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Oh, I believe Chiat/Day is inept. Here's a story. I'll try to keep it as short as possible.

Because I need to watch my weight, I don't drink regular soda, but I can't stand the taste of diet. So when Coke came out with a diet version using Splenda instead of NutriSweet, I gave it a try. I liked it well enough, but I'd always preferred Pepsi, and I was bummed they didn't have a similar product.

Some searching on the web showed that they did: Pepsi One. "WTF?" I thought. I knew of Pepsi One. It came out in like 1998 or something and was considered by many of my friends to be the most disgusting cola ever created. I did some more searching. Pepsi One was reformulated in April of last year, using Splenda and creating a different taste. I bought some and I liked it.

So how the hell could this product have been on the shelf for well over six months and I hadn't heard of it? I did some more Google-digging. Pepsi made the "radical" decision to do absolutely no TV or radio advertising at all. Instead, they would promote the beverage through a "hip" website, oneify.com. I visited the website. It's full of "hip", "cool", "rad" cartoons, featuring dancing aliens and robots. These cartoons tell you nothing about Pepsi One. You have to dig to find one single boring page that describes the beverage. No wonder I hadn't heard of it!! It's amazing that anyone has!

What advertising agency came up with this useless crap? You guessed it: Chiat-fscking/Day. When I read that name, it all made sense. These idiots have no clue how to sell ANYTHING. All they know how to do is make 30-second art films.

Apple needs to ditch these guys before starting any serious ad campaign. (Oh, and give Pepsi One a try -- it's remarkably good.)

The "1984" Apple advertisment is considered one of the best, if not THE best ad of all time. So I find it hard to believe they don't know HOW to advertise the Mac to the masses. Unfortunately it also set the trend of not showing hardware when talking Mac.

It's hard to believe that the dearth of Mac ads is not deliberate, the question is, why? I can understand Apple being concerned about keeping growth under control so they don't expand like a balloon and burst. After all, this success is ten years in the making, very deliberate and methodical. Jobs' has played an amazing chess game so far and he could very well be within a move or two of checkmate.

Obviously the strategies they are using have worked for them so far. I'm happy to sit back to wait and see what Apple has in store for us.

Eric The Red: Bingo. Apple has been mostly using television since 1984 with the big brother Superbowl ad as non informational ads. I forget what that type of ad is called but it was taken to extremes in the mid 90's with the jean commercials that you had to spend time trying to figure out wtf they were pitching.

The only ads I've seen them do that seemed to work were the ones with kids using Macs to produce stuff. To see some of these http://www.uriah.com/apple-qt/index.html

Notice that their ads comparing the Mac OS to Windows were just plain confusing not even funny or explanatory to anyone but a non Mac user. I think the Apple Stores are the best advertising so far with print coming in second. TV just does not do it for this subject matter unless you are simply selling image or form (iPod, iMac, etc.) not the OS.

I agree with ndelc -

Apple's mission has always been about building the best products they can build, and they do.

I think the best computers SHOULD be in the minority - if everyone had a Mac, we'd have no-one to pick on (M$!!) - but more importantly, if everyone had a G5 (and let's even say knew how to use it) we'd see a big water-down effect. If Apple doesn't push the bucket as hard as other 'clonable' OS's do - fine by me. If I can get by working in the minority (a proud little minority, if I do say) then great! The fact is, Mac users EXPECT MORE than our corporate-whore-MS counterparts - people are still using their computer as a means to end whereas mac users tend to step it up, and I think that's the reason that the 'creative' people are usually using Macs!

AppleReseller: Here's the thing: "mysterious", non-descriptive ads like the "1984" ad and, to a lesser extent, the original iPod ads, work if the product is something completely new. The Macintosh and the original iPod were two products that the public had never seen the like before, so all you need to do is fire up their curiosity.

But if you're selling something that's become a familiar product, such as a computer, an MP3 player, an automobile, or a diet cola, then the "mysterious" angle doesn't work. Everyone already knows what a Mac is (or more accurately, thinks they know). Everyone knows what an iPod or a Diet Pepsi is. There's no inherent excitement in the product anymore, no natural curiosity to mine. When that's the case, you have to show the product! You need to tell the buyer, "Yes, you know what a widget is, but our widgets are better, and here's why." Chiat/Day doesn't like to do that, which is why Apple needs to get rid of them.

"The gulf is very, very wide. And, yet, Apple seems wholly incapable of selling Macs to 80 percent or so of the world. Why?"

Because the rest of the world are just stupid, idiotic, talentless, evil, mindless, half-assed drones, sheep, monkeys.... etc.

Right?

C'mon Mac people - applaud that statement. You know you want to...

