The Apple attitude versus the Microsoft attitude
It’s good to see Microsoft reaching out a bit, as it launches Windows Vista with a campaign apparently designed to support Apple’s own “Mac versus PC” ads.
Starting yesterday Apple were pushing a “Mac versus PC” campaign with the help of Mitchell & Webb. You can go to Apple’s UK website, and see a selection of ads in which the pair each personify a Windows machine and a Mac. They’re pretty funny (though it gets a bit much to watch them all in sequence) — in fact, by the standard of most computing ads they’re very funny. I particularly enjoyed the one in which the PC demostrates its friendliness by presenting the family holiday in the form of a pie chart.
As if to emphasise this point, Microsoft are promoting Vista over at their UK website. The difference couldn’t be clearer if it was designed by Apple’s own marketeers. Apple’s campaign is fronted by two ordinary and friendly-looking chaps who, quite literally, are representing the human side of computers. Microsoft’s page has a beaming Bill Gates (the computing side of humans, if anyone is). If you go to the Apple page an ad just plays as soon as you land there. If you want to see a video about Vista you have to go through three clicks, including a technical choice of low bandwidth versus high bandwidth. And finally Apple’s UK campaign is fronted by UK people, whereas when you do get to see the Vista video — and this is on the Microsoft UK page, remember — the technology is front-and-centre, and there’s a voiceover by an anonymous American.
Yes, there’s an awful lot that’s gone into Vista. But it doesn’t look like “people” was high on the list.
