The iconic “Blue Screen of Death” (now known as the Black Screen of Death) has grown increasingly rare with Windows 11 users hardly seeing it anymore. But that isn’t stopping Apple from using it in its latest advertising/marketing campaign.
Apple’s new “Macs don’t panic” ad video is over eight minutes long and mocks Windows being used at a trade show, where an initially successful event ends in the glow of a blue screen fiasco.
Apple describes the video:
The Underdogs are ready for their first-ever trade show until a PC outage strikes and the Blue Screen of Death threatens their beloved Container Con. Thanks to the security of their Apple products, the Underdogs are unaffected and experience extraordinary success. See how the magic of Mac, iPhone, and iPad comes together to help the Underdogs meet potential clients, bag new business, and even lend a hand to a fellow packaging company.
Okay, only marketing people could come up with copy like this. The “Underdogs” are a small start-up and Container Con is a trade show. The short film occasionally shows off Apple elements like the ringtone of an Apple Watch or the “Find My” feature to locate a lost iPhone.
But the central concept here is Windows bashing, where the room turns blue because the Windows PCs used at the event crash with blue screens. According to Windows Latest, this is a reference to the global CrowdStrike IT outage, which incidentally was not Microsoft’s fault.
Apple seems to be manufacturing a false impression with this short film, as modern Windows 11 computers don’t actually crash en masse like this, nor are Windows users panicking over their operating systems. The scaremongering culminates at 5:03 into the video with the statement: “Huh? It’s a PC problem. Your Macs are secure.”
Further reading: How to troubleshoot a Windows blue screen error
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
