We’ve got a month to go until the first primary votes are cast for the 2008 presidential election, and most of the country is gearing up for what will surely be a long, bitter campaign between the eventual Democratic and Republican nominees. Some of us, though, have been following a different campaign — one which has already been going on for some time, and which is, if possible, even more bitter than the presidential race.

I’m speaking, of course, about the intense, ongoing campaign between Apple and Microsoft.

At first glance, this rivalry is just the competition between two leading computer companies. But there are big differences between the Apple-Microsoft blood feud than, say, the Coke-Pepsi standoff.

Coke competes with Pepsi by engaging in a sort of flavor arms race, in which “Lime Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero” comes out within a week of “Diet Che-nill-ime Pepsi.”

Apple fights against Microsoft in two ways. The first is a continuous war-by-proxy taking place in blogs and forums across the Internet, in which fanatical Macintosh users “discuss” computers with equally rabid Windows PC users, in much the same way Ann Coulter “discusses” politics with Michael Moore. I could address the merits of PCs and Macs too, but it would become clear very rapidly that I have no idea what I was talking about.

I’d much rather tackle the other competitive tactic Apple uses: an ad campaign called “Get a Mac.” If you watch TV at all, you’ve probably seen the commercials. Standing against an all-white backdrop, a laid-back, hip young man says, “Hi, I’m a Mac.” Next to him, a stuffy man in a suit continues, “And I’m a PC.”

The ensuing banter between the PC (played by comedian John Hodgman of Daily Show fame) and the Mac (played by actor Justin Long) makes for a funny and memorable series of commercials, most of which are viewable online. Because of its humor and wit, the ad campaign has been quite effective in increasing Mac’s brand-name recognition.

Insofar as they try to convince PC users to switch to Macs, however, the ads don’t really get the job done. Rather than sing the virtues of the Macintosh, most of them work like negative political ads, describing some major problem or inadequacy the PC suffers, but the Mac doesn’t. The humor comes from the PC’s attempts to cover for its failings.

Just as a negative campaign ad allows Candidate A to avoid talking about the issues simply by bashing Candidate B, the “Get a Mac” ads free Apple from the need to say anything meaningful about its own product’s capabilities, except that they are better than those “PCs.” (Technically, of course, the Mac is also a Personal Computer, but let’s not argue over semantics.)

Unfortunately for Apple, this negative advertising tactic may backfire with many non-Mac users. The PC in the commercials is a bumbling fool, but he also gets all the laughs; the Mac is the straight man, and can actually seem somewhat obnoxious by comparison. The image created by the opposing characters belies the intended message of the ad, and image is key in advertising. Thus, while Apple fans are likely to agree with the Mac character’s claims of technological superiority in the commercials, Windows users who like their PCs will throw their support behind the more sympathetic PC character.

In campaigns without substance, be they presidential or commercial, the ads ignore the real issues and the debate rages on.

Aaron Segal, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].