Under The Influence is recorded in the Terstream Mobile Recording studio - a 1969 Airstream trailer that's been restored and transformed into a studio on wheels. You can also find us on the CBC Radio app or subscribe to our Podcast. Laughter can be heard from the crowd watching Bill Gates' reaction.įor more stories from Under The Influence, click or tap on the 'Listen' tab to hear the full episode. When Jobs was asked about the 'Get A Mac' campaign, he turned, looked at Gates, and said 'The art of those commercials is not to be mean, but actually for the guys to like each other.' It was one of the most vicious attack campaigns in recent history, a skilful iron fist tucked inside a velvet glove.Īt a rare talk back in 2007, Jobs and Gates were being interviewed together onstage. The genius of the 'Get A Mac' series was that it mocked Microsoft relentlessly, but it took the curse off the campaign by having Mac be kind to the PC character, throwing an arm around the lovable loser.Īpple's share of the computer desktop market more than doubled during the run of the campaign, and its stock price rose over 140%. Over 66 commercials were made, running from 2006 to 2009. Or as the world really knew, it was Steve Jobs talking to Bill Gates. Apple was personified by cool actor Justin Long, and Microsoft was represented by a decidedly un-cool John Hodgman. The 'Get A Mac' series is probably the most famous campaign to mock another brand. The spot was entitled 'iSheep.' It begins by showing people standing in line for hours in Chicago, San Francisco and New York:

Maybe the most famous of those ads was when Samsung openly mocked the way Apple fans will stand in line for hours just to get their hands on the latest iPhone. Samsung has gained incredible market share in the mobile phone category over the last decade.Īnd it has done so by mocking Apple outright in its advertising. Perhaps Jaguar wouldn't have mocked Mercedes so openly just a few years prior, but it had recently changed its tagline to say: 'It's Good To Be Bad.'Īnd this new brand positioning gave it more latitude to push the boundaries in the overly refined luxury car category. Jag had scoffed at the refined claim of 'body magic' in favour of raw power. 'Magic Body Control? We prefer cat-like reflexes. The camera pans to the right and reveals a real Jaguar cat licking its lips, having apparently swallowed the chicken. There is a sudden growl and a flutter of feathers floats to the ground.

Get a mac commercials