Apple ad takes a bite out of the NYT home page

In the new Mac ad on the New York Times home page today, John Hodgman's curmudgeonly PC character drags out an "editorial" entitled "Stop Switching to Mac!" as written by PC. Justin Long's Mac looks on from the clean, empty, expensive ad space on top of the page. It's a continuation of Apple's history of designing Web ads that are literally out of the box -- they don't stay confined to the traditional online ad "cubes."

And like the rest of the campaign, the "stop switching" bit conveys its meaning clearly. PC, Mac suggests, desperately wants people to stick with him, even though all he has to offer is the same old same old. In other words: The Mac is to the Web as the PC is to fusty, old-school newspapers, with their table-pounding editorials. (Ouch.) Well, kudos to the New York Times for having the sense of humor to run it.

It also hits just a week after the kickoff of the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld campaign for Microsoft, a cryptic TV spot that I wrote about last week, calling it meaningless and borderline offensive. A few commenters thought I went too far in reading subtext into the ad, and while I'm going to stand by the gist of what I wrote, I have to cop to one misfire of my own.

As Mary at the Mocking Words blog pointed out in an e-mail to me, when Jerry Seinfeld asks what he is feeling on Bill Gates' foot, Gates answers "pleather," not "leather." It's hard to make it out, but I listened extra hard several times, and she's right. Among Gates' many talents, actorly enunciation may not be at the top of the list. Bill, practice with this tongue twister:  "Unique New York, you know I need unique New York." Substitute "Redmond" if you'd like.

Anyway: pleather. Perhaps that explains why Jerry says he wears them in the shower, since pleather is waterproof. It does make the exchange seem less potentially sexual, although, maybe not.

-- Maria Russo

Comments

[infinitely looped]

the last episode of the old seinfeld show has jerry, kramer, elaine, and george sent to jail for their extreme indifference to the suffering of others. Now add Bill Gates to the mix. That's what this add campaign tells me. Microsoft doesn't give a darn about the suffering they cause for their customers. Thanks, Jerry, for helping to point out the truth about this truly indifferent company and its products.