Apple's new 'Behind the Mac' ad campaign puts spotlight back on creatives

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited June 2018
Apple on Thursday debuted a new ad series detailing the many ways creative professionals use Mac to accomplish their work across a range of very different disciplines, from music to app development. Each story furthers the implication that Mac is a machine that empowers, harkening back to campaigns touting the company's close bonds with those who make.

Behind the Mac


The first ads in Apple's "Behind the Mac" series aired on the company's YouTube channel late today. Currently, four videos are live, one of which serves as an introduction to the marketing thrust.

Each roughly minute-long commercial tells the story of a creative professional or consumer who, in their own words, describes how Mac has enabled them to achieve success. A type of customer testimonial, the ads are expertly crafted to show, not tell, Mac's ability to augment, enhance and facilitate the creative process.





Popular musician Grimes is among those who rely on Mac to create. In explaining her workflow, she says technological advancements like the MacBook Pro allow her to take music making out of the studio, an important ingredient in her recipe for sonic innovation.

Grimes starts all new projects on a Mac, Apple says in the ad. She suggests tools like Mac are becoming more affordable and easier to use, meaning anyone can create on a professional level.





A second short throws a spotlight on Bruce Hall, a legally blind photographer who harnesses Mac's power to produce unique perspectives of the world around him. Through a combination of accessibility features built into Mac's hardware and software, Hall is able to retouch and edit photos in hopes of "expressing the beauty in the world."

Able to see detail at extremely close distances, Hall says MacBook is "allowing [him] to do things that [he] couldn't do a decade ago."

Hall's work is part of the permanent collection in the Library of Congress.





Finally, a third video tells the tale of Peter Karikui, an entrepreneur and app developer who created localized ride-hailing service SafeMotos on his Mac. The service incentivizes safe motorcycle taxi driving in Rwanda through real-time monitoring via iPhone, while riders can select vetted drivers through an eponymous app.

Karikui touts Mac's capabilities as a coding platform, saying he can create anything he imagines with his MacBook Pro.





According to iMore, the final campaign will include stories from 12 individuals. When Apple intends to release the next batch of stories is unknown.
Alex1N
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 98
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    But certain posters here keep telling me Apple has given up on the Mac. 
    racerhomie3tmaylamboaudi4jeffharrisStrangeDaysAlex1Nfastasleepjony0
  • Reply 2 of 98
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    Beautiful and empowering.
    jony0
  • Reply 3 of 98
    You know what I’d like to be behind? A Mac with a processor from this generation! Seriously the only Mad that has been upgraded within the last year is the iMac Pro. Putting out an ad campaign when Apple has given up on making sure Macs are competitive in the market is just dumb. Advertise the product when it isn’t a bad investment Apple! And get me my damned Coffeelake MacBook!
    pentaemarksunddysamoria
  • Reply 4 of 98
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Grimes is a good example of how tech makes it possible to do it all yourself these days. Sing it yourself, produce it yourself, do the video yourself. Though I don't know if she sews all those artistic costumes herself?

    One smart person and a computer = a whole team of people 20 years ago.
    fruitstandninjaStrangeDaysAlex1Nfastasleeplamboaudi4watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 5 of 98
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    You know what I’d like to be behind? A Mac with a processor from this generation! Seriously the only Mad that has been upgraded within the last year is the iMac Pro. Putting out an ad campaign when Apple has given up on making sure Macs are competitive in the market is just dumb. Advertise the product when it isn’t a bad investment Apple! And get me my damned Coffeelake MacBook!
    No Apple should not update the MacBook.
    None of them. A Mac lasts for a long time. Stop trying to uselessly upgrade without any reason.
  • Reply 6 of 98
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    The keyboard situation, is something the lawsuit should clear up. Right now , the only folks whining ,are the media hounds. 
    I have a suggestion too. Stop eating around your damn $2000-3000 machine.
    Besides that ,with eGPU support ,and easy future iOS app porting ,the Mac has never been this strong in my eye.
    lamboaudi4tmayfruitstandninjaAlex1Njony0
  • Reply 7 of 98
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,108member
    Nice ads, but how about showing us this wonderful artwork and music they’re producing?  Other than some photos by Bruce Hall, and very few of those, all we see is the back of people’s MacBooks. Not the best way to convince people, I’d say. 
    racerhomie3libertyandfreewatto_cobradysamoria
  • Reply 8 of 98
    prismaticsprismatics Posts: 164member

    Soli said:
    But certain posters here keep telling me Apple has given up on the Mac. 
    I'm not saying Apple is giving up but I'd like to see product instead.

    Ads don't convince me.
    edited June 2018 watto_cobramarksunddysamoria
  • Reply 9 of 98
    aknabiaknabi Posts: 211member
    Soli said:
    But certain posters here keep telling me Apple has given up on the Mac. 
    Yeah, because we go by what Apple does and releases rather than PR, ads and fanboy blindness
    foljsmarksundavon b7dysamoria
  • Reply 10 of 98
    croprcropr Posts: 1,120member
    You know what I’d like to be behind? A Mac with a processor from this generation! Seriously the only Mad that has been upgraded within the last year is the iMac Pro. Putting out an ad campaign when Apple has given up on making sure Macs are competitive in the market is just dumb. Advertise the product when it isn’t a bad investment Apple! And get me my damned Coffeelake MacBook!
    No Apple should not update the MacBook.
    None of them. A Mac lasts for a long time. Stop trying to uselessly upgrade without any reason.
    Of course a Mac lasts long, but that is not the point.
    I have a white macbook from 2012 that I want to replace by a recent machine.  Why would I have to accept to buy a new macbook with an CPU of 3 years old? 
    jeffharrismarksundavon b7
  • Reply 11 of 98
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Perhaps these commercials illustrate what has gone wrong with the Mac:   They emphasize the Mac being used by non-mainstream creatives to create non-mainstream products:  In short, it emphasizes how the Mac line is aimed squarely at artists and related creatives like coders...  Specialty products for special people.

