I'm a PC
Encyclopedia
"I'm a PC" is the title for a television advertising campaign
created for Microsoft
by ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky
(CPB). The series first began to appear in September, 2008. The new series of commercials replace those that featured the pairing of Jerry Seinfeld
and Bill Gates
.
The $300 million dollar advertising campaign was designed to challenge Apple's
Get a Mac
campaign by showing everyday people to be PC users.
, mixed martial artist Rashad Evans
, actress Eva Longoria
, photographer Geoff Green and singer Pharrell Williams
.
The campaign was created by the CPB advertising agency and exhibited normal PC users to be found everywhere. It was the second phase of Microsoft's 2008 efforts to displace the ubiquity of Apple's "Get a Mac" ads, which portrayed the Mac as "cool and intuitive" and the PC as "boring and clunky". The Microsoft spots typically opened with an image of Sean Siler, a Microsoft employee stating "I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype".
The composition was made to be initially resemble that of the Apple campaign, as Siler resembles John Hodgman
, the "PC" counterpart to Justin Long
as a Mac in the Apple commercials.
The advertisements are also interspersed with various non-famous users who proclaim "I'm a PC" from a variety of places and in a number of methods. The intent is to demonstrate how PC users are ordinary people.
being run on Apple computers.
The link between the advertisements and Apple computers was initially noted by a Flickr
user who found traces of Apple's operating system
and Adobe's CS3 graphics program embedded within the officially released images. Computerworld
published similar findings, noting when the file properties of the images found at the Microsoft press site are examined the embedded string 'Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh' can be seen. According to an InformationWeek
blog Microsoft responded overnight by digitally scrubbing
the metadata
from the images.
In an official press release Microsoft responded to the criticism, stating "as is common in almost all campaign workflow, agencies and production houses use a wide variety of software and hardware to create, edit, and distribute content, including both Macs and PCs".
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
created for Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
by ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Crispin Porter + Bogusky , a member of publicly-traded MDC Partners, is an advertising agency that currently employs around 1,000 people. It was founded in 1965 by Sam Crispin.. Crispin then became partners with Chuck Porter and Alex Bogusky...
(CPB). The series first began to appear in September, 2008. The new series of commercials replace those that featured the pairing of Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
and Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
.
The $300 million dollar advertising campaign was designed to challenge Apple's
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
Get a Mac
Get a Mac
The Get a Mac campaign is a television advertising campaign created for Apple Inc. by TBWA\Media Arts Lab, the company's advertising agency, that ran from 2006 to 2009...
campaign by showing everyday people to be PC users.
Campaign
The ad series features prominent and popular individuals saying "I'm a PC" and has appearances by common international users as well as personalities such as writer Deepak ChopraDeepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own medical center, with a focus on...
, mixed martial artist Rashad Evans
Rashad Evans
Rashad Anton Evans is an American mixed martial artist from Niagara Falls, New York, currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Evans won the heavyweight division of The Ultimate Fighter 2. Evans lost the UFC Light Heavyweight...
, actress Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
, photographer Geoff Green and singer Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...
.
The campaign was created by the CPB advertising agency and exhibited normal PC users to be found everywhere. It was the second phase of Microsoft's 2008 efforts to displace the ubiquity of Apple's "Get a Mac" ads, which portrayed the Mac as "cool and intuitive" and the PC as "boring and clunky". The Microsoft spots typically opened with an image of Sean Siler, a Microsoft employee stating "I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype".
The composition was made to be initially resemble that of the Apple campaign, as Siler resembles John Hodgman
John Hodgman
John Kellogg Hodgman is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All, he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long's personification of a Mac in...
, the "PC" counterpart to Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
as a Mac in the Apple commercials.
The advertisements are also interspersed with various non-famous users who proclaim "I'm a PC" from a variety of places and in a number of methods. The intent is to demonstrate how PC users are ordinary people.
Windows 7
Since the release of Windows 7, Microsoft has aired several advertisements under this campaign demonstrating the features of their new operating system. The ads typically focus on one person and end with the tagline "I'm a PC and Windows 7 was my idea."Criticism
Criticism of Microsoft's press site for the campaign, mostly found on Internet technology portals and blogs, focused around the allegation that the four still images of the campaign posted at the site contained digital fingerprints from Adobe PhotoshopAdobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
being run on Apple computers.
The link between the advertisements and Apple computers was initially noted by a Flickr
Flickr
Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
user who found traces of Apple's operating system
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
and Adobe's CS3 graphics program embedded within the officially released images. Computerworld
Computerworld
Computerworld is an IT magazine that provides information for senior IT leaders. It is published in many countries around the world under the same or similar names. Its publisher is International Data Group. Computerworld serves the needs of IT management via print and online...
published similar findings, noting when the file properties of the images found at the Microsoft press site are examined the embedded string 'Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh' can be seen. According to an InformationWeek
InformationWeek
InformationWeek is a weekly print magazine, an online site with corresponding face-to-face and virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California and was first published in 1979 by CMP Media, later called CMP Technology. On February 29, 2008, CMP Technology was...
blog Microsoft responded overnight by digitally scrubbing
Data scrubbing
Data scrubbing is an error correction technique which uses a background task that periodically inspects memory for errors, and then corrects the error using ECC memory or another copy of the data...
the metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
from the images.
In an official press release Microsoft responded to the criticism, stating "as is common in almost all campaign workflow, agencies and production houses use a wide variety of software and hardware to create, edit, and distribute content, including both Macs and PCs".