Actor Justin Long s Get a Mac commercials with John Hodgman were a bona fide hit, numbering in the dozens from 2006 to 2009. Long played a relaxed, innovative Mac while Hodgman portrayed a stodgy, complaining PC.
But some of the best ones never ran because Apple co-founder Steve Jobs rejected them for one surprising reason: They were too funny.
Thats the word from Long in a recent Couch Surfing interview.
I noticed that some of the funniest ones would never air, Long told host Lola Ogunnaike in a clip of the show above. One, in particular, I remember, Zach Galifianakis played, like, a drunken Santa Claus, and I was dying to see that one.
So when Long inquired why that spot and others werent airing, Long said Apple officials told him that Steve Jobs preferred when they werent super funny.
Why? Ogunnaike asked.
Well, its because he thought it would detract from the point of the commercial, Long replied. He thought if people were too focused on the humor in it, they would lose sight of the product.
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