Microsoft's New Ad Campaign: Owning a Mac in a Recession is Totally Uncool
Microsoft's New Ad Campaign: Owning a Mac in a Recession is Totally Uncool
Posted 03/30/2009 at 5:44am
| by Paul Lilly
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Microsoft's fourth attempt at an ad campaign may finally deliver a worthwhile message to consumers. The latest has nothing to do with Jerry Seinfeld and chewy computers (attempt one) or unattended 8-year-olds hooking up digital cameras to a notebook and declaring "I'm a PC" (attempt two), and then there's the Mojave Experiment (attempt three). Instead, Microsoft's newest ad takes aim at Apple by pointing out the gross pricing disparity between a Mac and a Windows-based PC.
In the ad, a young woman named Lauren says she's looking for a laptop with "speed, a comfortable keyboard, and a 17-inch screen" for under $1,000. Microsoft tells her if she can find it, she can keep it. Lauren's first stop? An Apple Store:
"For $1,000 they only have one computer available and that's a 13-inch screen," Lauren says. "I would have to double my budget, which isn't feasible. I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person."
After later finding an HP Pavilion that "has all of my qualifications" for $700, the ad flashes "Congrats, Lauren. It's a PC."
Well played, Microsoft. And also well timed.
View the video here then tell us if you like Microsoft's new ad campaign in the comments section below.
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Gutter96
May 25, 2009 at 6:47am
Has anyone noticed that in ALL of the Microsoft "Laptop Hunters" commercials EVERYONE buys an HP? No Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba,... etc. COME ON!! This only makes it look like nobody else builds affordable laptops and that Microsoft is in bed with HP and in my book seriously hurts their credibility.
Shckr57
April 12, 2009 at 12:51pm
Anyone ever heard of a kernal Panic. lol, go ahead and try to restart your computer, no the power button isn't broken! OR - just get a pc with "ESET NOD32 AntiVirus". I remember being at a lan party PLAYING GAMES, and I got a blue screen because my CPU was at 4.2Ghz. increased the voltage a tiny bit, and restarted my computer. Didn't happen again.
Personnaly I hate "MAC-PEOPLE" who brag about haveing a "MAC", and can't even say why it is better other than "Well it's a MAC". It gets so anoying. Put a MAC next to a PC with the same hardware configuration and the mac is 2-3 time more. And for what, a name? I spent $2000 on a "PC" <- Yes PC, rig, got a core I7 920, oced to 4.2, quad SLI with 2 9800GX2's, watercooling, in a full tower case. Think about it, no where in hell will you even find a MAC that can overpower that. Not to mention even if they did it would cost like $5000. If you brage about MAC's then go jump off a bridge like the money your throwing in the trash.
Yes, I'm a PC, and I'm proud to be one!
quantumnerd
August 21, 2009 at 4:07pm
Aren't those aged cards unstable to begin with, and now paired in an unstable configuration?
Methinks thou rig doth explode.
shawn Harris
April 10, 2009 at 1:19pm
first off let's get this striaght. you would have everyone believe that when you want to buy a new computer that you spend up to 2 grand when you only what to spend 500.00. Not happening , for sure in a mac world but not to the average pc guy.Also when you buy a new pc, you can use the net to find FREE software and cut your cost greatly. I guess that only mac guys would blow thier wadd on extras that they don't need.
UnkieReamus
April 08, 2009 at 3:47am
I'd just like to point out that at least one point in this commercial has been jiggered.
The Apple store and Best Buy she visited were both in California (Specifically, the Apple store is in Santa Monica (Check out the Google streetview for 1248 3rd St Santa Monica, CA and compare the railing and chairs for the cafe visible to 0:13-0:14 in the commercial. The Best Buy is in Culver City, check out Google StreetView for 3830 Midway Ave Culver City, CA and compare the Ralph's building to 0:59-1:01.)
(As a complete side note, I'd like to point out that the model of computer she bought is likely to be the HP Pavillion dv7-1245dx, not the dv5, as was suggested earlier, since the dv5 only has a 15" screen, the dv7 is listed on Best Buy's website as being priced at 699.99)
Now, the whole point of this is that at 0:55 in the video, we see a display on the register of "Balance Due: $699.99". California has a 8.25% sales tax and Culver City has an additional 1% supplementary tax for a total sales tax of 9.25%. Which means that the final sales price would infact have been $764.74. Likely what transpired was that after ringing up the computer, a partial payment of $64.75 was made, and bringing the balance due back down to the pre-tax price of 699.99. Now, while I will admit that this is less than $1,000 dollars still, it does show a lack of complete honesty on the part of the commercial. This bothers me.
