Most advertisers play on the psychological phenomenon of association/disassociation. An example of association/disassociation might be displayed in a comment like: “The trailblazers lost last night” when my team loses, and “We won last night” when my team wins. I disassociate from what I perceive as losing and associate with what I perceive as winning. I explain why I think we do this in Searching for God Know’s What, relating it all back to what really happened at the fall of man. But right now I want to address how we have all been duped by this phenomenon as it is used in Apple advertisements.
Advertisers carefully position their products next to people who carry social commodity. Often, this is sexual, but it can also be wealth, power, humor and wit (which in ways are all sexual, too). Advertisers, then, are associating their products with our biochemical desire to reproduce and carry on our lines, and also with a relational insecurity we all have regarding redemption. Usually, this is subtle, an attractive man or woman using a certain dish detergent or driving a certain car is seen touting a products significance.
Sexual fertility manifests itself in women in high cheek bones and a 70% waist-to-hip ratio, and in men through a chiseled jaw and broad shoulders. Usually, what we find immediately attractive in the opposite sex is actually our reproductive system wanting our line to survive.
And last years Apple campaign came just came right out and said it:
If you use Apple computers, you are more likely to get laid.
Essentially, the campaign stated if you are young, cool and smooth, you will use Apple products, and if you are fat, old and geeky, you will use IBM.
Here is a good example of the familiar ad:
What amazes me about these ads is that they appealed to and “worked” on an audience many people perceived as cynical about this sort of manipulation. Apple, having been a minority share-holder in the market branded themselves as aloof outsiders, swimming upstream in a culture of conformists. But in all reality, those of us who have fallen for this campaign are the worst offenders. I would even argue the use of Apple products, to some degree, mark us as the most insecure about our identities.
Apple products are defended with near-religious zest. But in our zest are we defending a company or our own identites? Perhaps what we’ve been offered is a brand to associate ourselves with, a brand that triggers our survival instincts, revealing we don’t believe we have enough to survive without this association? Perhaps the use of Apple products reveals insecurity more than it reveals confidence.
Consider Microsoft’s counter ads, which expose the stereotype being created by Apple, focussing on the use of a computer as a tool to do good in the world:
While the ad was true, I doubt it will do much to counter the sexual/social instincts Apple plays upon.
It could be argued that Apple has better product, but I don’t think this is true. There is plenty of superior product that has not taken off the way Apple product has. I think they have great products, and they are user-friendly to be sure, but this can hardly explain the explosion in sales and market share. Without good, user-friendly product, the ads wouldn’t carry the company, I know. It’s the combination of the two that is making Apple a successful company.
But my question isn’t so much about Apple as it is about us. In a culture where we are made to feel socially inferior if we don’t use certain brands or products, what does a true counter-culture look like?
If you think about it, the most confident of counter-culture heros aren’t talking on i-phones, wearing designer jeans or jumping in the air in their facebook photos (why are all the hipsters suddenly jumping in their facebook photos? Why didn’t anybody call me to say we were doing that?) but instead are the people most of us might not notice. The reason we don’t notice these people is because they offer us no beneficial association. They buy products because the products work, they buy jeans because they cover their asses, and coats because a certain coat will keep them warm. A true counter culture is not manipulated by the whims of fashion and therefore is not made up of fashionable people.
I’ve used Apple computers for about fifteen years now. If I had bought Apple stock with all the money I’ve spent buying Apple products, I’d own a lot of Apple Stock (it took me twenty minutes to give up on that line) and to be honest, I’ve been influenced by the commercials without even knowing it. Using a Mac has made me feel cool over the last few years.
It’s true most of my cool friends use Apple Computers. In fact, I think all of my cool friends use Apple Computers. All my friends in rock bands have I-phones. All the girls I know with high cheek bones have I-phones too. They don’t call me with them, but I’ve seen them talking on I-phones to my friends in rock bands. Maybe Apple products do help with fertility. I guess that’s a nature/nurture question. Or maybe all my cool friends are secretly fat losers on the inside. Who knows.
But the reality is, even though I use Apple products, I am not cool. I never have been. I don’t have a chiseled jaw or broad shoulders. I am the same approximate height and weight as the PC guy in the Apple ad, (not the bloated version, although I used to be) and I’m probably a couple years older than him.
