2) Second, the Mac ads aren't about "Mac Users" and "PC Users." Those guys ARE the computers. Apple is saying "your computer is dull, why not try another?"
Microsoft misinterpreted this as "those guys are computer users." Ok, well, so what? It means that Apple was saying "PCs are boring" and Microsoft responds by saying "our users are not boring!"
That's what's called a freudian slip and it means Microsoft actually thinks their users are boring people.
[...]
NONE of this is to say that the Apple ads are good, but my god, how could Microsoft have screwed up their response any worse??
Uh, no.
Yes, on the surface Apple was saying that PCs were dull and Macs were exciting. But the subtext -- which was plainly clear except, apparently to Apple fanboys and/or apologists -- is that they were
also saying that only dull, dumpy old businessmen use PCs while hip, exciting youths use Macs. That's not a Freudian slip (and, by the way, you get a big

for trying to sound like an expert on the subject); that's
exactly what they were doing.
The Microsoft ads still suck, but that's completely unrelated to the point.