Uh, hello!?!? Has everyone completely forgotten the "Switch" ads?

You know, "5% down, 95% to go," or whatever. Complete with TV ads with regular people explaining the merits of the Mac.

That was only like, what, a couple of years ago.

How does that fit with your Microsoft conspiracy theory?

(Yes, I know the Switch campaign was discontinued but not before running for a decent little while. That's just as easily a "test run" as "someone made them shut it down")

Apple just gave cautionary guidance that it won't meet earnings expectations this quarter because it doesn't believe it can meet demand on the MacBook Pro.

Honestly, I think SteveJack needs to settle down a bit. He flew off the handle prematurely over the video content on the iTMS back in December and a short time later they announced the deal with NBC. Now today we have this.

As for advertising more, while I think it would be a good idea, I'm not sure really how necessary it is. Apple as a company is healthier now than ever and Mac marketshare has been steadily growing for over a year now. I fall into the camp of those that don't really care if the masses ever wise up or not. If they want to continue to use inferior Windows PCs then they can for all I care. Apple sells enough Macs now to keep them quite profitable and their share continues to grow every quarter.

If they were to ever undertake a massive Mac/OS X advertising campaign, now wouldn't be the time to do it. Once the Intel transition is complete would be a far better time to do such a thing. In the interim, there would be too much confusion over universal binaries for the uninformed masses to understand, and supply problems with the new chips as well.

Maybe Apple should revisit this a year from now, but this is not the time for it yet.

SteveJack!!!

I'm totally surprised you don't already know the answer, but of course if you didn't rehash the same old questions this site would be dead right?

The reason is that Apple always has a supply problem, the world settled on the x86 platform because IBM was big in buisness long ago and allowed their processors/PC's to be cloned by anyone, including Intel.

This opened the flood gates for anyone with enough money to build their own PC assembly companies.

Gateway, Compaq, Dell are just some of the recent large PC makers.

Microsoft Windows was the only OS that could be used with any PC.

Apple didn't license Mac OS, they continued with their hardware/OS only combination (aka "vertical buisness model) and lost market share rapidly.

Corporations settled on Microsoft, instead of the little hippie company called Apple.

The reason Apple doesn't advertise to heavily is because it can't meet demand that high at this time.

When Intel processors become more plentiful, that might change.

Remember when the PowerMac G5 first came out? Apple could not meet demand, in fact actually IBM couldn't meet demand was the problem.

IBM couldn't meet Microsoft's demand for X-Box processors either.

Apple will advertise the Mac more when they can meet the demand they create, just like it was with the iPod.

ITS A PLOT! THEY'RE DEPLETING OUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS!

Apple should make a commercial showing a person filming their friend's band playing and then at home, making a cd of the music with iTunes, putting it on their iPod, creating a DVD of the footage using iMovie and iDVD and then using iPhoto/iWeb to post on the web and email pictures to friend's and family.
All with an iMac that looks like a flat panel monitor!

Lantzn, you got it. Ease of use trumps all.

Apple is wise to not overextend themselves at this point; Intel can't meet the demand for its chips, so Apple is holding back. Traditionally, Apple has had supply problems (and they still do). If they wait now, put some more infrastructure in place, then they can really hit the airwaves with some advertising.

I myself like "Mac. Now you have no excuse."

You know, I can see Apple waiting a few months, at most, to really start getting things rolling as far as advertising is concerned because not all of its computers are using intel yet.
The idea, though, that Apple doesn't want to sell Macs or doesn't want people chomping at the bit and standing in line to get them is ludicrous. This is just Apple's weak spot and they need to do something about it.
Again, I can't believe that someone at a shareholder's meeting doesn't stand up and blast them for being derelict in their duties.
Dell and Gateway don't worry about maving enough hardware or too many customers. The hardware is there and the only excuse would be not enough chips for the short-term. After a few months, though, Apple should be ashamed.
I, too, hate trying to spread the word and having to be on the defense when people ask me questions about Macs. They have NEVER heard of OS X or any of the iLife apps. NEVER! They've never heard of a Mac mini, either, which is supposed to be geared at switchers.
UGH! Come on Apple. Get your head out of your arse!
Oh, and the last ad I saw on TV was the Jeff Goldblum ad that showed a G5 tower blowing out part of a house. That's about as good as the Gateway fags running through the cow pasture.