Don’t feel sorry for me. It hurt to realize these things at the time, but the truth is I’m probably happier now than I’ve ever been. I don’t exactly know why, except I’m older and part of me has just given up on the game. It feels good to quit. The world will go on with or without me, and I don’t want to miss another sunset worrying about it.
That said, the reason I wrote all this was to ask you hipsters a question:
Would it be okay if I continued using Apple products? I don’t know how to use Windows.
And also, can somebody photoshop me jumping for my facebook photo? I don’t jump. I don’t much see the use of jumping.
P.S. I am about to get bombarded with a bunch of “apple is a superior brand with superior product” which I’ll have to talk about for a second.
this was not a bash of apple product. it was a bash on advertising. and on sin nature. that said, without the advertising strategy, the product would have never been sold, and the development dollars never earned. so we are all buying these products because of the advertising. i think the quality of the product is exceptional, but the two go hand in hand.
P.S.S. Reader Dave Stevens offers this: Thanks Dave!
Hurray for quitting the proverbial game! I think that’s when the REAL fun begins. Then you’re just kickin’ it with God on the 75, thinking about stuff, talkin’ in out with God, and God’s like, “Hey… I like you.” And you’re like, “Oh man, God, I keep forgetting that’s really all that matters… Why do I keep forgetting that??? I like you too… Remember that time you created bees, and how they make sweet, delicious honey for me to eat, but they also sting people like crazy?! That’s so crazy that you made something so tiny that brings both pleasure and pain. God! You so crazy!” and God would be like, “Yeah, I thought it was pretty great…” Those are the best days; transcending the game.
[...] Don Miller Blog » How Apple Plays Upon Our Insecurities [...]
im not sure i understand the difference between hip and unhip sinners. little help?
“mac boldly!” ~ martin luthers ghost
Oops- mac or pc
I think you should send this in to ‘Adbusters’ Magazine. I wonder if they use Apple computers? Maybe you could use an older “Macintosh” computer to be subtly cool and yet not succumb to Apple’s new consumerist sex appeal. (Apple used to be called Macintosh by the way). Serious about the Adbusters thing though.
Comment 106… What’s left to say except to contribute to the conversation that my Mac (Johnny) is a status piece. And furthermore, I’m ok with that. I am certainly not secure enough in myself to sit at Starbucks wearing my converse, texting on my iphone and writing on my… PC? No, no. That just won’t do. My last generation Macbook (I’m so cool and retro) with it’s unassuming white shell and glowing apple symbol is a beacon to those seated around me that not only am I unapproachably cool, but I don’t even know it. That it is a cool that was seemingly gifted to me from the gods. Like I slip my cool on over my Gap sweater before I leave the house and my cool doesn’t wear me. I wear my cool.
All that to say, one day maybe I’ll be secure enough in who I am in God to be seen with a PC. Maybe even one day I won’t need to be seen with anything. Maybe I’ll be content enough to brew a pot of coffee at home and type on my Underwood Five with my dog at my feet.
Until then, I’m the girl with the Mac. Man, she’s so cool.
[...] numerous computers each day. I own a PC and am occasionally picked on for it. The Mac fad has been on the minds of every musician, photographer, writer, poet, indie or any wannabes of the [...]
It seems that some are perhaps misunderstanding the point of the blog. The entry seems to be aimed at the psychosocial ploys that marketing firms make in order to get people to associate their product with a certain social image. Whether or not the actual function of their product is better or not seems to be irrelevant here. For instance, if Apple was just trying to pitch their product as functionally superior, then why not just list all of the superior functions? Why include relational images and comparisons at all? Might there really be a relational dynamic at work here that socially affirms are “functional” decisions?
I run windows xp often on my mac… what does this say about me?! I totally agree with you though Don that Apple has branded themselves w/ the “cool” audience and it is paying off. Problem is that’s what advertising is supposed to do – Advertising in my opinion would be a fascinating yet appalling industry to work in especially in today’s world. We are a world of media and advertising is a part of it… imagine an old guy in a wheelchair that doesn’t speak very well getting elected as President in today’s world (FDR).
Donny. I love you. =]
I feel like your getting old, and you are. I hope you write about what it’s like.
I don’t own any cool iGear, but those commercials sure make me wish I did. My friend and I call ourselves the ultimate consumers, and it’s true. We buy into the adds hook, line and sinker (especially with those catchy tunes and bright colors flashing in the background). iPhones do make a person seem sexier, but ironically Bluetooths make a person look completely self important. Explain that one to me.
