Microsoft Claims Apple Wanted to Silence Laptop Hunter Ads
Microsoft Claims Apple Wanted to Silence Laptop Hunter Ads
Posted 07/16/2009 at 4:00pm
| by Paul Lilly
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Apparently it's all fun and games poking fun at the competition until someone turns the table and slaps you across the face with a reality check. Just ask Apple, who threw the first volley before going on a marketing blitz with Justin Long-in-tooth. According to Kevin Turner, Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer, Apple's lawyers were none too pleased with Microsoft's Laptop Hunter ads and wanted the software maker to stop airing them.
"You know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey -- this is a true story -- saying, 'Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices.' They took like $100 off or something," Turner said during his Worldwide Partner Conference keynote. "It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business."
In case you've somehow managed to miss them, Microsoft's Laptop Hunter ads feature regular people challenged to find a laptop that fits their needs at a certain price point, and if they can find one, Microsoft will pay for it. In every commercial, an appropriate MacBook ends up being out of the price range. You can view all of them here. And if you're an Apple fan, here's your link.
Image Credit: refreshed.notian.net
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Trooper_One
July 20, 2009 at 12:38pm
What price drop? In BC, Canada, price for an Apple lappy is still waay more than a PC!
It's funny how Apple pokes fun at Windows (specifically, Vista crashes and viruses) yet after SP2, which stabilized Vista greatly, Apple continues on the attack.
Maybe they should look in their own orchard before launching a siege!
Civilcaveman
July 17, 2009 at 7:02am
You complain that they didn't look hard enough. All they had to do was look at the price tag to know that it was too much for their budget. The point of the commericals were to find a laptop with everything you wanted for the price you wanted.
nmanguy
July 16, 2009 at 5:19pm
Microsoft sat by for years while Apple ran their "Hey, Apple is kewl, Windows sux haha Yoga, time machinne, Japanese people, obesity" ads, and now that Microsoft (Who techincally isn't promoting their product only, they're promoting Windows, HP and Dell) has ads that don't involve Churros, Apple's shitting themselves because the economy is tanking. I honsetly hope that Microsoft keeps biting back, and maybe introduce "Desktop Hunters" as well.
arkweld
July 16, 2009 at 4:30pm
those ads would be a lot better if they didn't have such dumb "ordinary people" buying them. Is it so hard to find someone who isimpressed with the processor speeds, video card and feature set like including HDMI, than those who just sound impressed that the hard drive is over 512MB?
In one of them after leaving the Mac store a girl is ecstatic that one of the Win laptops has a webcam built-in ...
which is standard on every Mac with a display.
Didn't look very hard there did she?
Those ads basically say "If you're a dumb shmo who knows nothing about technology like me you should get a Windows machine! Wheeeeee! Dribble."
Havok
July 16, 2009 at 6:03pm
Another way to tell that ads are working is when fanboys of the 'other' side start to flame back at articles or comments instead of just take it.
Zing!
OMGWTFBBQ
LatiosXT
July 16, 2009 at 4:57pm
Most of the world isn't up to date with features and stuff on computers, or they could care less. To them a computer is just something that helps them with their online social life or whatever else they need. They could care less about what the tool comes with, as long as the tool does its job.
Microsoft is taking advantage of the computer illiterate, while Apple caters to them.
bingojubes
July 16, 2009 at 4:06pm
maybe instead of their current ad spokesperson, maybe they could employ Vince the Shamwow guy to say a few things, or maybe even the Dell guy?
LatiosXT
July 16, 2009 at 3:42pm
Considering I looked at Apple's website to see if there was a said price drop. Nope. They're selling previous generation Macbooks (which do have some current generaiton hardware) and simply rebranded the new MacBook as the lower end MacBook Pro. I kind of want to say this is like Sony's idea of a price drop... that is they just upgrade the hard drive and give you a game (and drop backwards compatibility support for PS2).
Good going Apple, this doesn't make you look any better now.
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