Edible Apple

Did Apple just kill the “Get a Mac” ad campaign? A perusal of their website seems to indicate that they have. Users trying to visit Apple’s long standing “Get a Mac” page are now redirected to Apple’s new “Why You’ll Love a Mac” page. And though there have been rumors over the past few months that Apple was planning to axe the campaign, it appears that the end is finally upon us. In fact, Apple last released new “Get a Mac” ads back in October 2009 when it debuted 3 commercials which took shots at what was then, the newly released Windows 7.

The award winning and popular “Get a Mac” ads began back in 2006 and starred actors Justin Long and John Hodgman. The ads featured Hodgman as a hapless PC prone to viruses and upgrade problems while Long portrayed a Mac who would often brag about cool Mac features like photo recognition in iPhoto and easy video editing in iMovie. And of course, Long would also make snarky and well-timed comments about PC’s futile attempts to steal some of the Mac’s mojo.

Apple’s offensive on Microsoft via the “Get a Mac” campaign essentially went unanswered from 2006-2009, but Microsoft used the release of Windows 7 to finally fire back with its “I’m a PC” ad campaign which is still ongoing.

Though some couldn’t stand Long’s hipster and sarcastic portrayal of the Mac, the ads often did a good job of mixing up humor with well-placed jabs at the expense of the PC. At their best, the ads were clever, witty, and informative. In its four year run, there were approximately 66 different commercials that made it to broadcast, not to mention the countless number of video parodies inspired by the ads.

Lastly, here’s a quote from John “PC” Hodgman describing the level of artistic freedom they’re allowed while shooting:

We’ve always been encouraged to improvise and have fun. Occasionally, ad-libs will work their way into the ads, but more often, what makes it into the ads is the tone that we build up through improvising. For understandable reasons, the ads are very carefully written and for very gratifying reasons they’re also well-written, and so it’s our pleasure to perform them as they’re written and find new things in the corners: in looks, in gestures, in reactions, and occasionally, there’s a line that we can add to it.

Meanwhile, Adweek a while back collected every single commercial ever aired. Check it out for a look back at Apple’s hits and misses.

Related – What “PC”s Dad probably looked like

via MacRumors