According to these ads, Dell users are getting laid.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCRQojRbUe4.. Everything we sell in this country is driven by sex. It’s absurd. I will say that I use a Mac and I’ll never go back.
Crap. We’re jumping in our facebook pics? Thanks for the heads up. NOT. I bought my first mac in 1992 and paid more then than I did for my most recent apple. But I don’t think Justin Long is cool. He has no personality. Why is he in movies and why did Drew date him? And I’m going to take a pic of me jumping now.
I think the inaccuracy in this blog is not necessarily about PC or Mac, but “the reality is, even though I use Apple products, I am not cool. I never have been. I don’t have a chiseled jaw or broad shoulders. I am the same approximate height and weight as the PC guy in the Apple ad, (not the bloated version, although I used to be) and I’m probably a couple years older than him. ”
You’re not cool? You have a couple books out there than Christians fall all over themselves to say they’ve read so that they fall into the cool, not-up-tight, Christian category. From looking at your comments, you have at least 105 people that read your blog. You hang out with Jeremy Cowart, and a music photographer recently said he’s the best music photographer in America.
Since when do you have to be chiseled to be cool? Tell that to Jack Black or Bill Murray or Andy Warhol or Christopher Walken or Stephen Tyler (whether or not you think any of these people are cool aside, you get my point).
I’m not saying any of this to flatter you. I guess just questioning your definition of cool…
It wasn’t the ads that got me. I was actually totally against Macs until I walked into our new Apple store and started playing around with it, and I fell in love with the cool graphics and iLife, which allows you to do all the creative stuff. So for me, it was the fancy desktop and graphics that got me. I don’t care about the ads or what they say. And plus, I talked to other Mac users who love it, and I’ve noticed alot of musicians and artists who own one, and that’s who I associate myself with.
Great post! It makes me wonder if we have been using enough sexiness to market BWM to people.
Actually, I notice that this is also very true in the world of humanitarian aid… it is why issues of grave destruction like Disease and Famine can be called, “sexy.” Forging right past the obvious disconnections.
We are truly sexual beings.
I just bought a laptop for Christmas. I faced one of the hardest decisions of my life; Mac or PC. I wanted a Mac. I’ve used them before in graphic design and they are pretty good. But I’ve used a PC before and I’ve never had a problem with them. But I wanted a Mac because all of my friends have one. I wanted to fit in. Something in me just wanted to be apart of the Mac crowd. I realized this desire, and then bought a PC. It’s been working great and I saved about $400. I like to be a rebel sometimes.
Don, I seriously think you over thought this one. The ads are the ads and maybe those ads play on insecurities for 12-15yr olds but you and I as adults buy things because they work. I wear cheap jeans because they are cheap and they do what they are designed to do. I dont care about the commercials.
I would argue apple’s market share has gone up because duh they make great products.
Would you really stop using a mac if we told you to? Probably not. Why? Because they work and work really well.
I think the ads display exactly what mac is trying to convey and that is their products are better.
Cool: the quality of being fashionably attractive or impressive. Key word – Impressive!
Macs are impressive because they work. So yes they are cooler but for all the right reasons.
[...] recently posted about how Apple does a masterful job of manipulation, and even though we realize it for what it is, their ads still work. His points skewered me on a [...]
I barely know how to operate Windows. Mac confuses me even more. What I do know is that I am constantly a victim(or sucker) of advertisers. I want an iPhone, despite the fact that I don’t even text on the phone I have right now, much less use the internet apps the iPhone has. I think Coke is better than Pepsi, probably just because I like the celebrities that endorse Coke. And I like polar bears. It is amazing to me that no matter how old we get, we still crave acceptance, and still think that toys will gain that for us. We start out broken, and it seems like it takes Christ and about eighty years to put us back together.
Don,
I’m coming in way late here and didn’t have the chance to read all of the comments, so this very well could have been said.
There is a book out there called “Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture.” It takes what you’re discussing here and goes all the way back to the 60′s, to the “real” counterculture movement, and then brings it up to current times.
Its really fascinating! Give it a shot.
I use Apple and I’m not cool. I don’t think advertising works on me and have had this conversation with others many times before. I guess if I like something I like it because it works and it is well designed, that’s it. Although I do tell people that Apple is much better (in a user friendly sense) than Pc. Does that make me an Apple pimp?
Oh yeah. I forgot to say how much I HATE advertisements these days. Is it me, or are advertisements only trying to insult our intelligence and trying to get us to view life through a canned frame of mind and not to be free thinkers? Stupid Burger king.
