Huawei casts Apple's "Get a Mac" actor for new US ad campaign

Actor Justin Long, who starred in Apple’s iconic “Get a Mac” ad campaign in the mid 2000s has switched sides and is now representing Huawei in its efforts to gain traction in the US tech market. Oh, how things have changed.

From 2006 to 2009, Long personified the Apple brand and somewhat tactfully mocked Bill Gates, Windows, and the PC crowd in general in a series of TV ads. He was a friendly-looking guy in his late 20s, wearing casual clothing, his hands seemingly glued inside the pockets of his jeans in every ad. The campaign was fun for what it was, we think, although “Mac guy” didn’t always raise the best points and PC was so over-the-top dorkish and inept with his drab suits, awkward behavior, and incessant freezing.

Well, things are quite different now. Long doesn’t represent a brand, a product, or an idea – he doesn’t really represent anything, really. In his first ad for Huawei, we find Long during a job interview with Huawei’s Mate 9 smartphone. Yes, you got that right, the actual Mate 9 — the phone itself — is conducting the interview (through emojis of all things), while Long comes off as somewhat desperate to get the job as an ad director for Huawei. At the end of the interview, Long asks, “Alexa, since we’re going to be working together, would you mind if I called you Al?” To this, Amazon’s AI assistant coldly replies, “My name is Alexa,” prompting Long to ditch the idea of friendly nicknames and humbly promise: “I’ll never let you down, Alexa!”

It’s a bit weird how the guy comes off as so desperate to work for an AI assistant the sole purpose of which is, well, to assist. Check out this video: