When looking at themes across the internet, is interesting to note that the spread of these ‘brands’ do not stop once they achieve a sizeable online presence. Politicians, businesses, and companies – to name a few parties – all take advantage of these brands to market their own wares. Yet, these images can also be used against an individual or a certain idea.

The most classic and probably famous example of a single marketing strategy is the online Mac vs PC ad campaign, spearheaded by Apple, which promotes a certain brand or image of the two tech companies. The Mac character is portrayed as a hip individual labeled as progressive and cool whilst the PC is characterized as conservative, bumbling, and boring. This commercial played upon these stereotyped characterizations in a series of 66 advertisements.[1] One week after launch the Mac vs PC ads received over 1,500,000 views. Clearly recognizing a winning strategy, Apple continued to exploit the success of their Mac vs PC campaign. They continued to market the same ad type long after Microsoft had used and recycled at least four advertisement strategies: Bake Sale, V Word, Bean Counter, I’m a PC.[2] The successful use of a single advertising campaign by Apple shows that viewers are not necessarily interested in variety. They look for a single idea that they can latch upon and create a ‘fanbase’ around. The negative characterization of Microsoft as an out-of-date old man is a stereotype that would remain years after the campaign ceased producing ads. Despite an aggressive response, Microsoft failed to generate enthusiasm for its new advertisements, in part because the Mac vs PC campaign was so ingrained into modern technological society. The media characterization of Microsoft can also be likened to the media lambasting and lampooning of Mitt Romney during the 2012 Presidential election. The Mac vs PC campaign was definitely a significant factor in the ‘creation’ of the Apple fanboy – a stereotypical Mac/Apple Product lover who purchases all the latest hardware despite few changes updates in the devices. While this particular fandom is not necessarily as large as others that exist, there is definitely a sizeable group of individuals who love to extoll the virtues of Apple products. To a certain extent, the media has also taken up this calling and it has almost become a necessity to disparage Microsoft products.

What is interesting is looking at this phenomenon outside the context of the virtual world. Although these advertisements are not necessarily targeted towards an online audience, they were initially extremely popular online. However, now the culture or brand generated by these advertisements has percolated through to modern society, especially in technology savvy hubs such as Silicon Valley, or even school such as Stanford. In the college environment it is almost essential that any potential computer science major supports Apple products or uses them in their daily life. Even the assignments are made easier for Mac users since they are supported on the latest version of the operating system and programming environment whereas for a Windows machine, the assignments can only be done on a 4-year out of date software. The Mac vs PC ad campaign is not necessarily directly responsible for this phenomenon, but it may have initially launched idea of a ‘cool’ Mac. Due to a strong online community, this has been encouraged until, in societies where technology is extremely relevant, a Mac is an essential product.

[1] http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/apples-get-mac-complete-campaign-130552

[2] http://www.brandinfection.com/2008/11/01/mac-vs-pc-campaign-an-analysis/