Fake right, go left

While many people, including myself, have given Microsoft's Seinfeld spots a mixed review, I think their new work fills a void long felt by a large part of the population. From the first spot, "Pride," which begins by poking fun at Apple for being so elitist and trying to make the rest of us feel stupid and un-hip for not having Apple products, to the half-dozen or more following spots Crispin Porter + Bogusky made in much the same format, Microsoft tells us that it's okay to use the same type of computer as 90% of the U.S. population.

Apple has taken great pains to establish its image - the hip, educated, understated socialite. The new ads from Crispin, however, take that positive and turn it into a negative. They let Apple's hard-fought, narrow image pigeon hole Apple to a tiny percent of the population (Apple still only represents about 15-20% of personal computers sold), while illustrating the diversity of PC users. All in all, I put it in the win column for Microsoft.

Of course, Apple has already fired one back across the bow. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a clever counter.

I should be clear that I'm no anti-Mac. Check through my posts and you'll see plusses and minuses for both PCs and Macs. I'm just not a Mac fanatic and I like to skip the hype and get to the substance. Mac has certainly done its job well, though- as an advertising creative, I've been talked down to many times for not being a Mac fanatic. Macs are certainly good for certain uses, like graphics and audio/video editing, but make sure you're using the tool, not the other way around.