Microsoft’s latest ad features Surface-loving guy called Mac Book

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Microsoft ad
Yep, that's the guy's real name!
Photo: Microsoft

Apple rarely, if ever, pokes fun at its competition in ads these days. But that same lesson hasn’t been learned by Apple’s rivals — as a new Microsoft ad for the Surface Laptop 2 shows.

For the ad, Microsoft (or, rather, its ad agency) tracked down a real life guy named Mackenzie “Mac” Book from Sydney, Australia. Guess whether he prefers Microsoft or Apple’s laptop? The hint is in the fact that it’s a Microsoft ad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=0&v=jSS5SKs4UA0

The ad pits the MacBook Air against Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 2. Much like Samsung’s Apple-knocking ads, it touts its supposed superior features over Apple’s laptop. In the case, it refers to its speed, greater battery life and touchscreen.

To be fair to Microsoft, the Surface Laptop 2 is actually a pretty sweet machine as a casual laptop for average users. It’s easily overpowered by a MacBook Pro, but features like the touchscreen display definitely have their appeal. Of course, the big limiting factor for many Mac fans is ultimately going to come down to it being a Windows 10, rather than macOS, computer.

Taking shots at the rivals

I’ll admit it: I’m conflicted about ads like this. I get pretty tired of Samsung taking weird passive-aggressive shots at Apple with a bunch of its TV spots. It comes across weirdly defensive and generally self-defeating. It’s like the internet phenomenon of people spending hours talking about movies and video games they claim to despise.

Here, however, it’s kind of a fun nod back to the classic “Mac vs. PC” ads Apple ran a decade ago. That was a time when competition between laptops was fierce, before smartphones and tablets took most of the attention away.

And, hey, they found a guy named Mac Book. How can you not put them in an ad? It’s like the time Apple employed a guy called Sam Sung in one of its Apple Stores.

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