The avatar of personal computing: a stodgy and cherubic businessman, played by that ineffably awesome hobo-lover, John Hodgman. The avatar of the Apple experience: insufferable smugness and a warrantless sense of privilege as coalesced together in the immensely punchable mug of Justin Long.
The endless gladiatorial battle between Mac and PC in the abstract, white-space limbo of Platonic ideals has entertained Mac fans since 2006…. a Spy vs. Spy for our times. No wonder, then, that AdWeek just named the “Get a Mac” series of ads the Campaign of the Decade as part of their Best of the 2000’s awards. And the “Get a Mac” ads weren’t the only Apple campaigns to be recognized: those trippy, psychedelic iPod Silhouette ads won AdWeek’s award for “Out of Home Ad of the Decade” (re: Billboard Award).
The iPod Silhouette ads are great, but I’m torn on the win for the “Get a Mac” campaign. It’s certainly the most iconic series of ads of the last five years, but as a lover of Apple products and the Apple experience, the ads have always been irritating to me: as a Mac owner, I’d much prefer to equate myself to the likes of John Hodgman, as opposed to some droopy and languid hipster doofus.
Still, there’s no doubt in my mind that the “Get a Mac” series deserved to win, so congratulations to Apple! I suppose we can expect many years of Mac vs. PC mayhem to come.
