Microsoft parks "I'm a PC" recording booth outside Apple Store

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Microsoft Corp., engrossed in multi-million dollar marketing blitz to counter comical ads from rival Apple, Inc., is now using a portion of its budget to fuel guerilla retail tactics near the Mac maker's stores.



AppleInsider reader Tom submits the following photo, which shows a large Microsoft-branded kiosk parked outside a shopping center-based Apple retail store.



"It's a friggin booth where you can record your own I'm a PC video," he said. "This is outside the Apple Store, Bullring, Birmingham, England." He added that a trio of Microsoft staffers will be on hand to turn patrons off from the Mac for the next three days.



The move is an extension of the Redmond-based software giant's $300 million advertising campaign aimed at cleaning up the image of its Windows Vista operating system, which has been tarnished at the hands of Apple's long-running "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads.



Last month, Microsoft tapped advertising firm Crispin Porter & Bogusky to use Apple's assault as a foundation for a direct counter-strike with its own series of "I'm a PC" ads, which open with a John Hodgman lookalike character who declares that he's been "made into a stereotype."



As part of the campaign, Microsoft invited visitors to its website to upload videos and photos that demonstrate "how they, too, are PCs." The company has since select a handful of those clips for inclusion in television commercials that can be seen airing on network television this week.



Microsoft now appears to be taking its initiative to the streets.



The "I'm a PC" ads are actually a second phase of the company's rebuttal efforts. An initial series of ads was dominated by a pair of offbeat teaser skits (1, 2) featuring Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Those efforts were postponed indefinitely amid mixed reviews.







Ironically, market research data cited by AppleInsider earlier this week revealed that the first series of deliberately eccentric ads dwarfed both Apple's and the new "I'm a PC" ads in viral views, suggesting Microsoft may have been better off sticking with Gates and Seinfeld.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 209
    Pathetic
  • Reply 2 of 209
    MS never ceases to surprise me with the depths of their marketing incompetence.



    Their new TV campaign, featuring low-res videos of eccentric and uninteresting MS fans, does nothing but help cement their image as the loser in the "I'm a mac, I'm a PC" arena.



    Apple's ads taped a "kick me" sign on MS's back, and MS's response is to put a 10,000 watt spotlight on the sign.
  • Reply 3 of 209
    What's that I smell?



    Desperation.
  • Reply 4 of 209
    I laughed.
  • Reply 5 of 209
    I'd be pissed at the Mall Administration/landlord if I were Apple. They pay big bucks and are responsible for bringing in a lot of traffic to the mall..and they rent out the space practically

    blocking their front door to their competitor? I'd be pissed and threaten to move out of the mall...even though it cost them money.
  • Reply 6 of 209
    kasperkasper Posts: 941member, administrator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dontlookleft View Post


    I laughed.



    I did too. It's an off-beat post, but I had to OK it



    K
  • Reply 7 of 209
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The move is an extension of the Redmond-based software giant's $300 advertising campaign aimed at cleaning up the image of its Windows Vista operating system, which has been tarnished at the hands of Apple's long-running "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads.



    $300? Paying for kiosk space is cheaper than I thought.
  • Reply 8 of 209
    okayyy, that was utterly dumb.



    I'm a PC and I cheated death? How can a PC cheat death? I just spray my water hose over you and you will be dead?



    I'm a PC and I'm converting to Mac
  • Reply 9 of 209
    I can't stop laughing. Leave it to Microsoft to park their booth right outside an Apple Store. In ur eye, Jobs! : P
  • Reply 10 of 209
    Just waiting for the MS employees new dress code of sandwich boards to go back and forth to the office. Have to admit they are trying.



    Hmmm...it is Halloween this evening....maybe the Apple guys will........
  • Reply 11 of 209
    Seinfeld and Deepak Chopra...wow those Microsoft guys are so hip!
  • Reply 12 of 209
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    "Life Without Walls" slogan after the Windows flag logo is bizarre. If you don't have walls, why do you need Windows?



    While there are "walls" associated with Apple's products, there are plenty with Microsoft's too, which one is worse is part subjective, though part depends on the topic at hand too.
  • Reply 13 of 209
    kerrybkerryb Posts: 270member
    The hull has been breeched and the sinking has begun, looks like Captain Balmer will be going down with the ship (yelling) undoubtedly.
  • Reply 14 of 209
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Get out your markers - it GRAFFITI TIME!
  • Reply 15 of 209
    doxxicdoxxic Posts: 100member
    This is precisely the kind of thing that PC does in Apple's ads!!!
  • Reply 16 of 209
    All Birmingham Apple fans should stop by and record messages like:



    "I'm a PC. Goddammit can anyone help me configure my printer!"
  • Reply 17 of 209
    hobbeshobbes Posts: 1,252member
    So sad.



    Why on earth would a dinky little kiosk keep anyone from going into a shiny Apple Store, where free net access and attractive products await?
  • Reply 18 of 209
    wircwirc Posts: 302member
    This is hilarious.



    I bet some ad buyer or whoever did this had a hell of a good time with this one. I bet he got his supervisors laughing all the way up to Ballmer.
  • Reply 19 of 209
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    "Life Without Walls" slogan after the Windows flag logo is bizarre. If you don't have walls, why do you need Windows?



    +5 insightful
  • Reply 20 of 209
    Maybe it wasn't such a great idea for Microsoft to hire the same people running McCain's campaign.
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