Having been a Mac user since the begining (1984), I have to agree that, in my view, Apple has never advertised the Mac in an effective way to the braod audience. Generally, it seems to me that Mac ads to seem to be about establishing a certain aura and image, rather than providing information that would compel an average consumer to consider their product. In some ways, I get the feeling that Apple is too chic and cool to feel the need to condescend to the mass market. The result is the stereotype that Macs appeal to "arty" folks (graphics and publishing markets) who are in tune with "images", while the concrete, gritty, dirt-under-the-nails folks involved in the real world of production (i.e., business) opt for the tried-and-true, blue-collar, gets-the-job-done PC. In some ways, Apple's superior styling adds to these perceptions (refined, virgin white Macs that are design "statements" vs. the plain, utilitarian look of the average PC).

The irony, of course, is that Macs are arguably more utilitarian than PCs. Free from the ongoing headaches of virii, spyware, adware, configuration problems, hardware incompatbilities, etc., in most cases the average user could be more productive on a Mac. This is the core message that I think can and should be promoted in the Apple ads

Here's an idea that just occured to me.

Black screen: fade over black: "Some things about the Mac are just plain boring."
Fade to: rapid montage of newspaper headlines about Windows viruses and secrity holes. Audio track: sounds of guns firing, bombs dropping, explosions, and other battlefield related bits.
Then, imposed over the montage: "Number of Windows viruses to date:"
Underneath is one of those rolling counters, reading something like "102,257" The end digits, of course, would be constantly changing, like one of the national debt counters.
Fade to a peaceful, idyllic countryside with lots of deep blue skies. The only motion is a few flowers slowly swaying in the foreground. Audio track: a few birds chirping, slight wind sound, Overlay: Number of Mac OS X Viruses to Date:" Underneath, same rolling counter, that reads: 000,000" Image remains for 10 seconds. Fade to black. Fade in" Mac...It just works" (Alternatively, fade in "Yep. Pretty Boring.")

Well, uhm, how about Apple's financial report for last quarter and projection for next quarter available in Quicktime? Yeah, I guess nobody else listened to it...

Maybe I misinterpreted it, and that'd be easy considering how much they were dodging the questions, but there's two things that caught my attention that people here seem to be missing out on.

One is that Apple mentioned they were planning on advertising more this year, hence increase costs and a little bit lower overall profits starting next quarter. I believe they said it in a list of things they thought to be a worthwhile investment.

The other thing is that they practically said they didn't care about marketshare when selling. They just caring about making the coolest products on Earth.

Isn't that what really matters? Having a great product and people (us) who appreciate it? There's no OS wars or really ever was, or at least I never noticed it. I mean, you might as well say there's a cake war and argue about whether Betty Crocker is winning or not. It doesn't matter, let people eat what they want, even if it is cake and not a real meal.

So... Forget about marketshare because that's obviously not their goal but instead merely some (but not all) investors infatuation. And don't worry about advertising, it's on the way and it's just a matter of timing.

I'd say figure expect more ads about the same time they release the MacBook (p.k.a. iBook) and/or Mac mini with Intel. Then there would be more options for consumers (hardware options), Intel processors would hopefully be ramped up (hardware availability), and more Universal Binaries (native software availability), hence more enticing options and less valid criticism. The Mac Pro (new name for PowerMacs?) is really marketed toward the professional, so it's possible they won't wait for all of the hardware to transition.

"The reason Apple doesn't advertise to heavily is because it can't meet demand that high at this time."

Any why can't they? A real CEO would be demanding an answer from his company.

Of course I realize that Apple is very profitable right now, their stores are crowded, and there's high demand for certain products. But why stop there? Why limit yourself for the sake of being "cool"? In business you can NEVER be complacent, you can NEVER be happy with whatever market you have. You die if you do.

If anything, Apple is being quiet until the Macs have all gone Intel, and solid third-party (app and driver) has developed behind the new systems. THEN pull out the stops! Unfortunately that'll be right about the time MS's media engine will be revving up for Vista. It's a shame; this pre-Vista vacuum is such a golden chance to trumpet the Mac.

Gates and Jobs probably shot Kennedy, too...hell, maybe even Lincoln.

I agree that the folks at Apple probably know something we don't. Like, how to make boatloads of money and keep their customers pretty happy, and keep their business on an even keel and growing. Ain't that enough?

I can't quite figure out if you MDN folks mean this stuff to be taken seriously, or as a parody of nutzoid Mac-head-ism. If you're joking, you're good; if you're serious, you need to check out getting vaccinated for rabies...except I guess you have to get the vaccine before you get the disease, eh? Oops...

"The other thing is that they practically said they didn't care about marketshare when selling. They just caring about making the coolest products on Earth."

That's like Apple saying they should've stayed in the garage where they were founded. Jobs & Woz made some cool stuff there too.

I have to side with the conspiracy theories in that Apple seems to be intentionally grounding themselves. Buy why?? All we can do is trust that Apple see things in the market we don't.