Apple created the “Get A Mac” television advertising campaign, which run from 2006 to 2009, to directly highlight the aspects in which they were better than Windows. All of the ads followed a simple template, in which a two men (each one representing each company) talked about a certain feature. This campaign surely brought a lot of attention and even won an Effie Award in 2007 for its originality and effectiveness.
However, to what extent was Apple competing fairly. Most analysts state that most of the differences pointed out were not as huge as shown. Anyways, Apple’s strategy is understandable given that they are the second brand behind Windows. And one of the most effective ways of advertising in that position is pointing out the leader’s weaknesses. However, it can be said that it was not ethical to attack their main competitors in such a hard way.
Windows responded with the “I’m a PC” campaign, in which they did not attack Apple but rather defined their own strengths. This was the way to go, certainly, because if they had decided to attack Apple then consumers would have thought that Windows felt threatened by their competitors.
Further reading:
Differentiating between a Mac and a PC
“I’m a PC” campaign
* Funny fact: the “I’m a PC” commercials were done with Apple hardware and software.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5z0Ia5jDt4[/youtube]