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It's funny. Laugh. Television Apple

Apple Mac/PC Ads With a UK Twist 302

Posted by kdawson from the python-would-be-proud dept.
leppi writes "Japanese isn't the only language barrier Apple's decided to cross with its 'I'm a Mac, I'm a PC' ads. Those Brits love their 'shenanigans and tomfoolery' just as much as the next guy. Watch the Peep Show's Mitchell and Webb do the honors as PC and Mac, respectively."
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Apple Mac/PC Ads With a UK Twist More

Apple Mac/PC Ads With a UK Twist

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  • Yup, these two are suitable PC and Macs (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Also in Peep Show Jeremy (the Mac) gets laid a lot whilst Mark (the PC) gets laid about half a time before getting interrupted by the sound of Jeremy getting laid.

    Generally though all the sex is rather retarded or twisted. Jeremy even shags Mark's sister, so I wonder what that's like ... maybe that's like a Mac connecting to a SMB share on a PC or something.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Saint Fnordius ( 456567 )
      Oh my, I wonder how many people will think of that when they do "that new digital camera from Japan" cute girl spot...
    • I saw this ad in the paper yesterday, and of course Peep Show was the first thing I thought of. The thing is though, in Peep Show, Jeremy is a bit of a pillock. Remember the episode where he tries to chat up some girls at a party with a line about olive oil? Something like: "So - olive oil! Fourth pressing? Fifth pressing? I always go for the first pressing. I mean, why wait 'til everyone else has had their fun with the olives?"

      Also, "The bad thing", the "threesome", and everything else ;-)

      • Re:Yup, these two are suitable PC and Macs (Score:5, Informative)

        by biffta ( 961416 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @05:45AM (#17811714) Homepage Journal
        For those left wondering, Peep Show is a British comedy from channel 4. If any of these ads even made you smirk I'd suggest watching an episode or two, they're fantastically original!

      • Re:Yup, these two are suitable PC and Macs (Score:4, Insightful)

        by delinear ( 991444 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @06:19AM (#17811840)
        Exactly what I thought when I saw this - Jeremy is funny not because he's "cool", but because he's trying so desperately hard to be cool (and quite often just ends up looking silly). So in essence, they're saying Macs are for people who aren't especially cool but want to look/act like they are (and don't mind parting with more money to achieve it), which is perhaps not the message they were aiming for. Maybe by choosing this pairing for the ads, Apple themselves are trying to be cool and missing the point somewhat, too? (On a sidenote, I love Mitchell and Webb, for all their faults).

        • Re:Yup, these two are suitable PC and Macs (Score:5, Insightful)

          by KDan ( 90353 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @06:34AM (#17811896) Homepage
          I was thinking exactly that, when I first heard of these ads...

          I think the Apple marketing team has missed one essential point:

          Both of the main characters of Peep Show are wankers!

          That's one of the things that dawns on you as you watch the show is that the two characters are equally worthless human beings. You start off siding with Jeremy because he's cooler, but then realise he's a wanker, so then Mark appears slightly better because he's on the surface a bit more kind... but then he turns out to be a prick as well.

          Which I guess is spot on. Computers are a pain no matter which one you use!

          Daniel

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Lars T. ( 470328 )

            I was thinking exactly that, when I first heard of these ads...

            I think the Apple marketing team has missed one essential point:

            Both of the main characters of Peep Show are wankers!

            That's one of the things that dawns on you as you watch the show is that the two characters are equally worthless human beings. You start off siding with Jeremy because he's cooler, but then realise he's a wanker, so then Mark appears slightly better because he's on the surface a bit more kind... but then he turns out to be a prick as well.

            Which I guess is spot on. Computers are a pain no matter which one you use!

            Daniel

            Actually Aple has got it right - PCs are for humorless twits who want to see a deeper meaning in the Apple adds when they are just light-hearted commedy not related to a specific commedy show.

      • For some reason I can't remember what "the bad thing" was...........