Thanks for sharing some insight–it is certainly an interesting thought train you are elaborating. It is interesting how many insecurities manifest themselves in such a simple thing like Apple products, and how it fits together with…everything.
Specifically, I related with your counter-cultural paragraph. As a Christian, it is amazing how much in my own life I derive worth from being cool and hip (which I think translates into sexual attractiveness). Our culture runs on insecurity–especially of the sexual variety–and it affects me a ton. I try to be aware, but it is pretty subtle. And tricky. But like you said, we get to recognize it for what it is and go from there.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on Genesis and evolution–I’ve been working on some similar threads and always enjoy your input. Thanks for writing, and congrats for getting out of the game.
Maybe on the odd one out here, but I see the talent in what Apple advertisers are doing.
The fact is – we need advertising.We need them to show consumers our products, and to increase our pool of customers. It does take quite a bit of talent to be able to run a campaign of that caliber, and to have such an expounding return.
I think the important thing here is to realize that Apple Advertiers hit a nerve. And it should come as no surprise that we all want to be boss, accepted, and carry Macs. It’s in our DNA.
I’m more in awe that people could be talented enough to paint a picture so large that is is viewed and believed by so many.
Hi Don, this comment has nothing to do with your most recent blog entry. I just finished reading “BLUE LIKE JAZZ” and want to thank you for writing such a beautiful account of your faith. I appreciate your honesty and your openness to share your struggles with Christianity and/or Christian spirituality with the world. It’s crazy how everything about being a Christian should be about the other person (love for others)–to the extent that even your breakthrough isn’t something you can claim for yourself, but something to inspire someone else’s breakthrough. I’m sure that your ministry has been very effective, although probably not very conventional. At some point, you might think “God, how can you possibly be using me when I find it hard to think like EVERYONE ELSE (Christian community’s)?” It’s funny how God uses the most unlikely people, huh? Well, we were never meant to put God in a box in the first place, and he can call you on any mission of his choice. His ways are higher than ours, higher than our brethren, higher than the world’s–it doesn’t matter what people say; wrong judgment will not prevail. Blue Like Jazz is definitely one of the best books I have read because I could relate to your struggles, insights and renewed perspectives. Thank you again, and if you could send me an email reply, I would definitely appreciate it. -Val
Kristi:
Great, great story! Thanks for posting it!
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PLANE_INTO_HOME_911_WIDOW?SITE=TXDAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Don, when I read this story, I was reminded of a talk you gave where you said that the number of lives we impact (and which would be negatively impacted if we were to die) is an indicator of how great our story is.
In the case of the link above, many will note how sad it is that a 9/1 widow died in a plane crash. But reading the whole thing, she had a great story, right up till the end. She chose to use this tragedy and make a difference. Besides lobbying for anti-terrorism laws, she gave her time to Habitat for Humanity. She met with Obama just last week. What a great story! The world is a worse place today, without her, than it was yesterday.
I find the Mac ads very obnoxious and can’t really stand to sit through them. I used a PC most of my life until a couple of years ago and now own a Mac. The PC ads appeal much more to me then the Mac ads but the Mac function much better with graphic programs. I love Apple products but their advertising bugs me and makes me feel like I’m pretentious.
Don nice pic.
I’m an Apple guy, but ya know, who really cares what computer you use if it gets the job done for you. It’s like the use of Hanes or Fruit of the Loom, your going to crap in both of them once in your life and toss them in the trash. For me, it was at Wal-Mart a few years back but it happens. Computers are the same way. You crap on them and get a new one.
I’ve never owned an apple computer but I always wanted my next one to be an apple computer. Mostly because my cool teacher has one, the jonas brothers have apple computers, selena gomez and demi lovato record their videos on it and because I can get garage band and record my own stuff.
I suppose you’re right Don, about the whole advertising thing and how we are really buying it because we want to be cool, but I’ve always wondered, why not? As long as you don’t get upset or think you’re uncool if you don’t have one. I guess I would feel rather insecure if I went without one. But its a good computer, why not buy it?
I’ve always been one to check out whats cool or whats in, mostly because I tend to like whats displayed and if I don’t like it I don’t pretend and I say right out that I’m not into it. There are these types of pants that became really famous here in Europe and I hate them and Im not afraid to say it.
