Is Justin Long trying to become the next “Dell Dude”?
Remember when the “Dell Dude” got busted for smoking pot, and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in future endorsements when Dell dropped him from their “Dude! You’re getting a Dell!” ad campaign? Of course you do, odds are it was one of the happiest days of your life. Well, looks like Justin “I’m a Mac” Long might be looking to test just how lenient Apple’s policies towards pot are.
In a rather odd move, Long has written and stars in a new short film entitled “Hunger Relief†in which he plays a stoned pot head. So, what’s the problem? Well, as an actor, Long obviously is allowed to play any number of characters, so this in and of itself is certainly not grounds to arouse Apple’s anger. However, the fact that in the film Long talks ON HIS iPHONE while HOLDING A BONG might.
So, what’s the deal? Obviously Long could have been talking on a regular cordless home phone without sacrificing the artistic vision of the film. Is Long trying to get fired from the ads which have likely made him ten times as much money as his stellar movie career, or did he discuss this part with Apple beforehand? I would think that since “I’m A Mac” is now officially being used as Long’s middle name (at least by us) might be both a reason Apple might have to address this with Long, and a reason Long might want to break ties with Apple before his type-casting becomes irreversible. Like it or not, Long is “The Mac Guy”, and he’s portraying an Apple product in a pro-drug light here.
But is there really anything for Long or Apple to worry about? Obviously “Hunger Relief”, like all short films, will be seen by no one, so odds are this move will likely not hurt Apple’s “I’m a Mac” ad campaign, and perhaps the “hip, cool, Apple buying public” will even think Long is extra cool for smoking pot. But given that last we heard Ben Curtis (The Dell Dude) is now a waiter at Tortilla Flats , why would Long rock the boat?
Remember Justin, these days all it takes is one angry mom with a pen to cause an uproar with a line like “Won’t somebody think of the children!” and it’s game over. (Damn kids, ruining everything.)
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader ishervin for the tip!
[via Appletell]
I don’t think justing long needs the money anymore from apple… i’m sure he’d gladly keep his check, but he’s been in movies and “i’m a mac” is a lot different than “dude, you’re gettin’ a dell”
either way, i’m pretty sure long knows what he’s doing and either doesn’t care or it’s okay with apple
I really don’t think this is an issue at all. He’s an actor, and a somewhat established actor at that. Something the dell dude was not at all. Not to mention the dell dude got caught for real and Long is acting.
but even if apple does take offense the “I’m a mac” adds have pretty much run its course and it’s probably about time for apple to go in a different direction anyways.
Is this really worth covering? No one will care.
I think it definitely IS an issue is that Long is holding an iPhone and a bong, unless Apple blessed this, which I don’t see why they would, . It was obviously thrown in since Long is synonymous with Apple, so to be filmed using Apple gear in one hand, and a bong in the other is totally a diss to Apple.
Pete,
I think you’re off on this one. Unless there’s something in his contract with apple about appearing in film using their products this really shouldn’t be an issue.
crsrs,
Exactly.
I don’t think you guys looked close enough….
[IMG]http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n85/g4zilla/pub/JustinBong.jpg[/IMG]
He’s a freakin’ actor in a freakin’ movie!
Apple isn’t gonna sweat it. They’d be REALLY upset if he was shown with a bong while talking on a Blackberry.
Funny… I don’t recall any potential scandals involving John Hodgman. Remind me again… which of those dudes was I supposed to root for?
Are you kidding me? You really think Steve Jobs would care about this, given his history (and Apple’s history) with drugs? Seriously, they didn’t call it the “Green Room” for nothing.
I would pay good money to hear the conversation between an “angry mom” and Steve Jobs on this topic.
Adam
I’ve always thought that in the “I’m a Mac” series, Long should have been carrying a guy called “I’m UNIX” on his back, to be more accurate.
Right – he’s an actor in a movie. If this were a cameo shot, then some kind of morals clause (as in what clobbered the Dell Dude) might kick in. However, this isn’t Justin Long doing this, this is a character played by Justin Long – who is practicing his *profession*; his livelihood. California (I assume this would be governed by CA laws, given that both Apple and Hollywood are there) has fairly strong laws against restricting someone from practicing their livelihood. While Apple might have quite a bit to say about how JL conducts his life, they almost certainly get nothing to say about any professions roles he may take on.