    • What's it like? (Score:4, Funny)

      by littleghoti ( 637230 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @05:05AM (#17811500) Journal
      quote: "Generally though all the sex is rather retarded or twisted. Jeremy even shags Mark's sister, so I wonder what that's like"

      That's tickety-boo!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cheesey ( 70139 )
      Yes but Jeremy is a drugged-up idiot who can't get anything done. He's moved in to Mark's apartment because he can't get a job and is broke. And Mark is so uptight and full of self-loathing that he can't ever enjoy himself. He's neurotic and miserable.

      You wouldn't want an OS modelled on either of them: it would either be useless (Jeremy) or no fun (Mark). To be honest, neither of them is in any way similar to Mac or Windows.

      They just wanted the money so they whored themselves out. Nice work, chaps.
    • From the article:

      "but the pair do a good job of spicing up the commercials with a bit of dry British humor and sexy good looks"

      I'm sorry but I'm British and although we've always got a joke to hand, we're simply not the best looking people in the World...

  • Direct links to YouTube videos (Score:3, Informative)

    by Null Nihils ( 965047 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @04:38AM (#17811356) Journal
    Because you can never have too much karma. ;)

    Here [youtube.com], here [youtube.com], here [youtube.com] and here [youtube.com].

  • The title is all wrong... (Score:5, Funny)

    by bytta ( 904762 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @04:39AM (#17811364)
    Shouldn't that be
    Apple Mac/PC Ads With a Twist of Limey?

  • it's a catch 22 (Score:4, Funny)

    by macadamia_harold ( 947445 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @04:40AM (#17811376) Homepage
    Japanese isn't the only language barrier Apple's decided to cross with its 'I'm a Mac, I'm a PC' ads. Those Brits love their 'shenanigans and tomfoolery' just as much as the next guy.

    It's almost like they've got General Peckem describing his platform preference to Yossarian.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @04:42AM (#17811384)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by 91degrees ( 207121 )
      PC is has become a term meaning x86 based PC running Windows. That's evolution of language for you.
      • PC is has become a term meaning x86 based PC running Windows. That's evolution of language for you.

        So what do you call:
        * A PC running linux?
        * A mac bootcamped into windows?
        * A mac running linux?
        * etc?
      • People with a modicum of technology awareness make ask you if it is a Windows or Apple PC. Here we know it can be anything really.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by rednuhter ( 516649 )
      to little to late, the press have conveniently 'bent' thechological terminology and the new terms have stuck in the mind of the public.
      Although I used to get annoyed about the miss use of 'PC' and correct anyone how spouted the 'windows PC' version, I now accept that the majority of the public know 'PC' as 'Windows PC'.
      On the other hand I do not get fed up correcting people on the use of the word Hacker, miscreants that break into systems illegally are Crackers !
      People interested in technology are Hackers.
      h [wikipedia.org]
    • In the UK, we have an Advertising Standards Agency that should stop misleading adverts - this looks to be a prime example for them now...

      Perhaps the Advertising Standards Agency should look at the last time they caught Apple bending the truth: [bbc.co.uk]

      Apple Power Mac ads 'misleading'

      Apple has boosted the power of its G5 machines
      A complaint against Apple's claim that its Power Mac G5 was the "world's fastest personal computer" has been upheld by the UK's advertising watchdog.

      The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ettlz ( 639203 )

      "PC" stands for "Personal Computer" which could be running Windows, Linux, *BSD, MSDOS, FreeDOS, etc. etc.

      An x86[-64] machine running any operating system by Microsoft is a PC.

      An x86[-64] machine running any operating system by someone other than Microsoft or Apple is a workstation.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Duds ( 100634 ) *
      And of course the Mac could well be running Windows too.

      In fact, the PC could be running Linux and the Mac Windows.

    • Re:Apple get the terminology WRONG!!! (Score:5, Interesting)

      by earthbound kid ( 859282 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @05:29AM (#17811636) Homepage
      They mention this in the Japanese Get A Mac ads. The PC is like, "Hey, aren't you kind of a PC, too?"
      The Mac, "Yeah, but people like me a lot, so they gave me this kind of a nickname, 'Mac.' Cool, huh?"
      PC, "What!? I want a nickname, too!"
      "Oh, I know, since you're so into doing serious stuff, they could call you 'Work'!" ('Work' sounds like 'Mac' in Japanese.)

