Apple spots beat Truth, MasterCard ads

Apple's "Get a Mac" ads have been called the campaign of the decade, according to Adweek's Best of the 2000s report. The series, created by TBWA/Media Arts Lab, has been aired since 2006 and now includes over 60 different ads. Most of the commercials have been relentlessly critical of Microsoft and its Windows operating system.

"The genius is in the casting," says Adweek columnist Barbara Lippert. "The Mac guy, Justin Long, is a younger version of Steve Jobs who is casual and comfortable in his skin. PC, personified by John Hodgman, as a rounder, paler Bill Gates, is a well-meaning geek with all kinds of operating problems."

Apple was also considered to be the brand of the decade, with the reader poll giving the company twice as many points as the runner-up, Google. The brand has been credited with achieving a cult-like loyalty from customers. The company's iPod was awarded the 'product of the decade' title, while the company's "Silhouettes" campaign topped the out-of-home ad category. Although Facebook won the digital device/platform segment, the reader poll listed Apple's iPhone at the top.

Steve Jobs also made the list, achieving the 'marketer of the decade' designation and dominating the reader poll. "Visionary, iconoclastic and fearless, Steve Jobs the marketer is inseparable from Steve Jobs the personality," says Adweek's Noreen O'Leary. "His inimitable blend of competitive skill and design savvy hasn't just saved a fading brand, it's recast two businesses that used to have nothing to do with computers: music and mobile phones."

by MacNN Staff