Oh, and for the record, I'm nominally an Apple user, though my current computer is an Acer laptop which I purchased for it's price point.I consider it an inferior replacement, but at the time my computer was in need of replacement, I could not afford the luxury good that is a Mac.
(By the by, the use of HTML appears to be on the fritz, otherwise I would have linked all my references, sorry about the lack of them.)
bbarker3
April 19, 2009 at 9:09pm
You clearly state: "Oh, and for the record, I'm nominally an Apple user, though my current
computer is an Acer laptop which I purchased for it's price point.I
consider it an inferior replacement, but at the time my computer was in
need of replacement, I could not afford the luxury good that is a Mac.". Now what I don't understand is, are you saying you don't own a Mac, but are a nominal user of them, or are you saying you had a Mac, it broke, and you had to purchase an acer laptop until your Mac was fixed?
Morpheous416
April 09, 2009 at 11:14am
Anyone who complains about the price of a Mac, compared to a Windows based machine, has NEVER done the math.
So.. let's help educate the public shall we?
WinPCs typically come with substandard hardware (starts you at less than $500).. and then gives you options to get the better hardware, faster hardware... (leaning you closer to the $1000 mark). Then, you add up most, if not all the software that's "shareware" at the time aka, trial version, and you start adding up more to the cost. Fully configured and purchased, your shiny new WinPC is now around $1300 to 1500. However.. that's configuring a low end model still. Stated in the example, a DV4, DV5 or DV7 from HP. A DV6 or DV7 from HP that you configure first with the latest in hardware, will move you well beyond $1200 really fast... don't believe me? Go there site and start turning up the features. Same goes for all WinPC OEM manufacturers. This isn't just HP or Dell, it's the industry feeding them the components. Which by the way.. also reside in your Mac.
A fully configured top of the line HP HDX18, around $4000.00..(I did a prelim pricing, out the door with everything checked to the max!!, almost $5300 and that did not include any of the extras, such as back up drives, printers.. etc. Also, the HP has a standard 2-3hr battery life, Mac, 8. Starting price for that system is 1200 to 1900. Starting price for the same in a Mac, around 2000 to 2100. I am not holding HP out on a limb here, this is a simple comparison between industries.. the same holds true for your standard OEM dealers.. you want to really get into WinPC pricing, try your gaming machines from Alienware or another strictly gaming notebook manufacturer.
(btw - with all the options you pick with an HDX, can easily top $10,000.00)
There are reasons Mac is more expensive, but not as much as MS, or the community hypes it up to be. I'd take more of my day explaining it, but that would waste your precious time that you should be spending doing the research and answering that question yourself.
(ps - didn't Windows XP Pro start off at around $600 when it was released?) (Vista Ultimate for $400? - and we didn't see SQUAT from MS when it came to those "extras" now did we?)
(pss - and yeah.. Windows 7 Ultimate will not come with any "extras")
I also wanted to add.. "Congratulations Lauren, you like the rest of us, can only afford that Chevy, and not have the budget for a new Mercedes!"
bobthegoat2001
July 17, 2009 at 7:21pm
I'm not sure what your trying to say here. I built a computer for about $500 a year or two ago and it's running Vista pretty speedily and plays most games decently too. Plus Windows has the most open source software and freeware than any other OS.
I agree too that Vista Ultimate isn't needed, but you can get Vista Home Premium OEM for $99 and Windows 7 Upgrade for $119 (upgradable from XP or Vista which most people have) or non-upgrade for $199.
Forty_Caliber
April 09, 2009 at 1:40pm
Nothing wrong with a Chevy. The Malibu is rated higher than it's competing Camry and Accord... still, it's no Benz.
But, why not buy American and stop supporting Germany's economy and laundry list of what we might call "Constitutional violations" towards its citizens.
dougau
April 04, 2009 at 9:01pm
But I am cool enough to be able to pay my mortgage and keep my PC having house, LOL! :o)
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Keith E. Whisman
April 04, 2009 at 6:36pm
It should say owning a mac anytime makes you a gay boy dumbass.
pcfxer
April 05, 2009 at 5:47pm
I own a Mac. It's a G3 B&W tower serving files in my house and providing a connection to my external hard drive for backup. I guess I better quit school and stop dating women, thank you for saving me!
aldude505
April 06, 2009 at 9:37am
I'm sure I speak for a lot of PC users when I say we don't totally dislike Macs. We are just tired of fanboys flaunting their Macs around and saying they are better than PC's without any facts to back it up. I will agree OS X is probably one of the best operating systems I have used, it is only rivaled by the new Windows 7. So I hope and pray I am defending someone who actually uses their mind and doesn't blindly follow the Mac "revolution".