      It was a pretty cute routine, but it doesn't work as well in translation. Also, I'm just going by my memory. And I'm only semi-fluent. But it was something like that.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Zaatxe ( 939368 )
      "PC" stands for "Personal Computer" which could be running Windows, Linux, *BSD, MSDOS, FreeDOS, etc. etc.

      Oh, my... now that feels like Slashdot!!! Thanks!!!
    • That would be the least of the ASA's concerns... if I recall, the "I'm a Mac" ads play fast and loose with the truth in the first place. The ad that claims Macs "crash less" than Windows and demonstrates it by Hodgman "crashing" and "rebooting" periodically... says who, with what tests, hardware and drivers?

      This American quite admires the ASA, or at least the idea of it... it would be nice to have the "commercial speech is free speech" decision overturned on this side of the pond...

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        This American quite admires the ASA, or at least the idea of it...

        The reality of it is not nearly as good as the idea. A few years ago I challenged the MPAA's ads claiming that "movie piracy funds terrorists!!!". The ASA accepted the MPAA's claim that an IRA member once got caught selling pirated cassette tapes at a car boot sale in the 1980's as evidence for that "fact".

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bertie ( 87778 )
      Well, if they came out and said "I'm a PC running Windows", the ASA would be down on them like a ton of bricks because it would be an out-and-out slur on a competitor. "I'm a PC" is ambiguous enough for it not to be a direct jibe at Windows, so they can get away with it.

      A big difference in ads between the UK and US is that unless you've got a hard factual basis for a claim that you're better than the competition, you can't say it. So Halifax bank can say "we pay 50 times more interest than Natwest" as lon

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      I see it a bit different.

      A PC is computer of IBM decent, mostly running an OS and software of IBM DOS heritage. Although it is a GPC, it most runs a single major business application, with perhaps a few other minor functions, currently web browsing and mail. The PC is mostly a GPC, or a jack of all trades computer.

      Other computers may be specialized personal computers, workstations, servers, etc. Traditionally, *nix runs on workstations, not PCs. Therefore, Sun and SGI sells workstations. Some, like

  • Nice ad. Great double act

    Robert Webb (on the right) usually plays the more fashion conscious but much dumber character, and David Mitchell always plays the sensible, educated intelligent character.

    No wonder he likes PCs!

    • I loved them too (Peep Show series 1-3, M&W Sound series 1&2, M&W Look, the M&W stage show, etc. etc.). But I feel betrayed by this awful abomination. At the height of their careers, why are they already at the point where they will do anything for money?

      "Here's the deal, folks. You do a commercial - you're off the artistic roll call, forever. End of story. Okay? You're another whore at the captialist gang bang and if you do a commercial, there's a price on your head. Everything you say is s

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mgblst ( 80109 )
        What a load of rubbish. "Oh, they are serious actors, they can't do commercials."You, sir, are an imbecile...an imbecile.

        And I agree with the original poster, these ads do not betray their characters at all.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Cheesey ( 70139 )
          Yes, I'm an imbecile.

          As I said in my post, I followed Mitchell & Webb's career from their work on Radio 4, through Peep Show, the TV series, the stage show. I saw them move from obscurity through cult comedy to become almost mainstream. They have never failed to entertain, until now.

          As Bill Hicks said, doing a commercial makes you a sell-out. That's not so bad if you are an actor, particularly one who is short of cash, but it is bad if you are a comedian (like Mitchell or Webb) and it is worse if you ar

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by kentrel ( 526003 )
            As Bill Hicks said, doing a commercial makes you a sell-out. That's not so bad if you are an actor, particularly one who is short of cash, but it is bad if you are a comedian

            Woody Allen and John Cleese must be sell-out hacks then... I love Bill Hicks, but he also genuinely believed he was abducted by aliens. His word isn't scripture.

