
It's pretty common, when reading discussion of Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads, to come across the comment:
Sure, they're great ads but they don't work. John Hodgeman's PC is far more likeable than Justin Long's smug hipster Mac.
This is missing the point.
Really on the nose.
Excellent and humorous! And now I am flushing the draft of my next article because it's already been done! And much better than my approach anyway.
That PC fans inevitably castigate the "Mac" character as being smug and superior seems to be relative to their identification of the "Mac" character as the cool one - which (it seems) in their personal experience means someone other than themselves - whom they dislike as smug and superior (the polar opposite attitudes) reflecting their own insecurity and sense of uncoolness? Too psycho-babble for me, but it seems plausible.
At no time does the "Mac" character poke fun at, deride or otherwise denigrate the "PC" character. He sympathizes, shrugs, agrees with, or merely points out attributes of the Mac. It is usually the "PC" character (of either) who is derogatory, manipulative or dismissive, apparently acting out of his sense of inadequacy or insecurity. More often the "PC" is put upon by his circumstances, that aren't shared by the "Mac" character. Microsoft fans like to point out that they identify or like the PC guy more, which makes sense when you realize that the "PC" character also gets most of the great lines. The "Mac" character is at times reduced to monosylabic responses, usually in sympathy for the state of the "PC" character.
And here's the rub: no one wants to buy Acme products.
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