I’m not saying I’m not an exception to this factor of life, I’m not. I’m super insecure and probably do everything for the wrong reasons. I’m just saying, it feels good being cool. It feels good to know you have the latest, latest. And the products ARE good. I don’t know. just being honest. not against it or for it in a way. just, this is what it feels like.
I salute every one of you. The writer, the reader, the commenter. Thank you for words of sustenance and thought-provoking discussions.
Please, keep it up.
The world is so amazingly, disturbingly beautiful in an interestingly, bittersweet way.
i should add, Abbie, your comment towards the beginning of the long list of commenters, was especially eloquent.
(Sincerely asking:) And to exemplify a lot of what Don was discussing, may i request to add your words to my facebook page, Abbie (whether or not it increases my coolness) ?
Cheers.
I just heard a guy on NPR say “I would let Apple choose my clothes, but I wouldn’t let Microsoft anywhere near my wardrobe”. I think Apple would respond with “Mission Accomplished”. It made me think of your blog, which I thoroughly enjoy.
Yet another great reason to switch to Linux. [www.ubuntu.org]
Sorry Aaron, it took me a long time to get back to you.
The first “big” apple ad was of a woman athlete smashing the screen of Big (Blue) Brother. The apple ipod ads had silhouettes of people (men and women, no way of knowing the ethnicities) dancing to all kinds of music. The early apple iphone ads had men and women of different ethnicities talking about how iphones saved the day. My old boyfriend who was Chinese was in an apple ad. You can accuse them for going for a certain economic group (those that can afford apple products) but within that economic range they are reaching for everyone who has the green.
Hey Don,
Cool post. I actually study how to make computers more user-friendly, and you mentioning how Apple computers are percieved as sexier made me think of a trend now called “Emotional Design”. The idea is that things that people react to with positive emotions are easier for them to use. There’s a couple of books that come to mind on this topic: Emotional Design by Don Norman or Lovemarks by Kevin Roberts … you might want to check them out.
PS I think I have to get an iPhone. I can’t bring myself to buy a blackberry. it has to be iphone, even tho I hear AT&T cell service sucketh big time. But what can I say? I’ve worked on PCs and macs and I fundamentally prefer the mac structure. My brother in law was PC for years; bought a mac last year and will never return. Yes it’s just a computer. But well… I’ll be getting that iphone once our verizon contract expires. I’m counting on apps.
hey, i’m a pc and i have high cheekbones, hips and a killer sense of style.
i’ve felt for years now that it’s exactly BECAUSE all my “cool” friends like mac that i couldn’t do it. it’s like abercrombie or harry potter. DON’T DRINK THE KOOL AID.
WE ALL WANT TO BE PART OF TRIBES.
HARLEY DAVIDSON IS ANOTHER PRIME EXAMPLE.
READ THE BRAND GAP.
In your PS you wrote: this was not a bash of apple product. it was a bash on advertising. and on sin nature. that said, without the advertising strategy, the product would have never been sold, and the development dollars never earned. so we are all buying these products because of the advertising.
But I beg to differ. I grew up using a PC, because it was predominant in the market back in the day, but I’ve spent the past 7 1/2 years using a Mac…and sometimes varying back between Mac and PC due to office equipment supplied. I worked heavily with graphic design, video editing, and web design. And I must say… I prefer Mac to PC not because of it’s sexiness… or because of it’s “cool” factor.. When I first started using it, it wasn’t because of an ad… it was because it got the job done quicker, easier, and with more reliability. I had never even seen an ad, and the person who chose to put it in the office didn’t do it because of an ad. They did it because of what the machine had to offer our company.
When a person comes to me, and asks me about buying a new Mac, they tend to want to get the biggest and best thing, and the first thing I ask them is, what are you going to use it for? Because if you expect it to make your life magically change, it won’t do that. It will have less viruses, but will take just as much upkeep as a PC. It will break if you drop it, just like a PC. And if you don’t use it to it’s fullest capacity, it will seem really useless and boring. Which can also be true in faith…with or without denomination. But I always tell them that they need to figure out what they need done and if it’s the wisest thing for them to get at that moment. I don’t say, “Oh man, this thing is gonna get you free beer at the bars…and diamonds from hot guys…and a lead role in a hollywood flick…” that’s preposterous.
