Nearly two decades ago, Long extolled the benefits of Mac computers while playing an opposite to John Hodgman’s PC in Apple’s iconic “Get a Mac” commercials. Now, in a pointy to punch Apple (AAPL), Long is presented in a new Intel (INTC) announcement that he looks much more excited about the new Intel-based PCs than the newer Mac laptops.
“Hi, I’m a – Justin. Just a real person, making a real comparison between Mac and PC,” says Long in Intel’s new commercial, an obvious joke with the introduction of “Hello, I’m a Mac” from old Apple ads.
“These are all PCs,” says Long, while researching a collection of laptops in the new ad. “Oh yes, Intel! Cool. My face just unlocked, this is so cool. And I’ve never seen a screen like that on a laptop.”
He starts looking at the line of Macs: “So, these are the newest Macs? Okay. So, gray and gray more.”
The new commercial is the latest not-so-friendly exchange of fire between Intel and Apple in recent months.
Last fall, Apple moved from an Intel customer to a competitor by replacing the semiconductor giant’s x86 chips with its own M1 chips in the newest line of Macs. Apple claimed its new chips make Macs significantly faster and quieter and provide longer battery life compared to previous Mac models and rival laptops.
In fact, reviving the theme of Apple’s old ads was the iPhone maker’s idea. When Apple announced the new M1 Macs in November, it brought Hodgman back to star again as the “PC guy” in a new ad.
“Hi, I’m a PC,” said Hodgman in Apple’s November announcement. “Is there a time for questions? Well, because I have one. Why? Why make all these advances? What’s the point?”
Actions like Apple’s to make its own chips pose a real threat to Intel, which has long trusted the dominance of the PC market. In recent years, Intel has lost market share in the PC market, among other challenges, and the company has hired recently the new CEO Pat Gelsinger to help fix the problem.
At a meeting of the Intel team in January, after Gelsinger was named the new CEO, but before officially taking over, he told employees that the company has to “deliver better products” to PCs than anything “a lifestyle company in Cupertino “produces a likely reference to Apple, according to a report by The Oregonian.
The new commercial could be another indicator of how aggressive Gelsinger plans to be in taking on Apple and other competitors while trying to return Intel to its former glory. It remains to be seen whether the ad convinces people to buy more PCs, but at least Intel now has Long’s support.
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