            If, as a fan (allegedly) you no longer think their work is valid simply because they've done a commercial then you're more than welcome to find some new obscure comedy gr

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by GilesP ( 100019 )
            Of course, the fact that both of them have done numerous voice overs in ads (both tv and radio) for ages means they became "sell outs" a while back.

            It doesn't detract from the fact that they produce some damned funny work and will no doubt continue to do so for some time to come. Besides, why shouldn't they make some money while they are at the "height" of their careers? If the only way is down as you imply, then they'll need something in the old retirement fund.
          • I think Bill Hicks was only pissed that nobody met his price to do commercials. Besides, ranting against the "sell-outs" has always been an easy way to establish your indie credentials.
            • Riiight.

              "Oh, you know what Bill's doing, he's going for that indie dollar. That's a good market, he's very smart."

              Oh man, I am not doing that. You fucking evil scumbags!

              "Ooh, you know what Bill's doing now, he's going for the righteous indignation dollar. That's a big dollar. A lot of people are feeling that indignation. We've done research - huge market. He's doing a good thing." ...

  • The ads from Apple UK (Score:5, Informative)

    by wenzi ( 6465 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @04:45AM (#17811404) Homepage
    You can see them here in QT instead of YouTube

    http://www.apple.com/uk/getamac/ [apple.com]

  • Wanting it both ways.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by goldcd ( 587052 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @04:56AM (#17811454) Homepage
    One advert makes the point that the 'PC' is a boring machine designed for boring office activities and the Mac is the free-spirited bundle'o'fun that'll bring joy an amusement to your home.
    Then a couple of adverts later, they proudly tell you how your Mac'll run MS Office, a package which pretty much defines 'non-fun office stuff'

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by moranar ( 632206 )

      Well, I think this is called "advertising", you know, where you try to make your product look better than the competition. Crazy stuff, I know.

      If this was about fair reporting, the ads would have said which platform has the most games, wouldn't they?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by malahoo ( 128370 )
      Yeah it does both.
      I use Ableton Live [ableton.com] for Mac. My friend just got one. In 10 minutes we
      • set up an adhoc wireless network with AirPort
      • Used Audio & Midi Settings (part of OS X) to get the Macs to talk to MIDI each other
      • Had his copy of Live on the Mac start & stop recording on my copy of Live.

      Stuff just works. Much less "turn it (comptuer/program/driver) off, then back on" crap.

      Also, the Live rarely crashes on the Mac, which was pretty frequent on my XP SP2 machine. Even when you unplug the chea

  • And that's Computerwang (Score:4, Funny)

    by 91degrees ( 207121 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @04:57AM (#17811458) Journal
    Today our contestants are Simon, who's a PC, and Julie who's also a Mac...

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Zelos ( 1050172 )
      If they can get us to brush our tongues, they can get us to buy a Mac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlbSMclD6H8 [youtube.com]
    • My favourite was always Big Talk.

      The week on Big Talk we've collected Britain's four best boffins to tell us which is better, PC or Mac. No debate, you're supposed to be intelligent, just tell me which one is better!

      It would shorten the average slashdot article at least.

  • hmmm (Score:2, Insightful)

    by TB ( 7206 )
    "Hello, Im a Mac, AND IM A PC. Im all about fun on holidays, looking cool and being a rebel. IM ALL ABOUT GAMES. I dont have any games. I DO, INFACT I HAVE SO MANY GAMES NO MATTER HOW MANY OF THESE ADS WE MAKE I WILL ALWAYS BE IN FRONT. Oh. YUP. So these ads wont do anything to help MacOS? NOPE. Bugger"
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • One's a smug, self-important wanker and the other's a pretentious git. Sounds perfect for Apple. Sorry, having a bad day.

  • Most ads suck (Score:3, Insightful)

    by yeber ( 1027464 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @06:51AM (#17811980)
    and I would include the mac ones. I am a mac user and always have been, but the way these ads are presented does nothing but perpetuate the fanboi propoganda.

