The Mac vs. PC ads certainly polarized people. They seem to be very popular among people who already own Macs, while PC owners tend to find them smug and off-pu

The Mac vs. PC ads certainly polarized people. They seem to be very popular among people who already own Macs, while PC owners tend to find them smug and off-putting. The ads seem to be more about attacking the competition than the competition's customers, but they still come off as attack ads, sometimes rather nasty ones. It's hard to say exactly how effective they were. Mac sales saw a boost during that campaign, but other factors, such as the iPod "halo effect" and much-publicized Windows Vista problems, could be credited as well. Who knows? Maybe they would have sold more Macs with a more positive campaign. I agree, though, John Hodgman was the more endearing of the two. Maybe one way to judge the effectiveness of the ads is to look at the careers of Justin Long and John Hodgman—it seems like "PC" came out on top, in their case.