New Apple ads savage Microsoft's $300m Windows campaign

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Not content with just criticizing Windows Vista itself, Apple has launched a pair of new TV spots that accuse Microsoft of launching its ad blitz to distract the public from the problems with its software.



The two ads, which first began airing this weekend, continue to feature John Hodgman and Justin Long in their familiar PC and Mac roles but question the direct lack of references to Microsoft's own product.



The first, "Bean Counter," is the most direct and tackles Microsoft's well-publicized $300 million marketing campaign for Windows, which already includes $10 million just for a set of ads featuring Jerry Seinfeld as well as the company's usual online, print and TV efforts.



Long's persona suggests that PC -- and thus Microsoft -- is putting far more money into marketing Windows than into fixing it, creating a smokescreen to mask the problems with its latest operating system.



In turn, "V Word" jabs Microsoft for its conscious decision to avoid mentioning Vista by name in its "I'm a PC" counter-campaign, which tries to shift the focus to the general Windows brand. Bringing up Vista simply "doesn't sit well" with PC users irritated with the platform, Hodgman's character says.



Apple's "Bean Counter" ad.



Apple's "V Word" ad.



The two spots escalate the war of words between the two competitors, which had avoided directly referencing each other until Apple's "Get a Mac" ads began in 2006 and the company's computer sales growth started outpacing that of most Windows PC makers. While it's never been clear whether or not the ads and sales are connected, Microsoft has increasingly charged Apple with hijacking the Windows message and successfully persuading the public that Vista is flawed even after Service Pack 1 and other fixes are said to have sorted out most of the teething troubles with the new software.



But while Apple has lately shifted its attention more to commenting on Microsoft than the positives of its own platform, Microsoft has also taken to spreading doubt through indirect channels: on the eve of the new MacBook launch this month, one executive sent email messages allegedly meant for employees that support the widespread notion of an "Apple Tax" and of unnecessarily excluding hardware and upgrade options from its systems. The Redmond, Washington-based firm has also taken to shadowing Apple's retail efforts by creating Microsoft Gurus that fulfill a similar role to Apple's Genius Bars and Mac Specialists.



Outside of its commercials, Apple has typically been less imitative but no less blunt, using its recent MacBook presentation to directly credit perceived problems with Windows Vista for driving customers to the Mac.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 113
    Mac: "Yeah Put it all on..."

    PC: "Advertising"

  • Reply 2 of 113
    ipeonipeon Posts: 1,122member




    Love it!
  • Reply 3 of 113
    wircwirc Posts: 302member
    Wow. Talk about stoking a simmering rivalry.



    "Throw on more dogs!" "Mooooooooreeeee Dogs!"
  • Reply 4 of 113
    This is all a little immature isn't it? I mean they're massive corporations!
  • Reply 5 of 113
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    AAPL and MSFT are behaving like candidates for elective office from two different

    parties. They spend more time attacking their opponents than promoting their

    own ideas (products). I'm getting tired of it in both arenas.
  • Reply 6 of 113
    BRILLIANT





    plus, they are only saying what everyone else is thinking.
  • Reply 7 of 113
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digiology View Post


    This is all a little immature isn't it? I mean they're massive corporations!



    Yeah, enough with the negative campaigning already. Vote Nader!



    Personally, as a Mac convert, I have to agree with the general sentiment of these ads, and find them very funny. But Apple has to be careful not to become Big Brother. It may end up that Apple gets so popular that someone will have to throw the hammer at THEM.
  • Reply 8 of 113
    That's a scathing ad... perhaps Microsoft could have taken a higher road by not emulating the Hodgeman PC character, but instead they decided to try to hit Apple's ad campaign directly.



    Dumb dumb dumb. Yeah, I got a degree in advertising, and I worked in the industry for less than 8 years, but I'm far from an advertising genius.



    But even I knew that their ad campaign was fatally flawed.



    I don't think we're going to see too many more Microsoft ads from that agency. Next thing you know, they'll get Carrot Top jumping around.
  • Reply 9 of 113
    pxtpxt Posts: 683member
    As a future switcher, I empathize with these ads, but, if I didn't know that the Mac was better, these latest ads would do nothing to inform me. No need to focus on Windows' pain points, as users already feel it. Instead better inform that Mac does not have those pain points.



