Apple Pulls The Plug On 'Get a Mac' Ad Campaign

Apple has removed all references to the Get a Mac ads from its web site. Originally launched in 2006, the campaign delighted Apple fans with dozens of humorous spots featuring actors John Hodgman, as PC, and Justin Long, as Mac. Get a Mac has now been replaced by the “Why you’ll love a Mac” campaign, which, currently, only exists as a set of pages on Apple’s website. No TV ads just yet.

“Why get a new PC and just upgrade your computer, when you can get a Mac and upgrade your entire computer experience?” Apple’s first argument goes. The “Why you’ll love a Mac” campaign focuses on five key areas - better hardware, better software, better OS, better support and compatibility - for which Apple has set up five separate web pages, detailing each in part.

The centerpiece is “better hardware.” Apple is proud to let everyone know that its Macs are “made from strong, beautiful materials like aluminum and glass” and ship with state-of-the-art technology, like powerful processors, advanced graphics, and fast memory, the company says. “And it has features you won’t find on a PC. So from the outside in, a Mac is designed to be a better computer,” a rough description of your typical Macintosh computer goes. Apple goes to mention that Macs are “designed to last,” “born to perform,” and feature long-lasting batteries.

Every one of these pages ends with a link to the next. From “better hardware,” website visitors are taken to the “better software” section, where Apple states, “A computer that comes with applications for the basic, day-to-day things? That’s expected. A computer that lets you do them in amazingly fun and easy ways? That’s a Mac.” The focus is, of course, the iLife suite of applications. Apple isn’t cheap for words when it comes to iCal, AddressBook and Mail either.

Skipping “better OS,” which pretty much everyone knows what to expect from, we’d like to point your attention to the “better support” section, where the Cupertino-based electronics vendor indirectly justifies why it manages to top so many customer satisfaction surveys.

The “it’s compatible” area explains how stuff created on a Windows PC is also usable on a Mac, and vice versa, such as music, pictures, PDFs, Microsoft Office documents, etc. The entire Windows operating system can be run on Mac OS X, Apple further explains to those yet unaware of a Mac’s capabilities. The section focusing on compatibility also mentions peripherals and networking, with Apple noting that, “Almost any device that connects via USB, audio cable, or Bluetooth wireless technology will work with a Mac. You can start using these devices from the moment you plug them in.”

Visit Apple here to learn more about the new “Why you’ll love a Mac” campaign.