Okay, everybody, let's face it: overall, Apple is not a particularly effective advertiser. Yes, things have gotten a lot better in the past year; "Think Different" raised eyebrows and kicked up enough controversy to get people talking, the anti-Pentium ads that followed offered a clear and concise reason to consider buying a G3 Power Mac, and the fold-out PowerBook G3 print ad was simple, effective, and pretty widespread. But as much as those ads have all helped Apple regain some mindshare and sell some products, they weren't ubiquitous enough to compare with Intel's or Microsoft's presence. Now, before you jump down our throats about "financial realities" and the like, yes, we're quite aware that Intel and Microsoft have a lot more money to throw around than Apple does, and we definitely feel that Apple's spent what money it has in a pretty effective way, but there are still these Big Gaping Holes® in its ad strategy, like, why are CompUSA's Sunday circulars still so Mac-scarce?

It's that detail in particular that brings us to an issue that not too many people seem to be talking about: what about advertising for the iMac? It's now just one month until the little thing hits store shelves, so we would hope that Apple plans an advertising blitz to commence no later than three weeks from today. We've heard via an Upside column that Apple financial wiz Fred Anderson claims that the sales and marketing budget for the iMac will be "huge." That's good news, as it indicates that Apple at least realizes the need for iMac advertising. As to what kind of ads we'll see, that's anyone's guess, but Steve Jobs hinted that a commercial might be made of the 3 1/2-minute "Simplicity Shootout" video shown at the Expo, and now available in Quicktime format. That video's a great start, although we're not sure how it would translate into a 30- or 60-second commercial. Perhaps they can break it up into a series of shorter ads, to be shown in sequential commercial breaks during a particular show. Regardless, Apple's heart (and apparently its checkbook) are in the right place, and it's entirely a matter of execution now.

While we're on the subject, we'd also hope that Apple has used some of that "huge" iMac marketing budget to bribe the hell out of CompUSA in order to get big splashy iMac coverage in the Sunday circulars. After all, CompUSA is where most iMacs will be sold, especially the ones purchased by people who don't already own a Mac. Then again, with somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 iMacs on preorder (depending on whom you believe), CompUSA probably won't have to be coerced to get up off its duff and finally start advertising Apple's systems.