Apple’s UK Get a Mac ads not working
So I just read an article about how the UK ads are backfiring. Which is to say, they are apparently lowering their “buzz factor” - which used to be a +14 to a +8, being an olde school D&D player, I didn’t even realize you could get up to +14! Ahem, anyway, I’m not sure what it all means, but the complaints seem to be that the ads reinforce the stereotype of smug, cooler than thou superiority of Apple users. Personally I liked the uk ads, but as I was watching them I noticed that the Apple guy made a lot of “eye contact” and shared several smug moments with the viewer. Justing Long (US Apple guy) took those same moments and just looked off, not directly into the camera. I wonder if just that simple thing makes a difference? I think other than that the smugness is just about equal between the two. Take a look at the same commercial for each country:
US: http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/apple/getamac_ads2/work_480×376.mov
UK: http://www.apple.com/405/euro/uk/getamac/getamac_ads3/apple-uk_getamac_pie_chart_480×376.mov
February 16th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I thought British people were supposed to be known for their snarky wit. ;-p People have complained about that sense of superiority coming across on the US ads. At least on tech blogs they have.
It’s interesting cause the people in the ads are representing computers/OS for the most part, not people. Yet viewers still equate it to a more personal level. Maybe if they used like 2 talking animals or animated computers or something instead of actual people, they’d get less complaints?