    While I don't know if Jobs ever actually said this, this line about the Mac from the Steve Jobs movie fits with his overall direction: 
    "It's for the grandma, the garbage man, the [common man]."  (Too make their lives better)

    I watched these commercials and felt zero connection to them, the people in them or the product they were espousing....

    The Mac line has devolved into a specialty product.  A niche product....


    libertyandfreedysamoria
  • Reply 12 of 98
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Watching the music commercial illustrated to me what has happened to music over the past decade: 
    Music, real music, made by real people playing real instruments has been replaced by some girl sitting on the floor in her living manipulating electronic squeaks and thumps augmented by her whining into a microphone -- and calling it music.

    It's a cheap way to produce "music".   But very little of it would have been published when music was vetted before it made its way to vinyl, CD or cassette.  It's really just cheap, low quality junk...
    libertyandfree
  • Reply 13 of 98
    GeorgeBMac said: Music, real music, made by real people playing real instruments has been replaced by some girl sitting on the floor in her living manipulating electronic squeaks and thumps augmented by her whining into a microphone -- and calling it music.
    It's not a "replacement". It's an additional way to make music. Electronic music has been around since the Beatles and doesn't seem to have eliminated much of anything. It's just added to what's available. 
    StrangeDayswatto_cobradysamoria
  • Reply 14 of 98
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Watching the music commercial illustrated to me what has happened to music over the past decade: 
    Music, real music, made by real people playing real instruments
    🤦‍♂️

    I guarantee there were plenty of people claiming that what you consider real music played with real instruments was also crap.
    macxpresslamboaudi4StrangeDaysAlex1Nfastasleepwatto_cobradysamoriajony0
  • Reply 15 of 98
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,108member
    Watching the music commercial illustrated to me what has happened to music over the past decade: 
    Music, real music, made by real people playing real instruments has been replaced by some girl sitting on the floor in her living manipulating electronic squeaks and thumps augmented by her whining into a microphone -- and calling it music.

    It's a cheap way to produce "music".   But very little of it would have been published when music was vetted before it made its way to vinyl, CD or cassette.  It's really just cheap, low quality junk...
    I agree completely. Like the way “photography” has become mediocre photographs manipulated electronically into something nice. What’s next, Siri or Alexi writing speeches (and delivering them) instead of humans? The genuine is leaving the building. 
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 16 of 98
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    fred1 said:
    Watching the music commercial illustrated to me what has happened to music over the past decade: 
    Music, real music, made by real people playing real instruments has been replaced by some girl sitting on the floor in her living manipulating electronic squeaks and thumps augmented by her whining into a microphone -- and calling it music.

    It's a cheap way to produce "music".   But very little of it would have been published when music was vetted before it made its way to vinyl, CD or cassette.  It's really just cheap, low quality junk...
    I agree completely. Like the way “photography” has become mediocre photographs manipulated electronically into something nice. What’s next, Siri or Alexi writing speeches (and delivering them) instead of humans? The genuine is leaving the building. 
    The fucking irony of using photography as an example.
    roundaboutnowAlex1Nfastasleeplamboaudi4watto_cobraIreneWdysamoriajony0
  • Reply 17 of 98
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    GeorgeBMac said: Music, real music, made by real people playing real instruments has been replaced by some girl sitting on the floor in her living manipulating electronic squeaks and thumps augmented by her whining into a microphone -- and calling it music.
    It's not a "replacement". It's an additional way to make music. Electronic music has been around since the Beatles and doesn't seem to have eliminated much of anything. It's just added to what's available. 
    Additional?
    When I listen to any of the "New Music" playlists on Apple music it seems to be pedominatly electronic squeaks and thumps augmented with a whiny voiced singer...
  • Reply 18 of 98
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    GeorgeBMac said: Music, real music, made by real people playing real instruments has been replaced by some girl sitting on the floor in her living manipulating electronic squeaks and thumps augmented by her whining into a microphone -- and calling it music.
    It's not a "replacement". It's an additional way to make music. Electronic music has been around since the Beatles and doesn't seem to have eliminated much of anything. It's just added to what's available. 
    Comparing the Beatles or any other 60's band to today's electronic "music" is a very false analogy....
    jeffharris
  • Reply 19 of 98
    stevehsteveh Posts: 480member
    cropr said:
    Of course a Mac lasts long, but that is not the point.
    I have a white macbook from 2012 that I want to replace by a recent machine.  Why would I have to accept to buy a new macbook with an CPU of 3 years old? 
    Because it's miles better than the ancient piece you've got now?

    You're letting the perfect paralyze you.
    StrangeDayswatto_cobraracerhomie3
  • Reply 20 of 98
    stevehsteveh Posts: 480member
     Electronic music has been around since the Beatles and doesn't seem to have eliminated much of anything. 
    Electronic music has been around since before any Beatle was born, at least as early as 1928, when the Theremin was patented.
    SoliStrangeDaysAlex1Nwatto_cobradysamoriajony0
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