Some new Mac and PC ads are out now. I enjoyed the original ones, but this new one in particular is quite funny. (If that link ends up not working, look for the “Angel/Devil” ad from the first link.)

It’s also strangely surreal. Here we have a man playing a computer, who then suffers from the traditional human conflict of good vs. evil as represented by a devil and an angel, who are, we assume, also computers. The man/computer is jealous of the other man, a Mac, and his first thought is to rip up the pretty book the man/Mac made all on his own. That a computer would want to do such a petty, human thing, even though it is played by a human—because it is played by a human—is amusing. This also provides a slight implication that the man/computer is crazy. The man/computer’s confusion over the presence of his conscious is a cherry on top.

All this makes the point of the ad secondary. The ad is entertaining first and foremost. Yet the message is there, and supported by the whole exercise. Very well done.

I really, really want to say this ad is brilliant, but I’m afraid I’ll be called names.

“Fun. We tried that once. It was nothing but pain and frustration.”

Okay, screw it… it’s brilliant!