Media Writ Large

ECOMP 6016 - Assignment #6B: Select a commercial online and analyze for its persuasive techniques. Reflect on the commercial and its use of persuasion.

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Commercial: Mac vs. PC

1. What is the commercial about?   The Mac vs. PC commercial series is about the comparison of Apple’s brand of computers vs. those running Microsoft’s Windows Operating System. The commercials are from Apple’s point of view. NOTE: The YouTube link goes to a collection of commercials which allows you to see a variety of persuasion techniques being employed.
2. Who is the intended audience of this message?   The overall intended audience are users looking to buy a new computer. However, each ad attempts to address smaller groups within this audience such as people who want more built-in equipment, access to pre-install photo and movie-making software, or those fed up with the constant battle against computer viruses.
3. What values, lifestyles and points of view are being transmitted in this message?   The commercials are meant to portray Apple computers as fitting the lifestyle of the average person who wants to be able to use a computer with relative ease and without a lot of time devoted to maintenance. PC is often portrayed as being for the business world while Apple is portrayed as for the family and users both young and old.
4. What creative techniques are used to attract your attention?   The commercials use the basic persuasion techniques of association (e.g. for the family), beautiful people (e.g. making a movie), bribery (buy a Mac, get a built-in webcam), fear (vulnerability to viruses), and repetition (their introduction is very well-known and often parodied). Intermediate techniques include charisma (Apple obviously), euphemism (PC often tries to downplay his issues), and simple solution (whose is more ready to use “right-out-of-the-box?”). An advanced technique employed in some of the ads is analogy, such as when PC is going in for “surgery” to upgrade to Vista. There were also several examples of card-stacking, but not in Apple’s favor. In one instance PC has a “cold” and Mac claims that he doesn’t get viruses, but that’s not the whole story (e.g. the recent MAC Defender virus). And I don’t care what type/kind of computer you have, every computer needs a restart once in a while.

One of the reasons I chose this commercial is because I just came across a great parody made by two 7th grade students from Michigan entitled, “Hi, I’m A Textbook And I’m A Tablet.” This is a example of how an idea turned into a commercial has provided a vehicle through which students can tell their own stories.