Keith E. Whisman
April 05, 2009 at 11:55pm
Your welcome it's my pleasure. However, you can be saved. You have to destroy that mac. Just do it cold turkey. Kill your mac.
I have ex-mac user support groups here in Phoenix if you want to attend one.
Yes, it is I, making the world smell better one fart at a time.
Chuckles
April 04, 2009 at 5:13am
as demonstrated by the twisted logic the Mac fanboy's are using to dismiss it. Nowhere in the ad does it say "this computer was made by microsoft" or "we're 100% responsible for the price of this computer". It says "its a pc"
I know mac folks can be a little slow when their baby gets threatened, so lets go real simple....
Lauren has $1000 to spend.
Goes to apple store, cant get something with her requirements in budget. Budget...thats something people in the real world not spending mommy and daddys money in college have to follow.
Goes to Big Box store and does get something....for well under budget. (would have been interesting to compare the Mac prices there too if avail)
Closed supply chain and (essentially) no competition=higher prices. Open supply chain, multiple suppliers, and even build your own=lower prices.
Dont make it too complicated guys .
Skiplives
April 07, 2009 at 5:20pm
When my iMac G5 died recently, after being on and running for about five years straight, I replaced it with another iMac, for only a bit more than $1000 I might add.
Why? Easy, first I could walk out of the store, take it home and plug it in and it worked and didn't come with any bloatware. Second, it is the computer my wife and kids use to surf the internet and handle e-mail, so I didn't need a game rig and not running Windows gives me a lot of virus protection - my 7 year old knows not to click on everything, but his 4 year old brother doesn't. Thirdly, the computer can't take up a lot of space and has to look good and the iMac has a high WAF (wife acceptance factor). Finally is customer service - I've had a few problems with Apple products over the years, but I live near an Apple Store. I book an appointment and someone looks at the device, no charge. I find having actual technical help a refreshing change. One of the problems was a dead HDD, which I replaced myself, after the tech helped me save the recent photos I hadn't backed up.
I'm also not a fan boy, I plan on building my home office rig this month and I'll spend twice what I did on the Mac, but I don't mind being my own tech support on that machine. My point is that while fitting into a budget is nice for some people, others won't mind spending more for perceived value. The Apple name has value to people and ignoring it is silly. Running an ad calling those of us that own one stupid is even sillier.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Chuckles
April 09, 2009 at 3:51am
Feel free to point out in MaxPC's article or the video where the word stupid is used. I'm sorry if your "percieved value" left you feeling that way (just guessing, I don't really know, I just know like I said...neither maxpc or the video did that). I used the word slow....are we defensive? (another sign that the ad works). Percieved value, as opposed to something tangible, is going to be less in economic hard times.
And you did pay for the tech support...just at the front end.
kirkland81
April 02, 2009 at 12:46pm
If you look at it from the point that MS allows it's OS to run on any machine thus making different computer manufacturers compete with each other resulting in lower prices, than yes, I believe MS has a valid claim.
jraktal
April 01, 2009 at 7:38am
OK here it is
The Mac Ad's were about attacking Vista and MS in general, most comments in the ads are in fact wrong, as the Mac has the same issue or due to their irrelevancy in the world market.
for example Virus' why write a virus for less that 5% market share hardly gets your point across.
in this Ad. MS just points out the obvious
pretty Girl want a laptop for less than $1000
walks into Apple Store and is informed of the fact she can only have a 13" macbook (white) for $999 (fact)
walks into BB (could be any store for that matter)
see that she is in the Mecca of PC Choice
all have varying price points and looks. (fact)
Pretty Girl can get laptop she wants (looks) with functions she needs for $699 even if she wanted white (Sony makes a white Laptop for well within that price point BTW with Blu-ray as well)
in this case she walks out with an HP.
point is she can have OS and hardware within her price point. (fact)
with Apple no (Fact)
and yes the price of Hardware is lower today in part, thanks to MS for that due to licensing, People bought hardware for the OS and the OS of choice has been MS. (fact)
Apple did not license and are marginalized for that (Fact)
There is no peace at the gate.
Number Six
March 31, 2009 at 8:18am
Who cares about her choice of PC... redheads are hot! I'd hit it, reboot and hit it again.
