Microsoft’s latest ‘I’m a PC’ ad has a few flaws…
A closer look at the ad itself and the notebook the TV spot’s subject purportedly purchased says a lot about Windows and none of it good. From her non-existent “Mac store” visit to the garbage quality of the hardware she got for $699, Redmond really needs to pay better attention to the message they put out.
From this Fox News write up, we learn that that the ad’s star, “Lauren,” is an aspiring actress and that she was recruited via a Craigslist want ad. Microsoft’s ad agency didn’t identify its hand in this charade—they posed as a market research company.
The next interesting bits come via Seth Weintraub writing for Computerworld and on his own 9 to 5 Mac blog.
First off there’s the bit about Lauren’s “visit” to the Mac store, which by all appearances didn’t happen. A sharp-eyed Computerworld comment poster noted the following:
Watch the commercial again and you’ll notice the gal goes in and out of the Apple store in under 30 secs. How can I say that you ask? Just check out the guy [a balding guy with jacket in a striped shirt carrying a tripod] walking down the street who moves only 10-20 feet the entire time she is in the Apple store. —”Fanboy”
However, Weintraub’s caustic examination of the notebook—an HP Pavilion Laptop with AMD Turion X2 RM-72 Dual-Core Mobile Processor—that Lauren bought really underscores the message of this Microsoft advertisement:
• Runs Vista Home Basic on a slow AMD mobile processor and DDR2 RAM, which he calls a prime example of the type of PC that sparked the “Made for Vista” lawsuits.
• 17-inch display is “the worst screen I have ever seen in my life … the viewing angles are so poor that even when sitting directly eye level with the screen it is totally washed out. If I go a little bit off-axis the screen results in a negative image.”
• As with nearly all PCs, it is loaded up with “trialware” (anti-virus software, crippled versions of commercial software, etc) that can only be appeased by purchasing or removed by wiping the drive
• Included networking is 802.11G wireless and 100Mb Ethernet
• Advertised battery life is 2.5 hours, though real world usage will be closer to half that (hardly enough time to watch one movie).
• This “notebook” is almost two inches thick and weighs nearly eight pounds.
Well, if Lauren never wants to take her bargain out of the house, let alone be seen carrying it, or watch a movie untethered (before dusk), then she got a bargain. Good luck with getting all the crapware off, girl, and you might wanna work out those “I’m not cool enough…” self esteem issues you’re carrying around…
What’s your take?
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March 27th, 2009
keep fapping fan boy, keep fapping
March 27th, 2009
For anyone without access to the urban dictionary, fapping means masturbating and double attaboys to anyone who can define suffer puppet—it’s just so super clever.
March 28th, 2009
Is there a link to youtube for non-North America Blorge users?
March 28th, 2009
Here’s a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIS6G-HvnkU
March 28th, 2009
It would be interesting to see your great nose for hype and overstatement turned to analyzing those fantastically accurate PC and Mac Commercials.
Even better would be pointing out that Microsoft doesn’t manufacture computers or dictate what others include on their products.
I understand this is a difficult concept when you have to settle for whatever scraps Jobs deems you worthy to receive or if firewire is something he feels should be included on the lower cost models intended for the rabble.
But then breath of choice and options is something Apple doesn’t offer. The mere thought of the dizzying choices and possibilities is enough to make all the bubbles fly out of your sparkling water.
Please. The idea of the discerning consumer wise beyond the commoners is as tired as the idea of long straight hair marks you as an anti-establishment bohemian rocker.
Fact is, having many choices and options is a wonderful thing and the more knowledge you have the bigger it becomes. I can buy a $299 Netbook, a laptop from Dells business line with zero trialware and Ubuntu, or I can put together a custom rig. None of this requires Windows.
Now buy a Macbook with Firewire and really impress me. Oh wait. Jobs said this:
“Actually, all of the new HD camcorders of the past few years use USB 2,” Jobs supposedly wrote in an email, a copy of which was posted to the popular Flickr image sharing website.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/16/jobs_responds_to_outrage_over_macbooks_missing_firewire.html
You don’t need no stinking Firewire and if you do, well pony up.
You can keep yammering about how it’s good to be a Eunuch because darn it, fully equipped makes things so freakin’ complicated but the rest of us will keep it happily making it nasty.
March 29th, 2009
thankyou i see what guy means by the person with the tripod outside of the apple store, epic fail.
March 30th, 2009
From my perspective, the Microsoft advertisement fails on multiple levels.
First, the point of the advertisement is to show that there are more options and cheaper alternatives on the “PC” side. The problem is, this isn’t news to anyone. The question is, what is Microsoft’s objective? They are doing nothing to establish Microsoft as the premium brand.
Second, Lauren’s first choice was “the Mac store”. That fact that this was her first choice makes it clear that she would prefer a Mac if possible. This only reinforces Apple’s campaign as defining the premium brand.
Third, Lauren claims in a defeated voice that she must not be “cool enough” for a Mac. The obvious implication here is that PC users are losers.
Fourth, she buys a PC she’s comparing various technical specifications. The operating system is the key difference between PCs and Macs. Macs are priced competitively when compared to similar configurations on the PC side. The issue is that Apple has a threshold it won’t cross in order to meet a lower price point. It can’t cross that threshold and still be seen as the premium brand. Anyway, Lauren isn’t excited about buying a PC (clearly, her first choice was a Mac), rather, she’s excited about hitting a given price point with a few hardware features. Microsoft likes the idea of computers being a commodity. This certainly doesn’t help their brand image.