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Justin Long No Longer A Mac 333

Posted by Zonk from the maybe-now-he's-beos dept.
david.emery writes "Wired is reporting that Apple will be replacing Justin Long as its 'Mac' in their 'I'm a Mac/I'm a PC' ad campaign. John Hodgman, the personification of the PC, is reportedly shooting new commercials." From the article: "Even people who hate the campaign find their core idea compelling enough to endlessly satirize the series on YouTube. The one enduring criticism of the ads is that John Hodgman's PC is funnier and more likable than Justin Long's sleazy hipster doofus Mac. (just what was he saying to that hot new camera from Japan?) Hodgman is a riot (just read "The Areas of My Expertise" if you don't believe me), but I'm not sure how the new series of ads goes on from here. Is there a new Mac? Does Hodgman become the Mac?"
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Justin Long No Longer A Mac More

Justin Long No Longer A Mac

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  • right on time!

  • Movie star? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11, 2006 @11:49PM (#16810708)
    From TFA: O RLY, a huge movie star? Why, he was billed 17th in "Dodgeball"! And who could forget his star turn in "Jeepers Creepers II"! Why, I bet he's even bigger than Bronson Pinchot, and that dude's enormous!

    Apparently the author hasn't seen "Accepted." Hilarious movie. I'll forgive him, though, because he used O RLY in a news article.
  • We're now analyzing an ad campaign's casting moves... must be a slow Saturday Night in geekland.

  • Is it because (Score:5, Interesting)

    by zr-rifle ( 677585 ) <zedr@@@zedr...com> on Saturday November 11, 2006 @11:50PM (#16810718) Homepage
    people like me found the PC dude much more amusing and likeable than the scruffy, elitist asshole Mac guy?
    • try reading the article SUMMARY and you'll find out the answer to this question and more!

    • Re:Is it because (Score:5, Funny)

      by SnowZero ( 92219 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @12:39AM (#16810994)
      I had always hoped the Linus Torvalds would come onto the screen, kick the Mac guy in the nuts, and say "I can run on your hardware too." Then, he can turn to the PC guy, tell him "It's not too late," and then walk away.

    • Seriously? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by aussersterne ( 212916 )
      I found the PC guy to be too obnoxious, I just want to hit him. The Mac guy seems like a fairly average Joe, reasonably likable. I don't get it. Elitist? He's got his hands in his pockets and he's wearing jeans. How is that elitist?! Anyway, the guy in the tie is always the elitist, it's a rule of nature.

    • No, it's not.. (Score:3, Interesting)

      by AWhiteFlame ( 928642 )
      ...It's more likely because his agent figured he was "hot stuff" which Apple couldn't live without and so he demanded too much money. Then Apple proceeded to say, 'Alright then. Goodbye', where then Long's agent had a massive 'oh crap' moment and heart attack.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I'll never buy Apple products because of their shitty advertising. Apple, you just lost yourself a customer!

      *chaching* Wha? I'm sorry AC, I couldn't hear you.

      I said you just lost yourself a customer!

      *kaching* AC you're going to have to speak up.

      YOU JUST LOST YOURSELF A CUSTOMER, APPLE!

      *change* Yeah, you can use it!

    • people like me found the PC dude much more amusing and likeable than the scruffy, elitist asshole Mac guy?

      But look at it another way. Consider if they had cast some real jerk into the role of PC. Essentially they would be insulting PC users. By casting a likeable friendly type, they are saying PC users are really OK Joes, and given the opportunity would like to have something better. I think it's a pretty savvy casting myself.

  • What does this imply about PC's and mac's (Score:5, Insightful)

    by everphilski ( 877346 ) on Saturday November 11, 2006 @11:51PM (#16810722) Journal
    Since they were both chosen as "types" of a machine ... what does this decision have to say about PC's versus a mac?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tb3 ( 313150 )
      That we feel a fuck of a lot more sorry for a Windows PC than we do for a Mac?
    • that PC users who have insecurities about not being young, attractive or cool don't enjoy being forced to confront those feelings by Apple's marketing campaign?

      I didn't think he was smug at all, and he obviously wouldn't have been designed as smug. so it's really just in the hostile minds of the insecure but Apple still wants to sell to those people.

      it's like the way you always get people in ipod threads complaining that the ipod is cool and so people buying it is some sort of problem. I'm fairly certain th
      • I ran a lab of PCs and Macs and have been using Powerbooks as my main personal computer for a long time. But some of Apple's stance is a bit of FUD when it comes to the differences between Macs and PCs. For instance, for those using AVID, more people will use a PC over a Mac. DV (Digital Video) did a test with the new Core2Duo and did a variety of tasks on the same machine in OS X and XP. XP blew OS X away.

        I am not saying this as a PC fan boy. Remember, I use a Powerbook, not a Dell or Toshiba. I feel

    • Re:What does this imply about PC's and mac's (Score:5, Funny)

      by MeanMF ( 631837 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @12:46AM (#16811028) Homepage
      It proves that much like a Mac, if you want to upgrade your ad campaign you have to replace the whole thing and get a new one.