DBsantos77
March 30, 2009 at 10:16pm
Very good ad, I actually own that Lappy. It's a HP Pavilion DV5. It's so awesome,sleek and sexy, the 64-bit kicks ass, combine it with a 12-cell battery, 4gb ram. and 699.99? No one else comes close.
jraktal
April 01, 2009 at 7:06am
Just before X-mas I picked up of all places Staples the HP DV5-1174 normally in CAN$$$ $1400 it was $500 off
the specs are as follows
15.4" Screen
T5800
4GB
Blu-ray ROM
9600MGT
HDMI
320GBWireless N/Gigabit LAN
Bluetooth
Vista 64Bit
A gaming decent laptop for $898 CAN
to this day you cannot find a better deal that includes Blu-ray and a 9600M GT Card.
mesiah
March 30, 2009 at 9:28pm
Ok, I read all the comments, THEN watched the commercial. And correct me if I'm wrong but..... I didn't see anywhere where the commercial said "Microsoft made this PC cheap." It didn't say "Congratulaitons Laura, you bought windows." It is pointing out that PCs are more cost effective than Macs. I didn't realise microsoft had to make the entire package to profit off of it. Fact of the matter is, how many PCs do they sell at best buy that DON'T have windows on it. Microsoft is pushing PC sales because it increases their sales. So really, I think everyone is making a huge deal out of things the commercial never even advertised, or even implied. It said PCs are cheaper, and that the commercial was brought to you by microsoft.
Bender2000
March 31, 2009 at 6:26am
Microsoft is using the motif that the PC in the Mac v PC ads is really a Windows based PC, and rightly so since Apple hammered Vista all last year. SO the assumption is that a PC means a PC running windows and so even though the relationship between Windows PC and prices is complex MS uses the association to take credit for the situation. So the message in the ad is that PCs are cheaper then Macs thanks to Microsoft. I disagree because parts are parts and Apple charges too much, two things Microsoft can't control.
mesiah
April 02, 2009 at 6:10pm
If you can't see it any other way, look at it like this. Mac commercials attack PCs. But there is no "PC" company. It is any number of companys all working together (for the most part) to bring the pc experience to the end user. So, either the pc industry lets mac continue to bash away at them, or someone big within the industry has to stand up and defend the industry as a whole. Now seriously, who has the most right to fill that role? What do more PCs have in common with eachother than anything else? Starting to make a little sense? There are so many names out there in the PC industry to choose from. But when it comes down to the OS, which everyone needs, your choices are limited. So, microsoft is the big boy and gets to defend the PC world (even you MS haters out there.) And I think they did a good job of it. If I remember right the girl didn't even mention her laptop had windows on it, just that it was a "PC." so if you all want to make assumptions on what the commercial is infering just assume it had linux on it and be happy, So go MS! score one for the bad guys >.> Next commercial why don't you remind all of those hardcore MS hating apple freaks who pulled their butts out of the fire just more than 10 years ago.
Geeksquadmyss
March 31, 2009 at 10:49am
and i cant believe its turned out to be so complicated for people, is that PC's are associated with windows, and that a PC with windows is a cheaper and better choice than MACs which apple has complete control over the parts that are put in and how much it charges for them etc.
Your are right MS has no control over the price of PC parts and i for one say to that THANK GOD! or it might just be as expensive to own a PC as a Mac
MS is simply saying that Apple is charging insane prices for the Hardware, and that a PC with windows is a more economic choice. Not that MS has anything to do with the cheap pricing of PC's
I think the ad is great and they should make more like it.
jraktal
April 01, 2009 at 7:12am
it is called the apple tax for a reason, if you want OSX you have to buy the overpriced design that contains the OS.
What MS is saying to you is you can have our OS on any Hardware vendor as little or as much as you require, you are in control and have choice.
