The great debate facing technologically-savvy users of the 21st century: Mac vs. PC. It is evident by one glimpse inside the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre that the Apple Corporation has found tremendous success with sales of MacBook laptops. With the strength of the Mac brand, Apple has boosted its profits by highlighting several points of difference between the lightweight, versatile MacBook and its PC competitors. I would like to draw your attention to a commercial entitled “MAC vs. PC: Box.” Apple demonstrates impeccable marketing finesse by illustrating both a metaphorical point of parity and a point of difference between Mac and PC computers. The two men are both sitting inside a cardboard box, symbolic of a computer. The boxes are alike in that they both possess the same generic function (a point of parity). However, the Mac man is able to leap out of his box to accomplish tasks without hesitation, while the PC man is burdened with preparations that diminish any user-friendly appeal. A point of difference can be seen with the colors of the cardboard boxes. The PC box is a bland brown and is a more traditional cardboard construction. The white of the Mac box is sleeker and suggests a more modern device. This can even be seen through the differing appearances of the two men: the PC man is older, stiffer, and wears glasses while the Mac man is a young, energetic, and dressed casually. Through the subtle metaphorical points of parity and differences of this ad, Apple is able to establish itself as the better of the two in the minds of the consumer and this is crucial with regards to brand positioning.
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