  • What he said to the Japanese girl: (Score:5, Funny)

    by straponego ( 521991 ) on Saturday November 11, 2006 @11:54PM (#16810744)
    "Is it true that you squeeze photographs out your ass?"

    • Re:What he said to the Japanese girl: (Score:5, Informative)

      by Speare ( 84249 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @01:50AM (#16811394) Homepage Journal

      Cute joke, I guess, but...

      • hajimemashite - nice to meet you (lit. "it has begun")
      • yoroshiku onegai shimasu - rhetorical how do you do / look forward to working together (lit. "favor me, please")
      • arigatou - thank you
        • I couldn't quite make out her response with the other babbling going on, but I think it was like, "nah nah, it wasn't much."

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Gogo0 ( 877020 )
        Mod parent +5 correct.

        I couldnt really understand the rest of what they said over the constant acknowledgments from Mac (sou sou), but she asked who the other guy was and made a comment.
        He had a bad accent, but what did I expect from someone who memorized three expressions for a tv commercial?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by KH ( 28388 )
        At the end she says: "Dare ano hito? (Who is he?) Otaku-poku nai? (Doesn't he look like an otaku/nerd?)"

  • Japanese version (Score:4, Funny)

    by Srsen ( 413456 ) on Saturday November 11, 2006 @11:59PM (#16810772)
    This is a must see - the Japanese version [apple.com] of the Get a Mac ads.

    Not the Americans dubbed in Japanese - these are Japanese actors doing the same shtick. Hi-larious.

    • Oh my god. That's the funniest shit I've seen.. well, since I saw Patrick Stewart in an extra talking about tits about fifteen minutes ago. Thank you for the entertainment.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by McFadden ( 809368 )

        Oh my god. That's the funniest shit I've seen.. well, since I saw Patrick Stewart in an extra talking about tits about fifteen minutes ago. Thank you for the entertainment.

        Good to see that some Slashdot readers still exhibit the mental age of a 12-year old when it comes to laughing at someone simply because they're speaking another language in an "oh look at those funny Japanese" kindof way.

        Frankly, they're not doing anything that the American actors didn't do, so one wonders what else makes it "the fun

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by vistic ( 556838 ) *
      Wonder if some poor guy in Japan is getting fired because Justin Long has lost his spark.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by earthbound kid ( 859282 )
      I can (sort of) speak Japanese. The three ads are from left to right: "Mac & PC" "Virus" "iLife" (ok, so the last one was a gimme)

      In the "Mac & PC" they note that Macs are technically just a kind of personal computer then wonder why Mac gets a special name as part of that, but other computers are just "PCs." Mac suggests its a kind of nickname because people enjoy their Macs. As a nickname for the other other kind of PCs, they suggest "Work," (which sounds like Mac in Japanese).

      In "Virus," PC gets o

    • That's the Rahmens (Score:3, Informative)

      by Mantle ( 104724 )
      That looks like "The Rahmens", a very well known comedy duo in Japan. Here is a sample of their best work illustrating how to eat sushi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIb6ZSqal64&feature =PlayList&p=51CAE8F9A6BB401A&index=7 [youtube.com]

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by d_jedi ( 773213 )
      Ooh kay. That's funny.. why?
      It's all gibberish to me..

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hritcu ( 871613 )
      German version [apple.com]
    • Were they talking about drinking vodka? I heard "vodka" at the end.

  • Obligatory PS3 vs. Wii parody video... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Manchot ( 847225 ) on Saturday November 11, 2006 @11:59PM (#16810774)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpYgNz6W6Gs [youtube.com]

    It was produced by G4.
  • Justin Long as there will be new ads. I'm Justin love with the current ones, personally.
  • Maybe they can get the Hot Japanese Camera to play the Mac?

  • "Does Hodgman become the Mac?" (Score:4, Funny)

    by NerveGas ( 168686 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @12:17AM (#16810868)

        It would only be fitting. If imitation IS the most sincere form of flattery, then PCs should be awfully flattered. Waaaay back in the day, Macs had a selling point of being able to read PC diskettes. Then they started boasting that they could run PC programs. After that, you were able to buy an add-in card with a Pentium CPU, on which to run your Windows apps. Now, they run on Intel hardware, and you can boot into Windows.

        As much as I respect Macs for what they are and do, for all of their "We're different" attitude, they just can't seem to stop with the "Me, too!" actions.

          Ah, well. Here goes nothing, Maccers, start modding me down....

  • Intimidating Stars (Score:5, Funny)

    by Slyfoot ( 1020559 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @12:23AM (#16810898)
    The commercial needs some intimidating stars, to reflect the intimidating arguments Mac and PC users perenially fling at each other. I say we get Alan Rickman to be the Mac, and Christopher Walken to be the PC. Then users can choose the lesser of two evils...

