Justin Gets Real
Shortly after Apple's M1 chip put Intel's future in question, we brought back the one actor who could undo Apple's own most iconic ad campaign: the Mac guy himself.
The Mac guy switches sides.
Justin Long spent three years as the face of Apple's “Get a Mac” campaign, the most successful tech advertising of its era, standing across from John Hodgman's PC and making the case that Mac was simply better. For a generation of consumers, he was that decision.
We brought him back, this time on the other side. Five digital ads across YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn featured Long comparing the performance of Intel-powered PCs to Apple's new M1 chip, an iconic spokesperson reversing his own most famous role.
This wasn't a stunt. It was a countermove.
Apple's M1 chip wasn't just a new product. It was the end of a 15-year relationship, Apple had used Intel processors in every Mac since 2006. And early reviews weren't kind to Intel: the M1 ran faster, cooler, and quieter, even while running translated software through Apple's Rosetta2 layer. Reviewers who'd covered tech for over a decade called it the best software translation they'd ever seen at launch.
Apple unveils the M1, its first Apple Silicon chip, calling it the “world's fastest CPU core.” It ends Intel's exclusive run as the chip inside every Mac.
Reviews land, and the M1 largely lives up to the hype. Even apps built for Intel chips run faster on the new Macs than they did natively on Intel hardware. The “Apple Silicon is just better” narrative starts to take hold in tech media.
Justin Gets Real launches right as the new M1 Macs hit real-world sales and reviews. The casting is the point: the actor who once told America “I'm a Mac” now makes the case for PC, a direct strike at Apple's own most iconic campaign, using its own actor.
We wanted to kick a hornet's nest, not just create traditional narrative ads. This moment was about creating a cultural and tech moment provocative enough to simply spread on its own, and get people to reconsider and Go PC.
The Results
Results that come when you create a cultural moment, not just an ad.
Intel Taps Justin Long, Who Played Mac in Long-Running Apple Ads, to Promote PCs
Talented Partners
Agency
VML Global
Creative
Ali Pierce
Global CCORobb Smigielski
CDOGlen Scott
CCOKathleen Wille
ECDDerek Clark
ECDKyle Gracey
GCDStrategy
Howard Laubscher
GSDBusiness Leadership
Amy Winger
Global Client LeadStephanie Antonelli
Abby Fraser
Ashley Pryor
Mindy Stomp