Justin Long Says Steve Jobs Nixed ‘Get a Mac’ Ads for Being Too Funny
Written by SOURCE on May 27, 2019
In an interview with PeopleTV’s Couch Surfing, Justin Long revealed that only 66 of the nearly 300 commercials he shot for Apple as part of the “Get A Mac” campaign were seen by the public while “some of the funniest ones would never air.” Long believes that a number of ads were struck down by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs because he thought viewers would “lose sight of the product” if the spot was “super funny.”
“One in particular, I remember, Zach Galifianakis played, like, a drunken Santa Claus,” Long recalls. “And [Apple] said, basically, that Steve Jobs preferred when they weren’t super funny…because he thought it would detract from the point of the commercial. He thought if people were too focused on the humor in it, they would lose sight of the product.”
While many people may recognize Long for his work on Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Accepted, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and Jeepers Creepers, Couch Surfing host Lola Ogunnaike believes his “Get A Mac” ads were responsible for turning him into “a household face.”
Those appearances also helped ensure that Long isn’t hurting for money, despite being at least a decade removed from when those commercials aired. “How much money did you make off of those?,” Ogunnaike asked. “Enough that I don’t have to be here, Lola,” he responded.
Long is currently getting into the podcast game with Life is Short with Justin Long.