  • I'm glad he's gone (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Pink Tinkletini ( 978889 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @12:23AM (#16810902) Homepage
    Justin Long has only been using Macs for a few years, from what I hear, just since they became trendy. But John Hodgman is the real deal—a Mac user since '84, and a talented writer in Brooklyn, too. I've seen him around the neighborhood, and all the girls go wild for him in real life. No kidding.

    • Re:I'm glad he's gone (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Pink Tinkletini ( 978889 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @12:27AM (#16810930) Homepage
      Here, I found this interview with John Hodgman [thephoenix.com], in which he drops this telling quote: "I myself am a Mac user. I bought the very first Mac, or convinced my father to buy it, in 1984. I used it through high school and college; it was the first computer I used outside of college, then I went though a brief period of exile during my corporate years as a professional literary agent, where I was forced to use a PC . . . . Mac has always gotten the design and the interface down pat. They just know it. PC's efforts to emulate this, and its constant failing, and its self-satisfied arrogance about it being the most used platform in the world, all of that made it very easy to craft a character who, while he is a boob, and often concerned about how he comes off, at his core really feels bad for the Mac. Is really so delusional to believe he's much cooler than the Mac. The whole reason they're standing in that white room is because he's trying to help the Mac out."
  • He says "Pleased to meet you" (two different phrases, but add up to that) and "Thank you" for the picture, and she says "Hey, hey, doesn't he (the PC) seem kinda geeky?"

    FWIW he doesn't sound like he actually speaks japanese, just for the ad. But maybe he does. Yo, Justin, work on your accent! Ganbatte!
  • I could imagine someone else being in that position, but not really a different character.

    Hodgman, as the PC person, is supposed to be the bumbling-buffoon comic relief.

  • And the appropriate joke for the story (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kingrames ( 858416 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @01:03AM (#16811094)
    Mac: Whatcha got there?

    PC: Games.

    Mac: Can I play?

    PC: No.

    Mac: Aww! No fair.

    PC: All right. you can play them in 2 years, if you're lucky.

  • heh.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Heem ( 448667 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @01:29AM (#16811206) Homepage Journal
    I always thought it would be great if a penguin waddled into those commercials and bitch-slap both of them.
  • Who wants to see more of Ellen Fleiss?

  • When will they stop making asses of themselves? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by IntergalacticWalrus ( 720648 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @02:49AM (#16811710)
    I don't know anyone who actually likes those dumb ads, in fact it usually makes them hate Macs even more.

    The usual responses I hear:
    "PCs are no fun? Don't Macs get like, no games? What a bunch elitist assholes! Who gives a shit about making picture albums!"
    "Macs are safer? Of course they are, you don't get to do anything with it because there's none of the software I use!"
    "That Mac guy looks arrogant, not sure why. The PC guy looks friendlier though. Hey, in fact he looks a lot like that guy on that Jon Stewart show. Now THAT'S a funny guy."

    Now tell me slashdot, am I living in some bizzaro world or are Apple really shooting themselves in the foot?

    (Disclaimer: Not a Mac hater myself. Long time Linux user who's seriously thinking of buying one of those nice Core 2 Duo MacBooks real soon...)

    • I don't know anyone who actually likes those dumb ads, in fact it usually makes them hate Macs even more.

      I like them. They don't make me want to buy a Mac. I guess its not an effective commercial for my demographic. I prefer commodity hardware (even if I occasionally buy it as a pre-assembled package) and a commodity OS.

      I can see how these commercials would really piss off Windows fans. In fact - I've seen some of the Windows fanboy spoofs on YouTube... and I have to chuckle at how much it apparently

    • I saw one of the Mac commercials talking about how Macs work out-of-the-box, and thinking about what happens when you want to upgrade.
      That would be an awesome parody commercial. Justin Long exits, a new Mac guy comes in. PC Guy: "What happened?" Mac Guy: "I upgraded." PC Guy: "Why are you so different?" Mac Guy: "I have to have a whole new computer to upgrade." PC Guy: "I don't need to do that." Mac Guy: "Prove it." PC Guy gets his arm screwed off and a huge robot arm put on. Smacks the Mac Guy.
  • ...ok, that's harsh, but the reality is that, as his publicist put it, "Justin is movie star." Hmm... seems like he got way more exposure doing the mac ads. Movie star my ass.

  • John Hodgeman (Score:5, Funny)

    by PhotoGuy ( 189467 ) on Sunday November 12, 2006 @09:20AM (#16813110) Homepage
    John had a very funny bit on the daily show, where he was explaining the internet (after the "series of tubes" event). He started out with envelopes, representing packets, and said "for example, say I'm a computer..." Jon Stewart interrupted him and said "what kind of computer would you be?" After a bunch of evasive answers ("oh some kind of microcomputer"), with Jon unrelenting, he finally dropped his shoulders, sighed, and said "I'm a PC..." Hilarious.

    (I was kind of waiting for a reference to the commercials on the Daily Show, and they delivered :)

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