Nightingale
March 30, 2009 at 6:13pm
I've heard Mac describe OSX as the "perfect man to machine interface"... if thats the case, why make themachine that the interface runs on to expensive for the masses? Status symbol? Partly. If given the choice, I think I'd build a Hackintosh
_-slick-_
March 30, 2009 at 4:28pm
Has anyone ever noticed (especially while sitting in class at a university) that most people are running a virtual desktop of Windows Vista 100% of the time on their Mac? That sure is a lot of money to dish out, just to use a different OS. A lot of people that don't know a blip about computers talk about how well the Mac and OS X "look"... Does that grey taskbar in OS X really look more flashy than windows Vista, or the upcoming Windows 7? I mean come on... :S
winmaster
March 30, 2009 at 2:18pm
It's ok, but I still think Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do with Apple in the advertising sector. The lady calling that one laptop a cell phone is sure to bring comments from latee-sipping Apple-Mac bastiches. I wish they would go back to Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfield. Sure, they didn't really advertise anything, but at least they were entertaining. These commercials are kind of dumb. Oh, and Mojave came before that 8 year old bitch and possibly before the churros. I can't remember, but it is definitely older than the I'm a PC campaign.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
dracx619
March 30, 2009 at 10:02am
i second that!! our school set up the smaller x-san server for our video production needs and that thing was prolematic from the start and ended up crashing causing every student to lose all their projects...4TB worth. good thing i worked on my trusty pc and premiere pro
Caboose
March 30, 2009 at 9:20am
You never seem to hear much about their XServer's though. A friend of mine has the unfortunate task of setting up and maintaining a bunch of Apple XServers. He's rebuilt them more times than I care to remember and the Apple support that the company pays hundres of thousands of dollars for is crap. If the company owner didn't have such a hardon for Apple, they'd be setup on a Windows based server running Windows Server 2k3 or 2k8 and be done with it.
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Techie714
March 30, 2009 at 1:03pm
We have an X-server at my office as well & nothing but problems. I see more techs working on that thing than you can imagine.
big_montana
March 30, 2009 at 9:17am
You forget one thing about Apple, they control the hardware that goes into their systmes; which in turn makes their systems that much more expensive to purchase, repair and own. I own a G4 and Vista box, a replacement DVD burner for my Mac cost $300 while the cost for DVD burner for my Windows machine is $35. Is there a difference in the quality of the hardware? Yes, my Windows rigs totally outlast my Mac's, as Mac's hardware is designed to fail. Everyone talks about Vista's hardware requirements, but my G4 cannot run latest version of OS x without major surgery, processor, memory and hard drive uprgrades. All can be done, byt it would cost over $600 just to replace the proc, I could buy a new Windows machine for that.
Donnie27
April 08, 2009 at 11:59am
MS is the reason a PC is not MAC as Aplle themselves clearly points out in their Ads, not MS BTW. "I'm a MAC and I'm a PC".
Caboose
March 30, 2009 at 9:35am
Aside from the CPU, Macs can utilize the EXACT same hardware as a Windows PC. heck, removing one wire from the PSU and you can use an ATX power supply on a Mac (certain generations). HDD, RAM, ODD, Video card. If there are drivers for it, it'll work (RAM can be kinda tricky, so it's an exception).
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Bender2000
March 30, 2009 at 11:39am
If they were the exact same parts I could use the MacPro tower for a build, but nothing fits it. I don't know what big_Montana is talking about, he has a G4, thats almost 7 years old. Take a 7 yr old DELL and tell me how much it would cost to upgrade that to run Crysis. A lot more than $600. Seriously, the new Mac Mini runs circles around a G4.
No one ever complains how a Voodoo PC, which is puching vaporware like the Omen, costs so much more than an iBuyPower for the same performance. And what does Microsoft say about that? You are not cool enough for an Omen but you are cool enough for an iBuyPower? Or worse for a home made PC? How did MicroSoft save you money there? The whole argument is off the mark!!
Geeksquadmyss
March 30, 2009 at 1:25pm
Is not a game you want to look and say i want to upgrade my OEM PC to max out the settings on, its unrealistic.
However i do game on my 6 year old HP pavilion just fine i only upgrade i the GPU every so often so far 2 times, and im still running it stock aside from another gig of mem that cost me 25 bucks so all together maybe $150 to play Crysis on lower settings but it plays fallout 3, bioshock, FEAR 2 all on medium or better settings just fine!
So hows that for life span, ill take my old HP over a mac mini anyday
LatiosXT
March 30, 2009 at 9:06am
You know what #chan has in common with this topic's comments?
Everything.
JDorfler
March 30, 2009 at 8:53am
Well, the ad is right. All a Mac is is an Intel platform with a Guified Unix with little to no support from 3rd party software companies. Heck, even MSFT has to write programs for it so it can be useful. (Office) Mac needs to realize quickly that selling the same hardware for higher prices isn't going to get them that far.
Sager NP5797 (Clevo)
nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX/Intel QX9300/4GB DDR3 1066
Vista/Ubuntu/Fedora OSes
bingojubes
March 30, 2009 at 8:08am
no sound in the library's computers. i'll watch it when i get home. can't have much of a formulated opinion without sound. video itself was nice.
also, that best buy looks alot nicer than the one i usually go to. Lauren was kinda cute.
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