Here’s one thing Apple (AAPL) does better than any of its competitors: advertise on television.

Microsoft (MSFT) never quite recovered from the three-and-a-half-year drubbing it took at the hands of Justin Long and John Hodgman. Google (GOOG) is still playing catch-up to “There’s an App for That.”

And how is anybody going to answer Apple’s latest ad campaign, the one that uses the iPhone 4’s FaceTime video-chat feature to tug at every available heartstring?

The first, a one-minute masterpiece of emotional manipulation many have mistakenly attributed to Sam (“American Beauty”) Mendes, aired last month to warm reviews. Ad Age‘s Edmund Lee called it “wordless and classy.” MG Siegler compared it to the best work of Mad Men‘s Don Draper.

Four new ones debuted Sunday night, and they are more of the same, exploiting the emotional impact of a smile (with new braces), a scary new haircut, a first grandchild and a long-sought-for pregnancy. The videos are pasted below the fold. iPhone friendly versions can be seen here, here, here and here.

Smile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niOCmIuts90

Haircut:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diUjVY8zRJc

Meet Her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Wn7rYSBVQ

Big News:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CRfHl1Glwk

See also:

• iPhone 4 ad racks up 1.8 million hits

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]