I think comparing these ads to an archetype of the human sin nature is slightly off, if you are insinuating that whether or not we own either is a contributing factor to whether we choose heaven or hell. It is indeed in our human nature to want acceptance, and I understand that. But if a person can talk me into salvation, they can talk me out of it. I chose to commit my life to the Lord because of things that had happened to me personally, without people nagging about it one way or the other. Because people will say what they want, and they can twist things their way, and because we do all want to know everything- to have ultimate insight to life and how to “succeed” at it. But in the end, no one talked me into it, or sold me Jesus. I had to sit down and ask myself some real questions. About where I had been and where I was heading in life, and I knew that if I was going to decide one way or the other, it was going to matter and take commitment. I didn’t choose sin because of it’s sexiness or cool factor…I chose it because it was easy and it came naturally. It didn’t take effort. But I wouldn’t compare my salvation to the influence of an advertisement, unless the Holy Spirit counts as a marketing exec.
Do I think I’m cooler because I have a Mac? no. I think I’m the same person I’ve always been, I just have a way to get things done quicker, more easily, with better quality and less hassle. What I buy does not define me. Who I am does. The way I carry myself and the way I treat people does. Do I think PC users/owners are uncool? Heck no. They’re amazing people. We just have a difference in preference when it comes to computers. And that’s cool.
I really like what Microsoft is doing with their campaign, but after I thought about it for a while, I don’t really understand what makes a “PC” a normal human being like you and me. I mean, if we edited the Microsoft commercial and substituted the word “Mac” for “PC” it would have the same effect, and we can all go home and feel better about ourselves [as mac and ipod users].
I guess the problem may be the human identity we attach to these “gadgets.” Gadgets aren’t wonderfully created as we you and me.
Brian.
haha- this post was most entertaining- as i’ve sifted through your posts for the 1st time…you have such a way in disarming your reader, and in turn really being able to speak truth. lovely, just lovely.
i have been using PCs all my life, but i do admit that i am getting sick of them. my pc is cranky, slow, and kind of ugly-looking. i do think that people with apple computers and iphones are prone to thinking they’re cooler. i had a friend named josh with three different macs. we called him macinjosh, instead of macintosh. the products are pretty neat, and for a while i have really wanted a mac. but i do have some abashed affection for my pc. yeah, it’s clunky, it’s schizo, it’s not that hip…but it still tries, poor thing. i overloaded the hardrive (mostly with stuff on iTunes–the irony), had to get and external one. when the computer whirrs and sputters to life, oh-so slowly, it’s irrating. but it’s comforting too. it’s all i know. i’ve only used a mac a couple of times in my short life.
the apple ads made me laugh, but also made me pissed. i agree with you don, about how they play on our desire to be young and hip. i am young…probably not that hip. but that’s ok. hip people are weird. like macinjosh.
i think that you should continue using apple products. i also think that we should pray for steve jobs’ health, because he doesn’t look so good.
thanks for writing. have a wonderful day.
[...] as well as a serious side of the role of advertising in promoting ideas that are wrong. Find it HERE on Don Millers blog. It is a good read and in one place even agrees with my conjecture that Macs [...]
I love The Jonas Brothers so much!! this song is awesome!!
I completely agree with this. I have a mac and a pc and JUST blogged about the mac cult about a week ago. Very good eye on our susceptibility to advertising and how it relates to our fears. You are on to something there.
http://criscris007.xanga.com/696840715/the-mac-cult-cool/
i am kind of cool, and i’ve always been apple. but seriously, you know the most uncool thing you could do is call yourself cool, even if you secretly think so. so whose marketing did you buy into there?
love the blog.
Love the comment that part of you is giving up on the game and that it feels good to quit.
I get that.
Is there an age this happens? Is it a stage of life? Is there a time when getting back into the game seems like a good idea? Is there another game?
Just a quick note… Justin Long (the personification of the mac in the commercials) doesn’t have broad shoulders. Or a chiseled jaw. Among the females I know he is at best considered unthreateningly kind of cute, but too geeky to actually sleep with (save for the fact that he’s famous and rich, which I suppose trumps chiseled jaws and broad shoulders). Admittedly, he’s more attractive I suppose than the PC representation–but hardly a figure that inspires male envy or stirs female hormones. Now I agree that the Mac ads came right out and said “if you are less uptight, you use a mac”; but as far as the sex oriented appeal…ummm, no. Paris Hilton’s Carl’s Jr. ad? Now that was about sex. The Mac ad? Just not seeing it…though maybe Justin is irresistible to some special target demographic. Who knows…. In any event, I enjoyed the blog!