I’m a Mac…and I’m a Surface? Microsoft’s new ad reignites an old debate

Cast your minds back a few years, to around 2006, and the start of Apple’s long-running “Get a Mac” campaign. The campaign, which starred John Hodgman as the bumbling PC and Justin Long as the ultra-cool Mac, pretty much brought the Mac versus PC debate into the mainstream. Now Microsoft has released a new ad, in which it attempts to turn the table on that old chestnut.

Gone is the PC and in its place is the Surface 3, the Redmond-based company’s latest attempt to build a tablet that can replace your laptop. This time it’s the Mac that seems bulky in comparison. With its colourful keyboard and sleek design, it’s the product that seems, to paraphrase Steve Jobs, “lickable”.

Trouble is, Surface sales aren’t quite living up to the hype presented in the ads. Maybe that has something to do with one of the disclaimers on display in the ad: “Adobe Photoshop, keyboard and Office sold separately”. One of those is understandable, but if Microsoft really wants the Surface 3 to make a dent, it has to sort out the other two.