The Microsoft ad people have been working on overtime on new ad angles — in the past year alone, they've had the failed Seinfeld concept, the adorable Rookies concept, and now, it's "Laptop Hunters," where cameramen document "real people" shopping for new laptops. I'm using my quotation marks liberally because the first ad features a girl named Lauren who has already been revealed to be an actress.
I'm torn about these ads because I think it's actually a great idea because the people are so relatable, but I think it would have been a whole lot more effective to use real people instead of actors. I mean, what else is the script going to have them buy?
Anyway, let me know what you think of Microsoft's attempt to show people choosing to be PCs.
Homebase
Giuseppe Zanotti
Casadei
Boring...I couldn't even get through the whole minute. Why do I want to watch other people shop?
1The cute little kid ads were much better
2I like them, but they're kind of misleading.
The one with the HP guy, when he gets to the Macs, only says, "I don't want to pay for the brand" as a reason not to buy one - which is kind of flippant. It would have been different if he said something about the specs, PC has better graphics, PCs are more popular, etc. But to say "I don't want to pay for the brand" isn't a very good reason.
People pay ridiculous amounts of money for brand names of everything, particularly electronics, all the time - because (most) of them have the quality assurance that backs them. Apple also has the quality to justify the price. He could have come up with a better reason, that's all I'm saying.
3I really like them. they're smart. and I like the one with the red headed girl saying she's not cool enough to buy a mac. lol. it's relateable. I don't care about them having actors as opposed to "real people"...the point is the same.
4They bug me. I know they're actors, so I know they're choosing a PC because it's in the script.
Like margokhal said, the guy who flippantly rejects a Mac because he doesn't want to pay for the brand is ridiculous. When you buy a PC, you buy a brand, too, just a different one. I think it would have worked better if he had considered, say, the Macbook Air and rejected its high price tag and not the "brand."
5I saw one of these ads last night on tv, the character was "Lindsey" and her budget was $1000. The pc laptop she found was a 17" and around $700. The mac she could of bought for a $1000 would not of had a 17" screen. What they forgot to mention was if Lindsey wants to create video/slide show/pod cast easily and upload it to youtube she'll have to spend more money, where as with mac it's already included.
6I like the commercials either way. They hit the spot with people on budgets looking for good deals. The ads are smart and hitting the mark. Cracks me up how angry all the Apple fans are getting because of them.
7I have kind of an issue with Giampaolo — he says he's technically savvy but didn't do any research on laptops online at all before he started going to stores? I don't even buy a pair of shoes without reasearching them before I go to a store.
8Geek- it wasn't in the script for him to do research
I find this whole "brand" thing odd as well. I see all sorts of cute inexpensive PC's on geeksugar. My problem is none of them run an OS that was built exclusively for its hardware. I like OS X. I like iLife and everything you can do. I just don't think people are buying Apple's to seem "cool". I think there is a value for their price. And what about the other costs? I have a client of 60 people all on Mac. I visit them 4 days a week for only an hour each visit. When's the last time you saw an office of 60 PCs that didn't have one or more full time PC techs. What's the cost of that?
9research for shoes??
of course there's a "brand" thing. it's definitely "cooler" to walk into a college class with a mac than any other laptop and I say that from personal experience. jmho
baby girl, I completely agree.
10I like the little kid ads better. I don't believe these people are real at all, and the first time I saw the ad I turned to my husband and said, "They're actors, right?"
I research shoes online too.
11really?! wow... I'm genuinely surprised.
12I didn't get the brand thing either but I think that's because Apples were not popular when I first started with them. They were the bastard computers that all IT people hated (still get a bit of grief once in awhile but not nearly as much as I did 9 years ago).
13It really looked like a porn when I first saw it - especially when they handed the girl a bunch of 20s and she squealed excitedly. In other words, not genuine.
14actors are real people too
15It feels like the makers really thought about this one, like "how can we get back at Apple?" "come on people we can do this"
16i loved this! i was so intrigued when i saw the second one on tv and definetley thought the whole commercial was adorable!
17I hate these commercials because they aren't even about microsoft, they're about hp mostly and now sony's prices. I had a sony, it had huge issues and lasted 2 years.
lol
18Yes I'm a mac
"BluuuuuRaaaaay!"
Because every 11 year old just HAS to play BlueRay on a 16" screen. It's so much sharper!
19I hope I don't sound crazy or off topic, but is the girl in the "Laptop Hunters: Matt and Olivia" commercial a porn star? I vaguely remember seeing her in a Porno, at least it looks like her.
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