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A discussion is provided of the globalization of ads for Apple's Macintosh and Microsoft's Microsoft Windows Vista. For instance, the American ad showing the PC nerd and the hip Mac guy would not be acceptable in Japan, a country in which it is offensive to brag about ones superiority. Therefore, Japanese ads have two comedians that are differentiated more by dress than by attitude. International campaigns also mirror an expanding trend among U.S. companies to refine their ad campaigns for overseas markets. More companies want to sell to consumers overseas, which requires the ability to successfully navigate cultural waters. In the past, Coca-Cola and McDonald's have tried universal, dubbed, and totally local advertising, but getting reshoot and dubbing rights is complicated, and some ad messages are more easily conveyed than others. In the Mac versus PC ads, for instance, casting was very important, and, in the United Kingdom, two popular actors play characters not unlike the roles in their TV sitcom. Even with the effort to please, some United Kingdom and Japanese consumers were still offended. Among topics covered is the issue of whether localizing could have obfuscated the Mac-PC competition message.
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