbook pro was Jim’s personal laptop, not the company’s. I base this on the fact that when we saw Jim’s room (waay back when) he had a desk meant for a laptop (no desktop was present) and that nobody in Dunder Mifflin has a laptop.

  8. tenjay says:

    At Dunder Mifflin, the staff does use PC’s. The MBP is Jim’s personal machine which he brought to work. It is curious because he’s able to use the company wireless for a personal chat but also because Jim’s own image doesn’t appear in the iChat window. That makes me think it’s just a movie of Pam playing fullscreen on Jim’s MBP, not an actual live chat between the two.

  9. Argent says:

    I was way more excited about Pam being a Resident Advisor for what kinda looks like the TV-version of Willoughby Hall at Pratt Institute (notice the bumper sticker on-screen behind her)—a job I had at Pratt years ago. Awesome.

  10. Matt says:

    Only one MacBook Pro? The scene in the typography class had a few dozen – a sea of glowing Apple logos.

  11. BrotherShane says:

    Ditto it was Halpert’s personal Mac! Great episode BTW

  12. Jason says:

    Absolutely the MBP was personal property of Jim Halpert and I’m pretty sure he was connecting to the 802.11g “Vance Refrigeration” wireless network, not a Dunder Mifflin wifi network. The Scranton office is a Windows 2003 R2 Active Directory shop (scranton.corp.dundermifflin.co…) with Win XP SP-2 clients. I’m also quite confident Dunder Mifflin is an Exchange 2007 shop to support the Blackberry devices that Ryan Howard introduced during his tenure in the corporate office.

  13. heyyo says:

    It seems like there is a hierarchy:

    –The worst dudes ever. They are PC USERS…

    –The people in the middle. They are MAC USERS…

    –The people near the top. They are like design-savvy people. They are MAC USERS…

    –The upper echelon. The cream of the crop. They are PC USERS… (they are pc users but most have linux on their PCs)

  14. Macfan says:

    Jim Halpert rules! He’ uses a Mac!

  15. Brendan West says:

    To ditto everyone else, it was Jim Halpert’s Mac, which can be seen in the second season at his barbecue when he gives a tour of his apartment. The MacBook Pro (or perhaps PowerBook?) is sitting on his desk in his bedroom.

  16. Maxwell Smart says:

    Steve Carell is actually a Mac only user. In fact, did anyone catch the huge promotion for Apple he did for his summer movie Get Smart? An intro to film footage and all sorts of other movie related stuff was available for free on iTunes. He even went into the Soho store with Anne Hathaway and Stephen Colbert for an event.

  17. MC says:

    I’m confused, was this a Dunder-Mifflin computer or was it Jim’s personal machine? Hopefully someone can clear that up for me.

  18. Thomas says:

    @MC

    I’m pretty sure it was a Dunder Mifflin computer, referencing the second season, episode 8, where you see several silver laptops (Macbook Pro Looking) by the xerox machine. Also, in Jims own home, it’s quite obvious he is a netbook owner.

    Cheers,
    Thomas

  19. JaneT says:

    Only watched it for 5 minutes. Not a touch on the original series. The David Brent character would have DVD’s & beer, but no personal computer.

  20. Mark says:

    Last season at the job fair they showed a 24″ aluminum iMac at the booth for a design firm. I think they’ve also shown Macs at various other points in the show (not very often though since they’re sponsored by HP).

  21. Bram says:

    In the second season, Jim has a party, when they are touring the house we get to see Jim’s room, and in it is a MBP. Also, I saw that Ryan had an iBook somewhere in the second season, using it in the office.

  22. Nicole Martinelli says:

    That clears it up, thanks for all the details, esp. the pic…

  23. Clayton says:

    Have you noticed that most movies and TV shows use Macs when ever the actor/actress is using a computer? I think Apple has some deal with Hollywood to be the only computer used on film.