  • Whhat the real advert should have looked like (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TractorBarry ( 788340 ) on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @07:00AM (#17812024) Homepage
    Hmmm.... I think the real advert would have featured 4 people.

    1 I'm a Windows PC. I'm a crappy, bug riddled, OS which crashes frequently and is prone to getting "pwned" by 6 year old kids using copy & paste scripts. I'm a slut with syphilis.

    2 I'm a MAC PC. I'm a reliable, pretty OS that only runs on overpriced hardware. I'm an effete snob.

    3 I'm Linux. I'll run on almost anything but most of my desktop applications are simply not as good or usable as their Windows/MAC equivalents. I don't need consistency because everyone should "just do their own thing". I'm a hippy.

    4 I'm *BSD. I spend most of my time locked in a cupboard quietly and reliably running all the important things on some old crappy hardware. I'm that weird guy down the road with an IQ of 260 and who's building a space shuttle out of old car parts.

    Bah... If you ask me all PC operating systems are a bit crappy. If only we could have something which combined the development speed and hackability of Linux, the reliability and security of *BSD, the beauty of OSX and the consistency of behaviour and range of desktop programs of Windows. All running on commodity hardware. Maybe one day ?
  • And man, I'm feeling more hip and cool by the minute...

  • Peep Show (Score:5, Informative)

    by caluml ( 551744 ) <slashdotNO@SPAMspamgoeshere.calum.org> on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @07:26AM (#17812136) Homepage
    Mitchell, and Webb, for the non-UKians here do a very funny show called Peep Show [calum.org] which I only found out a few months ago, and have been raving about ever since!
  • It's the old ads with british accents. The least they could have done is written new ones with allusions to brit society...

    And is it me or does the mac not really look that hip compared to the american ads?

    Tom

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Lars T. ( 470328 )

      It's the old ads with british accents. The least they could have done is written new ones with allusions to brit society...

      And is it me or does the mac not really look that hip compared to the american ads?

      Tom
      The US adds were talking about how the people in Britain were working longer hours than in any other country in Europe?

      Or did they further divide "Hijincks" into "Capers, monkey-business and just larking about"?

  • If they are going to come out with versions for each country, the Canadian version will probably be patterned after Bob and Doug McKenzie [wikipedia.org]

    Bob: G'day! I'm a Mac!
    Doug: And I'm a PC, eh?
    Bob: Today I'm gonna show you how I can run Microsoft Office applications, eh?
    Doug: No way, eh?! That's my job!
    Bob: Take off! Look at this chart that shows how much beer and back bacon I need to get me through the Stanley Cup Playoffs, eh?
    Doug: You hoser! That's not enough beer!
    Bob: Take off!

    After that they can do commercials us
  • I thought the 3rd one down (the virus) was really funny.

    I'm going to crash now....

  • And yet... (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by stubear ( 130454 )
    ...they're still full of sh!t. What Apple fails to realize, or they do yet insist on falsely representing the facts, is that PCs are not made by Microsoft, only the OS is and even then not every PC uses Windows. The Vista upgrade ad is especially annoying considering the upcoming release of Leopard. How long do you think developers are going to support universal binaries? Leopard may be built to run on G4s and G5s as well as the Intel Macs but the G4s are not going to perform very well and the G5s are g

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by iangoldby ( 552781 )

      Who cares if a notebook comes with a camera? Yet another feature Apple crams down your throat, increasing the cost of the system.
      If you really don't want a camera then, buy a Dell or something.

      I'm about to purchase a Dell M2010 and it's got a camera built-in.
      <confused>

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by stubear ( 130454 )
        I'm not specifically looking for a notebook with a camera, it just so happens that the M2010 has one so there goes the Mac ads inference that only macs come pre-built with a camera in them. PCs did this BEFORE Apple anyway. As for my initial comment about who cares, Apple makes it seem like this is a killer feature of their notebooks. I doubt many Mac users turn the camera on except to play with the Photo Booth. I'd wager that the statistical margin of error would dwarf the number of users using iChat A

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