I'm a Mac, I'm a PC

2006

Date: 2 May 2006 · Place: Apple Get a Mac campaign, agency TBWA Media Arts Lab, Los Angeles · Figures: Justin Long, Mac · John Hodgman, PC · TBWA Media Arts Lab, agency · Lee Clow, creative director · Tags: Advertising, Template 01. Two Men in Front of a White Wall Apple's Get a Mac campaign launches 2 May 2006. The format never changes for the four years it runs: a white void, Justin Long as a hoodied young Mac, John Hodgman as a suited middle-aged PC. They introduce themselves. PC complains. Mac is patient. End. TBWA Media Arts Lab and Lee Clow ship 66 spots between 2006 and 2009. The constraint, two men, one white wall, one premise, is the template. 02. The Snowclone Is the Ad I'm a Mac, I'm a PC becomes a snowclone template within weeks. I'm a Coke, I'm a Pepsi. I'm a Liberal, I'm a Conservative. I'm a Pirates fan, I'm an Orioles fan. Late-night television runs the parody. The campaign is so over-imitated that it functions as the joke about advertising itself. The Get a Mac ads are the rare brand campaign whose template outlives the product cycle it sold. The PC market shares the ad teaches snowclone is now a brand asset whether or not anyone bought a MacBook because of it. Sources • Adweek, 'The Get a Mac campaign at 10' (May 2016) • TBWA Media Arts Lab, Get a Mac case study • KnowYourMeme, I'm a Mac, I'm a PC