Qualcomm Enlists 'I'm a Mac' Ad Star for Snapdragon PC Skit

Monday June 3, 2024 6:10 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Justin Long, the face of Apple's iconic "I'm a Mac" commercials, now stars in a short Qualcomm skit promoting Snapdragon-powered PCs.

At the Computex 2024 keynote, Qualcomm unveiled the new skit featuring Long, who is well-known for his role in Apple's "Get a Mac" commercials nearly two decades ago. Long is depicted as being overwhelmed by a barrage of notifications about app compatibility, low disk space, and battery issues in macOS, prompting him to search for an alternative in the form of a Windows on ARM PC. The ad concludes with Long stating, "Things change," a sentiment echoed by Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon during the event's closing remarks. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips debut in new Copilot Plus PCs on June 18.

Long's participation in the skit is the latest development in a series of marketing strategies where tech companies use his association with the "I'm a Mac" persona to promote their products. The trend began in 2017 when Huawei featured Long in an ad for its Mate 9 smartphone. In 2021, Intel also employed Long to create commercials that praised PCs and mocked various aspects of Apple's M1 MacBooks, including the Touch Bar and its limited color options.

Apple launched the original "Get a Mac" ad campaign in 2006. Long played a personified Mac, characterized as easygoing and efficient, while John Hodgman portrayed a PC, depicted as conformist and prone to problems like viruses and system crashes. The ads ran for three years and consisted of 66 different commercials, although Long revealed in 2019 that approximately 300 were filmed.

Tag: Qualcomm

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Top Rated Comments

The Doctor11

30 months ago

The time stamp in the video you’re looking for is 1:17:07

Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)

capamac

30 months ago

Long is an actor, who is paid to act. I'm sure he'd have no hesitation to appear in Mac ads tomorrow so long as he's paid.

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

lkrupp

30 months ago

That companies like Qualcomm, Samsung and others use Apple related themes and copy certain aspects of Apple advertising is a testament to Apple’s influence on and dominance of the public’s mindset. I distinctly remember when the Bondi Blue iMac was released. Within months you were seeing the same industrial design in all manner of products from blenders to electronics. Apple has been the one to beat for a long time now.

Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Sai Zelion

30 months ago

In the immortal words of Dave Chappelle, "I don't even know why people listen to me. I'll say anything. I've done commercials for Coke and Pepsi. I don't give a f*ck what comes out of my mouth. Whatever it takes, that's what i'm saying. Ya wanna know the truth? Can't taste the difference. All I know is Pepsi paid me more so.... it takes better. It's pretty much how the game goes!"