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Mac vs. PC in the classroom
Submitted by erinhurt on Mon, 2007-10-08 14:43
When teaching a rhetoric course, I love to use the Apple Commercials to show my students an example of real-world ethos.
We talk about the various logical arguments that these commercials make (e.g. Macs don't get viruses, their applications are geared towards creative projects, they are easy to use, etc.). Then we look at how these commercials construct a Mac ethos literally through clothing, posture, body language, etc. One that works particularly well is the Counselor Ad, in which Mac is able to compliment PC but PC can only find rude things to say in response. My students have a good time close-reading this commerical and pointing out how PC's appearance and actions are meant to influence our own feelings towards the Mac product. |
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Me, too!
I have found that students respond quite positively to these ads, too. It's really fun to do a group rhetorical analysis of Mac and PC based on their outward appearances, etc. It's a great icebreaking tool early in the semester.
I wonder if there's any
I wonder if there's any backlash to this ad. What I mean is, the Mac guy is so uber-cool that he's kind of obnoxious, where as the PC guy is so sort of endearingly geeky that I could see this ad having a rhetorical effect very different from Mac's rhetorical intentions. I mean, the PC guy is much funnier, even if the jokes are at his own expense. Maybe this is just one more discussion point for someone who uses these ads in class. I really like Melanie's idea of using these in an early semester ice-breaker activity.
The Wow starts now
In a blog post on problems with Leopard, Apple’s new operating system, Saul Hansell of the New York Times makes the (very good) point that one of the main reasons these ads work is that they are mostly true. If Apple’s software begins to get the same reputation as Microsoft’s, the ads will seem much more manipulative.