    Mac is easier for users to: secure, backup, reinstall, use and get professional help for. Tell THAT story Apple - because it's amazing how many potential Apple switchers do not yet know. And again, as a future switcher, going to an Apple Store was a revelation - it's the tech support team "for the rest of us".
  • Reply 10 of 113
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PXT View Post


    As a future switcher, I empathize with these ads, but, if I didn't know that the Mac was better, these latest ads would do nothing to inform me. No need to focus on Windows' pain points, as users already feel it. Instead better inform that Mac does not have those pain points.



    Mac is easier for users to: secure, backup, reinstall, use and get professional help for. Tell THAT story Apple - because it's amazing how many potential Apple switchers do not yet know. And again, as a future switcher, going to an Apple Store was a revelation - it's the tech support team "for the rest of us".



    Actually, many of those Mac ads DO highlight Mac's plusses, without slamming PC (though PC does appear disappointed with Mac's security, reliability, and ease-of-use.)
  • Reply 11 of 113
    johnqhjohnqh Posts: 242member
    Forget about the PC vs Mac war, those two ads are funny, especially the first one!



    Actually, the MS ad (Sienfield and Bill #2) wasn't bad either. "I am PC" was boring like car commercials.



    At least, those two companies will make the TV commercial breaks more fun.
  • Reply 12 of 113
    savage |ˈsavij|

    adjective

    (of an animal or force of nature) fierce, violent, and uncontrolled : tales of a savage beast | a week of savage storms.

    cruel and vicious; aggressively hostile : they launched a savage attack on the budget.

    • (chiefly in historical or literary contexts) primitive; uncivilized.

    • (of a place) wild-looking and inhospitable; uncultivated.

    (of something bad or negative) very great; severe : this would deal a savage blow to the government's fight.



    These ads are everything but savage, since when AppleInsider became Microsoft protector?



    Microsoft already acknowledge that their software has a lot of issues and customers are not happy with it. Thats the reason they are pushing hard "Windows 7"
  • Reply 13 of 113
    Remember that kid who got so mad that he took the ball you were playing with home?



    I think that as Apple gets bigger, it should be careful not to piss Ballmer off too much. They really could put a serious dent in Apple's sales by stopping developing Office for the Mac.



    It has been threatened before in their relationship.
  • Reply 14 of 113
    As a recent convert to Apple, I had never saw the ads until later, but had become very upset every time I used my PC. All I wanted to do was have the computer work, it kept failing me and I was tired of the crashing and the bugs that even XP had and the constant patches that I had to have for it work.



    I walked into the Apple store after seeing some Vista powered PC's at a local store and I walked out with my iMac. This thing works and it does everything I need it to do.



    I never even saw the ads until after I got my iMac and was on Apples website and then I watched them and found that they are funny. The latest ad just follows in the line of the others and I think at least Apple has a sense of humor
  • Reply 15 of 113
    300 million dollars?! No wonder Apple is accusing them of this.
  • Reply 16 of 113
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfneuralnet View Post


    Remember that kid who got so mad that he took the ball you were playing with home?



    I think that as Apple gets bigger, it should be careful not to piss Ballmer off too much. They really could put a serious dent in Apple's sales by stopping developing Office for the Mac.



    It has been threatened before in their relationship.



    Just to point out that Microsoft was one of the first to publish software for Macs and they still do it with an entire division (Mac BU)

    Even if that happen... who cares?



    iWork/OppenOffice ring any bell?
  • Reply 17 of 113
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digiology View Post


    This is all a little immature isn't it? I mean they're massive corporations!



    hmmmm, have you ever worked at a corporation, it is all about bashing the competition, no one wants to think that they are being out done
  • Reply 18 of 113
    The undeniable truth of the matter is that throwing money into advertising is all Microsoft CAN do to improve Vista. Anyone involved in coding and product design knows all too well that the more people and resources one heaves at any project, the more complex and labyrinthine it becomes. That is, if 200 people working on a project takes 4 years to complete, putting 400 people on it will take 6 to 8. It shouldn't be that way, but it is.
  • Reply 19 of 113
    It's hard to believe these ads have been showing for over 2 years! And they're still hillarious! That's practically unheard of in the commercial biz. But it's not simply "good advertising". The ads wouldn't work if Apple didn't make amazing products that speak for themselves. Microsoft has no amazing products, so it doesn't matter how much money they throw at advertising, because the underlying problem is their faulty product. That's what the Apple ad is very successfully pointing out I think. It's more than just a jab.
  • Reply 20 of 113
    Its not immature its really good satire with some underlining wit.



    As oppose to... I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...I am a PC...
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