Microsoft changes ‘Laptop Hunters’ ad after Apple complaint
Microsoft has slightly altered one of its recent ‘Laptop Hunters’ ads after receiving a complaint from Apple about pricing misinformation included in it. Rather than being a cause for Apple fanboys to whoop with joy at having forced Microsoft to act, this is a sweet victory for Microsoft because it shows Apple is being affected by the campaign. And not in a good way.
Microsoft hasn’t always made good adverts. In fact, it has been universally beaten in this department by Apple over the last few years, and it pains me to say that. Sure, the ‘Mac Vs. PC’ ads may show Apple’s smug arrogance in all its untempered glory, but they seem to resonate with consumers who want to buy into the Apple way of thinking. Those consumers I like to refer to as ‘style-conscious bandwagon jumpers with more money than sense’.
However, recent Microsoft efforts have shown a definite improvement. I like the IE8 ads (yes, even the one featuring vomit as the punchline) even though I’m not a fan of the Microsoft Web browser. But I’m a bigger fan of the ‘Laptop Hunters’ ad campaign first unveiled in March of this year.
The ‘Laptop Hunters’ ads feature consumers looking for a laptop computer to buy. They invariably look at Apple offerings before settling on a Windows-based system instead for a number of reasons. Most pertaining to the extortionate prices Apple charges for its products.
Microsoft COO Kevin Turner delighted attendees at the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference last week when he recounted a telephone call he had received from Apple’s legal department. Apple was requesting one of the ads be changed to reflect a recent price cut the company had made. Turner described the call in joyous terms:
It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I’ve ever taken in business. I did cartwheels down the hallway.
Now, according to AdAge, Apple has got its way because Microsoft has indeed changed the ad in question, the one featuring ‘Laptop Hunters’ Lauren and Sue, to cut out the reference to the price of an Apple laptop being considered. A Microsoft spokesman said:
We slightly adjusted the ads to reflect the updated pricing of the Mac laptop shown in the TV advertisement. This does not change the focus of the campaign, which is to showcase the value and choice of the PC.
Which is spot on. This doesn’t mean Microsoft is suddenly conceding that the Apple offerings on display in the ads are suddenly within the price range of ordinary consumers. Because, quite frankly, they aren’t. It is, instead, merely making sure its legal obligations are firmly protected so that it can continue to show up Apple for the money-grabbing charlatan it clearly is.
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July 27th, 2009
Microsoft’s ads have backfired. Instead of convincing Mac buyers to buy a cheap PC; they are convincing Windows buyers to buy even cheaper PCs.
Then again, while that is bad for PC makers, matbe Microsoft thinks it is good. Do they care what price PC people buy, as long as the PC has Windows on it?
July 27th, 2009
Of course they don’t care – a sale is a sale is a sale…
Incidentally Apple has exactly the same idea too. They don’t particularly care if the buyer had to spend a bit extra for the “privilege” of owning a certain badge – a sale is a sale is a sale.