Remember the PC Guy from Apple’s Famous Mac Commercials? Here’s What He’s up to Now

If you owned (or even watched) a TV between 2006 and 2009, you saw Apple’s advertising campaign featuring actors John Hodgman and Justin Long titled “Get a Mac.” You’ll definitely remember at least one of the 66 commercials that personified PCs as unimaginative, stiff, and beige, whereas Macs were cool, witty, and subjectively more attractive.

The ads showcased the benefits of owning a Mac, like the lower risk of contracting viruses, the better stability of OS X, the convenience of getting service at the Genius Bar, and even the MacBook’s clever MagSafe power adapter.

The ads were shown worldwide in areas including Japan, the U.K., Canada, Australia, the U.S., and New Zealand – albeit with varying comedy duos to suit each market. But, if you lived in North America, Long and Hodgman were your Mac and PC guys.

Audiences ate the ads up, and according to an analysis, Apple’s sales quickly jumped 39% in the campaign’s first year and was popular enough to run for two more.

Not everyone loved the ads though. Seth Stevenson from Slate magazine noted that the commercials were “mean-spirited,” and Long’s “smug-superiority” was off-putting.

Either way, the “Get a Mac” advertisements pushed Hodgman into the limelight scoring a regular role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a role in Tina Fey’s Baby Mama and was even asked to roast President Barack Obama live on TV.

However, The Daily Show ended, as well as the “Get a Mac” ads, and Hodgman’s fame dwindled. So what’s the PC guy doing now?

What’s John Hodgman Doing Now?

Today, Hodgman is thankful for his time in the limelight as it gave him insight into hidden worlds and the eventual gift of humility (after realizing a pair of corgis were more famous than him), according to a recent interview with PBS shown below.

He went on to publish a new book titled Medallion Status, which humorously explores his fame and the incredible level of access it granted him, not just access to VIP lounges, but to alleged secret societies as well.

You can also find Hodgman on the FX network voice-acting the animated comedy Dicktown or on his Instagram page.

Order Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms from Amazon, here. See the original PBS News Hour interview below.