Perhaps Long is trying not to put down the apple product (being the iphone), but to show how wonderful the iphone is and that even the poor and those under the influence should have one (yes i realize it was acting and i personally dont like iphones.)
first of all, who cares
second, maybe he’s trying to get himself released from a contract that makes him 110% identified as “the mac guy” instead of “an actor”. If he wants to do that he should go hang out with steve ballmer in some clubs and get the paps shooting some pics of the two of them on the dance floor. now that’d be hotttt++
Smoking drugs, because its illegal appeals to the rebelious nature of youths.
This will be a hit with young people and if you know one thing about MAC it’s “those that go Mac, never go back”.
keeping the Mac hip for the younger genration will only benifit Apple in the future.
http://teknoboy.blogspot.com/
I agree with everyone else – he was an actor first and is still an actor – companies know the risks when they hire people with careers.
Call me when he gets busted having sex with a goat. Even then, I’m not sure Apple would fire him.
@Monkish
Good one.
LOL, no one will ever be able to replace the original Dell Dude, it’ll never happen!
Jess
http://www.web-privacy.pro.tc
C’mon, he’s required to use an iphone because of his contract with Apple. Apple could care less what the hell he is doing in the movie as long as he’s using their product and not hmmmm a G1. Sure, he’s sucking on a bong here but in the movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno he’s talking about sucking cock in gay porn while talking on the iphone. Who cares, really?
Wow. Totally agree, there’s no reason he needed to be using the iPhone, except to remind people that he’s the Mac guy. Weird.
This is nothing new… in “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” he played a butt-banging porn star and used his iPhone to show off a video of granny panties. I’m pretty sure he uses an Apple product in every film that he’s in.
See: http://twitpic.com/zvft
This is the dumbest thing ever. 1. Marijuana is less dangerous than just about any other drug (Smoking, Drinking, even caffeine) 2. Apple users probably smoke a shitload of weed (they are the young college student demographic, not the 60 year old “Just say No” demographic).
Ugh, shut up Dr. Macenstein. The only reason he’d get in trouble for doing this SKETCH is because of ‘press’ like you that can’t tell the difference between a part and real life. He’s not doing drugs, it’s just a part.
Sounds like you’re a lot more concerned about this than apple could be Dr. Macenstein. It’s pot, it’s not heroin or meth. Chill out.
Dude im smokin a joint while using my macbook right now..
Its only a sign of the kneejerk reactionary, and incredibly vocal moral majority that anything like smoking pot would ever be an issue for PR people.
What you guys didnt mention save for a caption under the video, is that HE WROTE THE SHORT FILM.
Every artist takes from their own lives when writing, clearly hes a funny pisstake kinda dude.
People gotta lighten up!
Slow news day?
Jesus fucking Christ Macenstein. Lighten the fuck up and stop trying to make an issue out of nothing. This looks more like an attempt to create a controversy just to pull people to your crappy website. Eat a dick.
I like Justin, he is a good actor…
PS: thanks Dr for putting my name on the blog 🙂
Most ppl forget that in the early days of Apple ot was quite common forthose employeed there to pass around the occasional joint. This has beenreported on in numerous bios of Woz, Jobs, and Apple.
I think Woz would bless this union
I would have to say the problem is sites like these actually making this news. WTF! honestly, if you didn’t make such a hoopla about it here, it would probably be no big deal.
hmmm.. long writing it makes it even more bizarre. i guess I could see both where apple might care, and where they wouldn’t. i’m pretty sure most major corporations would rather their gear NOT be portrayed alongside drugs by their pitchmen, but maybe Apple is thinking different?
