Apple’s latest “Get a Mac” TV ad, featuring John Hodgman and Justin Long, is now available for streaming from the Apple Web site using QuickTime.
Entitled “Goodwill,” the ad shows Hodgman and Long, the PC and Mac, respectively, in the long-running and popular series of ads. Both men are wearing Santa caps and wishing each other holiday cheer. Jealous PC can’t resist getting in one more snipe about Mac’s frivolous pursuits, like making home movies and blogs. It ends with a warm hug between the two.
The new ad has been posted to Apple’s site only a few days after Advertising Age posted columnist Bob Garfield’s 2006 ‘Bobby’ Awards, which honor commercial actors. Hodgman and Long topped this year’s list of Garfield’s favorite male commercial performances as “hands-down winners.”
“Yes, PC is a doofus, but what so distinguishes these performances is how the two interact — affably and respectfully, in spite of the central premise. Long is cool not because he’s ultrahip but because he’s laid-back and confident, minus any trace of condescension,” said Garfield.
In related news, John Hodgman’s audiobook The Areas of My Expertise , narrated by the author himself, is featured as a free download from the U.S. iTunes Store this week. The book is a made-up almanac of historical nonsense all from the imagination of Hodgman, a frequent contributor to McSweeney’s , The New York Times magazine, a guest on The Daily Show and NPR’s This American Life.