I'm more than willing to roll the dice on that...
Seriously, I'm not sure how touting themselves - particularly considering the "competition" - damages them or takes away from their image. They don't have to be a dick about it, you know? There's humor. There's compelling visuals. People - for better or worse - tend to listen to celebrities (this week has been a GREAT reminder of that, having seen Ben Affleck holding forth on Hardball from the Fleet Center
), etc.
I think there are about 200 ways Apple could wave their flag a bit, show their superiority to Windows, etc. in a non-offensive, non-brand-damaging way.