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==Cultural references==
On an episode of ''[[The Daily Show|The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'', Hodgman was portraying a computer expert on a story about the internet. During the bit, host [[Jon Stewart|Stewart]] prodded Hodgman to utter his "I'm a PC." line from the ads. This generated lots of audience feedback, leading Hodgman to say "That's enough of that" and continue to the [[Net Neutrality|topic of the argument]]. ([http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/index.jhtml?ml_video=71914 see the video]).
===Parodies===
There have been several parodies of this ad campaign on the internet, such as:
* [[Greenpeace]], in their [[Apple Inc.#Environmental Issues|effort to make Apple produce more environmentally-friendly products]], released a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtxJor2NV-8 spoof video showing PC and Mac listing the contaminants they each contain].
* A [http://tv.truenuff.com/mac/ series of spoofs] by [[TrueNuff]] which have received over three million downloads and introduces a [[Linux]] character into the mix. A [[BSD]] character is also introduced, which "looks just like Linux". They have been featured on [[G4techTV Canada]].
* A [http://www.loadingreadyrun.com/showmovie.php?x=744&y=418&url=getamac.mov video] by Canadian video house [[LoadingReadyRun]].
* A [http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20060513 comic strip] made by [[Ctrl+Alt+Del]] creator [[Tim Buckley (artist)|Tim Buckley]], which specifically parodied the original "virus" ad, though with jabs at the commercial's presentation and Mac computers themselves.
*The [http://mfile.akamai.com/28603/wmv/intelstudio.download.akamai.com/10670//idf/event3/092606_pso/pso_high.wmv introduction video] of [[Intel Developer Forum]] 2006 opening keynote is a spoof showing that both PCs and Macs are both using Intel [[Core 2 Duo]] chips. It shows the Mac character looking at the PC character's arm, which has an Intel-style Core 2 Duo logo tattooed to it. Mac unzips his jacket to reveal an Apple-style Core 2 Duo logo. They hug.
* A spoof by [[VH1]]'s [[Best Week Ever]], which presents the "Mac" character in a less kind light, and the "PC" character in a more flattering light, than the "Get a Mac" ads.
* Another spoof, featured on [[G4 (TV channel)|G4]], features the [[Wii]] (represented by a chipper, attractive woman) vs the [[PS3]] (represented by a serious and [[overweight]] woman). The Wii talks about its ease of use, and price, whereas the PS3 claims that "good things cost good money", and that she has better features.[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9136575504838642038]
* On the show [[X-Play]], in a continuation of the theme of Apple making a console called the iBox, the iBox was compared to the Playstation 2 in the same manner. After the person playing the Playstation 2 complained about how many wires he had to carry, the iBox actor bragged about how the iBox doesn't have any wires. The Playstation 2 then questioned how you played it, to which the iBox responded "I don't think that's part of the game." The show's hosts, [[Adam Sessler]] and [[Morgan Webb]], praised it for its user friendliness and minimalist design, the latter of which led them to ponder if [[IKEA|Ikea]] made a console.
*[[David Letterman]] created a short spoof where after PC's and Mac's introductions, Mac suddenly explodes.[http://youtube.com/watch?v=bSp9nH9anCA] They were about to begin the campaign ad '''Touché'''.
* On [[YTMND|YTMND.com]], two spoofs were made, which exist as edited versions and over dubbed (using the voices from [[Microsoft Narrator]]) of the commercials Better Results and Self Pity entitled "another shitty mac ad" and "stupid ass mac ad". Another spoof was made entitled "Mac vs PC," (an overdubbed version of Sales Pitch) where the PC mentions that PCs can do games (in response to Macs supposedly having all the "cool programs", shoots the Mac, and "[[teabagging|teabags]]" him, the famous gesture in ''[[Action Quake]]''. Also, the message "Think Different" is replaced by "Think Again." The latter site was later deleted. In addition, a spoof called "PC FTW" involves [[Barney Calhoun]] and [[Isaac Kleiner]] (two characters from ''[[Half-Life (series) |Half-Life]]''), portraying the Mac and PC characters and using audio from the commercial Out of the Box, however, when PC/Issac is talking, [[Gordon Freeman]] shoots Mac/Barney. Finally, a site entitled "PC tells Mac where to sit," shows PC pointing a gun at Mac and telling him to shut up, while the song "[[In the Summertime]]" plays in the background.
* A [http://www.Break.com/index/pcvsmac1.html video] on the humor website Break.com features a viral video, which, at first, mirrors the ad showing the Mac not getting viruses. However, the guy representing the PC retorts that there are no Mac users who would want to make a virus, stating "who would want to fuck up a Mac any more than it already is?". The guy representing the Mac remorsefully walks off screen, and, seconds later, kills himself (a gunshot is heard). The guy representing the PC simply says "There goes another one.".
* A [http://www.yirmumah.net/archives.php?date=20060517 comic] at Yirmumah.com parodies the ad where PC says that one thing Mac doesn't have is a gun, which causes Mac to flee.
* The [[Canada|Canadian]] [[sketch show]] ''[[Royal Canadian Air Farce]]'' has begun parodies of the campaign where, PC is replaced with a [[Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] (called PC), and Mac is replaced with a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]. The parodies begin similar to the real ads, with the Liberal saying "Hi, I'm a Liberal." and the Progressive Conservative adding "And I'm a PC."
* Global Television in Canada has a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWaaBGTNP4Y parody commercial] with a news anchor and a sports anchor.
* The British [[Impressionist (entertainment)|impressionist]] comedy ''[[Dead Ringers]]'' produced a parody with [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] [[Tony Blair]] as a "PM" and leader of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] [[David Cameron]] as a Mac. Although the two have differences (PM claims to "always let you down", while Mac comes in a box "so shiny and new that you don't notice that I do nothing at all"), they agree that they are the only choices, until leader of the [[Liberal Democrats]] [[Menzies Campbell]] drives past on a wheelchair exclaiming "and I'm a [[Sinclair ZX81]]!".
===Criticisms===
In an article for ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine, [[Seth Stevenson]] criticized the campaign as being too "mean spirited," suggesting that, "...isn't smug superiority (no matter how affable and casually dressed) a bit off-putting as a brand strategy?".<ref>http://www.slate.com/id/2143810/</ref>
Chris Szurgot, developer of [[Visual Studio 2005]], claimed the 'Viruses' commercial as [[fear, uncertainty and doubt|FUD]].<ref>http://weblogs.asp.net/cszurgot/archive/2006/05/02/444840.aspx</ref>
In the 'Viruses' commercial, Mac claims none of the viruses for PCs affect him, but [[Macro virus (computing)|macro virus]]es do not rely on the operating system but instead individual pieces of software, thus letting them work on either Macs or PCs with the affected software. In addition, there are [[spyware]] known to attack any operating system with a compatible browser.<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/26/firefox_malware_extension/</ref>
A psychologist made an 18-page analysis of the campaign that includes references to several criticisms made regarding the veracity of this campaign. <ref>http://www.workingpsychology.com/downloads.html</ref>
In an article in ''[[The Guardian]]'' Charlie Brooker points out that the use of the comedians Mitchell and Webb in the UK campaign is curious. They both star in the sitcom ''[[Peep Show (TV series)|Peep Show]]'' in which to quote the article's author "Mitchell plays a repressed, neurotic underdog, and Webb plays a selfish, self-regarding poseur.". He goes on to say, "So when you see the ads, you think, "PCs are a bit rubbish yet ultimately lovable, whereas Macs are just smug, preening tossers."<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2006031,00.html</ref>
==International variants==
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