G5 TV Ad

[Charles Martin]

> From: csearles at t-online.de (Chris Searles)
> P.S. Just to give Kunga and Charles something else to rant and rave
> about.

No ranting or raving from me. I respectfully disagree with Kunga's ... 
er, "unique" interpretation of the ad.

The purpose of the ad is not to be "funny," it's meant to intrigue PC 
people enough to go to the site and find out more. That's the entire 
function of the ad.

On that level, I think it works marvelously. Apple has a very high 
"intrigue factor" among PC users -- kind of the "forbidden fruit" if 
you'll allow me a lame joke. When an ad comes on that promises that 
Apple has created the "fastest and most powerful personal computer 
ever," they are intrigued. A mental note is made to surf over to 
apple.com/G5 when they are sitting in their cubicle tomorrow.

There are some who wish we could put on an ad that was heavier on the 
details, but I again say to those people "you're not thinking about the 
PUBLIC, you're thinking about the NERDS." The public, we must remember, 
thought the talking Gateway cow and the "Dell dude" were cute/hilarious 
and those campaigns were effective in moving computers. Need I say 
more? The web site and/or the supporting print ads will carry the 
necessary supplementary info for those who care.

Apple's ads take the right approach. They are intriguing and memorable 
without being threatening (another lesson: NO pc user likes to be told 
point-blank that he wasted thousands of dollars and hours of his time 
on a poor buying decision). I suspect Apple will get a bit *more* 
aggressive this time than they did in the last campaign as far as 
trying to persuade people to switch, but this is an excellent 
introduction that helps change the public mindshare of Apple.

_Chas_
"We don't want to be like Windows. We want to do everything better. We 
are intent on creating the greatest computers and the best computing 
experience in the world. And we are the only ones who can say that with 
a straight face." -- Greg Joswiak, Apple VP of hardware product 
marketing