Friends, it happened. Those long-running ads featuring John Hodgman and Justin Long as PC and Mac, are over. They have been replaced by the “Why you’ll love a Mac” page featuring pictures of Macs and a number of roll-over peans to Mac’s greatness including “It’s designed to be a better computer” and “It runs Office and works with your existing PC files.”
Justin Long said that the ads were over way back in April but this seems like the final nail in the coffin. Most mention of the campaign has been removed and now all we have is memories.
I’m honestly not sure how effective those ads were. While they did bring Apple into the spotlight, I think most folks identified with Hodgman over Long and they were, in a sense, preaching to the choir. I think a move towards a more non-human approach is well in order although there is no mention of a new TV campaign on the site.