🙂
Well, you were wrong about one thing Doc… now some people will actually see this short film
🙂
Long’s been doing pot movie roles for years, just look at his track record. I think you’re looking too much into this… you must be bored to find this as news.
noj_bomb,
No, I don’t have a problem with Long doing pot movies, or even doing pot, but to film yourself holding the iPhone in one hand and a bong in the other when you are the face of Apple, to me (and I admit I am speaking only for myself here) seems like an odd decision. I would think it similarly odd if Bill Cosby did a film smoking pot while eating JELL-O, Jared from the Subway commercials did a movie where he was eating Subway sandwiches while smoking pot, or if William Shatner appeared in a film smoking pot and ordering tickets on Priceline.com. It doesn’t mean those wouldn’t be funny scenes, it just means most companies wouldn’t love their pitchman being seen with their products and drugs.
-The Doc
The only issue I have with this is the blatant stereotyping of stoners. I doubt apple will have any issues, most people probably wont think of iphones when they see this and if they do then thats just more advertising and hype around the iphone.
like william shatner isn’t getting blazed while playing WoW…
*Cough* Ellen Fleiss *cough*
Apple didn’t care about whether the girl was high, so I doubt they’ll care about this.
It’s funny reading all the macbots worry about their lead guy getting fired and all the reason why he isn’t dissing apple. Apple has been getting lots of bad press lately and seeing this is even funnier!!!
This article is one of the biggest wastes of time i’ve ever seen. I can’t believe I just read this.
This is definitely the worst thing to happen to me so far in 2009.
This is a sad, dark day. 🙁
This was a waste of time to promote this as “the Mac dude being a stoner”. In my opinion, Justin Long is a funny comedian who honestly doesn’t give a damn if its a Mac or a PC. He is doing his job and getting paid doing commercials that help Apple bash on Windows. My views of Apple and Windows are still the same after watching this, and that is they’re both not worth the money. Grab a free Linux distribution if you really love computers (Ubuntu Linux is probably the easiest for you newbies out there to work with, very user friendly. Plus, now you can play WoW on Ubuntu, so there is really no reason to keep Windows or Mac.)
Is this article serious? OMG, there’s a BONG!!! oh no!!!! not the evil bong… KIDS LOOK AWAY PLEASE!!!! Consorting with the pot smokers is career suicide! Give me a break.
If apple fires him over him making a video about smoking weed then this country is doomed. I’m sure if he was drinking in the video this article wouldn’t be up. Oh no, but weed is illegal! It’s satan’s CANDY! I cannot believe your THIS hungry for hits that you’ll pretend that this is a big enough deal to write a… one. two.. five paragraph (six if you count the last line) article on Long’s career downfall because of a video with a bong.
I’m not coming to this site again.. blow me.
I don’t think Apple would care, due to the fact that you don’t even have to take a drug test to work at apple.
@What
Wow. Well, SOMEONE likes their pot, huh?
-The Doc
This article fails. Quit worrying about Justin Long and worry about why you suck so bad instead.
Oh, and one more thing to “The Doc.” Quit talking about this clip like it’s a short film. It’s the equivalent to a YouTube video, man. Hardly career suicide. Wise up, you retards.
Doesn’t writing this article make you that angry mom with a pen?
Steve Jobs openly admits (dare I say, boasts about) doing acid; nothing will come of this.
Who cares about him using an iPhone? It’s such a minor detail — it’s not like he comes out and says, “Hi, I’m a mac, I’m smoking bong, and buy an iPhone, just like the one I’m using.”
I didn’t even realize it was an iPhone until it was pointed out in the description.
Meh this’ll just blow over like the mac convert ads did. Fits with the hippy image apple has anyways.
I cant believe some of you are seriously considering “how it looks”
if apple actually thought that daftly they would never have hired jeff goldblum to do ads. EVER.
What does this have to do with Dell?
It’s just a skit he did for Funny or Die
I think everyone is missing a possible major point here. If Justin Long is a resident of California, it very well could be that he is using marijuana per a doctor orders thus completely legal.
Its not to say that he even is smoking pot in the movie, he very well could have been using an herb or leaf that does not contain THC. But, my point is, even if he was, he may have been doing so completely within the limits of the law.
Thus, Apple could not harass him, or grill him on a lifestyle contract if what he is doing is legal and prescribed by a doctor.
just a thot.