"I'm a PC" is the title for a television

advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...

created for

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

by ad agency

Crispin Porter + Bogusky Crispin Porter + Bogusky (also known as CP+B), a member of publicly traded MDC Partners, is an American advertising agency that employed around 700 people. It was founded in 1988 by Sam Crispin. Crispin then became partners with Chuck Porter ...

(CPB). The series first began to appear in September, 2008.Microsoft's 'I'm a PC' ad images made on Macs
, By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Republished
on

PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tech ...

, September 20, 2008) The new series of commercials replace those that featured the pairing of Jerry Seinfeld and

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

. The $300 million advertising campaign was designed to challenge Apple's

Get a Mac The "Get a Mac" campaign is a television advertising campaign created for Apple Inc. (Apple Computer, Inc. at the start of the campaign) by TBWA\Media Arts Lab, the company's advertising agency, that ran from 2006 to 2009. The advertising cam ...

campaign by showing everyday people to be PC users.'I'm a PC' made on a Mac
by Asher Moses,

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

, September 24, 2008
duplicate
on thevine.com.au)

Campaign

The ad series features prominent and popular individuals saying "I'm a PC" and has appearances by common international users as well as personalities such as writer Deepak Chopra, mixed martial artist

Rashad Evans Rashad Anton Evans (born September 25, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist. Evans started his professional career in 2003, he was the Heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 and is also a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and a 2 ...

, actress

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytim ...

, photographer Geoff Green and singer Pharrell Williams. The campaign was created by the CPB advertising agency and exhibited normal PC users to be found everywhere. It was the second phase of Microsoft's 2008 efforts to displace the ubiquity of Apple's "Get a Mac" ads, which portrayed the Mac as "cool and intuitive" and the PC as "boring and clunky". The Microsoft spots typically opened with an image of Sean Siler,So What's Up With That New 'I'm a PC' Guy, Anyway?
By Mark Wilson, Gizmodo, September 19, 2008 an actual Microsoft employee dressed as

John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as '' The Areas of My Expertise'', ''More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is All'', he is known for ...

's personification of a PC stating lines such as "I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype" and "I'm a PC, and I am not alone." The composition was initially made to resemble that of the Apple campaign, as Siler resembles

, the "PC" counterpart to

Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), '' Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (2 ...

as a Mac in the Apple commercials.Magazine: Microsoft ad uses Mac software

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

The advertisements are also interspersed with various non-famous users who proclaim "I'm a PC" from a variety of places and in a number of methods. The intent is to demonstrate how PC users are ordinary people.'I'm a PC' ad pictures made on a Mac
(MacNN.com)

Windows 7

Since the release of

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...

, Microsoft has aired several advertisements under this campaign demonstrating the features of their new operating system. The ads typically focus on one person and end with the tagline "I'm a PC and Windows 7 was my idea."

References

{{Microsoft Microsoft advertising campaigns American television commercials 2000s television commercials American advertising slogans 2008 neologisms Computer-related introductions in 2008