Justin Long, the actor featured in Apple’s “Get a Mac” ads, is switching sides, and joining Intel to promote Windows PCs.
On Wednesday, Intel released five video ads that feature Long touting the benefits of Windows PCs while taking several jabs at Apple’s Mac ecosystem. “So with a PC I can plug up to three monitors at the same time, but with a Mac I can plug in one?” Long says in one of the ads.
A decade ago, Long famously played a cool, but casual Mac computer in Apple’s ad campaign against actor John Hodgman, who embodied a dull, inept Windows PC. The commercials claimed Macs were better than PCs for a variety of reasons, including a lack of computer viruses, minimal bloatware, and no need to deal with the dreaded Windows Vista.
Back then, Long always introduced himself, first saying “Hello, I’m a Mac.” But this time in the Intel ads, Long simply introduces himself as Justin.
“Just a real person doing a real comparison between a Mac and a PC,” he continues. Of course, don’t expect a real objective comparison with context. Long was clearly paid to take some digs at his former employer.
“Oh cool, this whole thing is a touch screen,” Long says while using an Intel-powered Windows laptop in one of the ads. “Now for Mac. Let’s see. Oh you got a little (touch) bar here. A baby one,” he says, only to accidentally hit the wrong key on the bar.
The ads may appeal to mainstream consumers who know little about computers. But they won’t convince Mac fans or PC enthusiasts aware of the latest developments in the chip wars, and Intel’s weakening position.
Last year, Apple ditched Intel’s processors in its latest MacBooks. Instead, Apple has been designing its own ARM-based chips to power the products—and the results have so far been impressive, often besting Intel’s Core processors in speed and battery life.
In response, Intel last month released a new “Go PC” ad campaign that takes swipes at Apple’s Mac products. Now it’s hired Long to amp up the messaging. So far, the response on YouTube has been negative. All the videos currently have more thumbs down than thumbs up.
