May 21, 2010: Apple quietly ends its award-winning “Get a Mac” ad campaign. Debuting in 2006, the ads starred actor Justin Long as the cool, youthful Mac. Comedian John Hodgman portrayed the stuffy, awkward PC.
Alongside the “Think Different” and iPod “Silhouette” campaigns, “Get a Mac” will become one of the most fondly remembered extended advertising blitzes in Apple history.
‘I’m a Mac … and I’m a PC’: The story of Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ ad campaign
The original “Get a Mac” ads arrived around the time Apple switched Macs from PowerPC to Intel processors. Apple CEO Steve Jobs wanted a marketing campaign that highlighted the differences between Macs and PCs. In particular, he wanted ads that showed why Apple computers kicked their competitors to the curb.
For a long time, the TBWA Media Arts Lab ad creatives working on the project struggled to come up with just the right approach.
In an oral history of the ads for the website Campaign, creative directors Eric Grunbaum and Scott Trattner recalled the origin of the “Get a Mac” spots. The breakthrough came after six months of unsuccessful pitches to Jobs.
“I was surfing with Scott somewhere in Malibu,” Grunbaum said, “and we were discussing our frustration with coming up with an idea, and I said to him, ‘You know, it’s almost like we have to get so basic. It’s like, we need a Mac and a PC sitting on a white site, and we need to say, ‘This is a Mac. It’s good at A, B and C. And this is a PC, and it’s good at D, E and F.'”
“I then remember saying to [associate creative director Barton Corley], ‘What if we embody the two characters?'” Trattner said. “‘One guy could say, “I’m a Mac.” One guy could say, “I’m a PC.” The Mac could be on roller skates circling the PC saying how fast he is.’ Barton just took it and really ran.”
The end of Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ ad campaign
The “Get a Mac” ads, which you can watch below, ran for the next few years in the United States, with 66 television spots in total, all directed by Junebug helmer Phil Morrison. The campaign also spread to other markets, with alternate actors playing the Mac and PC roles. (For example, David Mitchell and Robert Webb played the characters in the U.K. version of the “Get a Mac” ads.)
Apple aired the last “Get a Mac” TV ad in October 2009, marking the beginning of the end for the campaign. However, the clever marketing continued on Apple’s website. On May 21, 2010, Apple finally replaced its “Get a Mac” page with a “Why You’ll Love a Mac” page.
Meanwhile, on television, Cupertino’s commercials focused more on iPhones than on Macs, showing a transition in the company’s priorities.
John Hodgman’s encore at Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ event in 2020
The PC character played by John Hodgman got a surprise encore at the very end of Apple’s “One More Thing” event on November 10, 2020. After the company unveiled the first Apple silicon chips during the pandemic-era virtual event, Hodgman appeared on the screen, dressed as the nerdy PC character he portrayed in the classic Apple ads.
“Stop, hang on, wait, uh, one more thing,” Hodgman’s frumpy, business-suited character says. “Hi. I’m a PC. Is there time for questions? Good, because I have one. Why? Why? Why make all these advancements? What’s the point?”
Watch Hodgman’s brief nerdy reprise of his PC role in the video below. (Hodgman appears at 45:29 mark.)
What’s the best Apple ad of all time?
Does “Get a Mac” rank as your favorite Apple ad campaign of all time? Let us know in the comments below.
