Writing papers...

... is like pulling teeth.

I'm doing an analysis of three of the Get a Mac Apple campaign ads, specifically Surgery, Security and V Word, and am trying desperately to relate them to semiotics and sign imagery (older man in suit vs. younger hip guy).

GOOD TIMES.

I did things backwards this time around -- went to bed for a few hours around midnight, woke up at 4:30 and have been researching/watching since. Productivity? Me? The world must be ending.

(Also, my choice for the campaign doesn't mean I'm all go Mac now. FYI. I may hate Microsoft and Windows, but I still dislike Macs in general, no matter HOW shiny and pretty they are.)

Heh, an epiphany.

So, in studying the Get a Mac campaign as well as my social theory...

PC is undermined in three separate ways.

1) His general lack of cool. Always wearing suits (41 of 46 commercials aired in the North American market show him in a suit and tie), glasses, etc.
2) He looks much older than he is. Did you know the guy who plays PC is only 37? Seriously. Mac is played by a guy who's 30, but is made to look younger, so the overall effect is a 20 year difference between them. And youth has more purchasing power in general.
3) Men are not generally the main purchasers in a household, according to my readings, or at least haven't been, historically. It's the woman of the house who does the shopping, who makes the decisions.

So even IF PC wasn't always bitching about Vista, which he is, we're still not going to take him seriously because he's not cool, he's old and because he doesn't do the purchasing in his household ANYWAYS.

Thinking back to growing up, it's totally true -- my dad bought electronic stuff, granted, but everything else was my mom's decision. If my dad went grocery shopping, he came home with ALL the wrong brands and types of food. Hell, my dad STILL makes mistakes in buying electronic stuff. He bought an HP computer. Who the hell buys HP COMPUTERS? Printers, sure, they're awesome, but I once knew someone who worked at HP and said she'd never buy an HP computer. Ever. And he did this AFTER I advised him against it. It's like I'm the woman of the house/family when it comes to computers. My poor dad has no purchase power whatsoever.

Wow. Poor Dad!

Head. exploding.

Amazing how many epiphanies one can have in a morning.

http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/apple/getamac/apple-getamac-surgery_480x376.mov

If PC has decided that Mac gets his peripherals if he doesn't make it, he's just made Mac his heir.

What's an heir? A successor. The next in line. What will replace the old.

Aw yeah, I'm on a roll.

---

mtgat - no reply needed, just know I'm sending good vibes your way, darlin'.

Whew.

Paper handed in. I was only about 40 minutes late for my 2h45m class and next up after this short break is a documentary.

Even better, no work to do later tonight, save for my weekly report, which means I get to go level in WoW. :)

Seriously, though, Apple is EVIL and CONNIVING and the more I learn about advertising, the more I hate it. I chose the Get a Mac ad campaign because I genuinely enjoy those commercials, but DAMN, Apple is the devil!

At least we KNOW Microsoft is evil. You just plain have no idea that Mac is just as bad!