Apple Demands Microsoft Pull 'Laptop Hunter' Ads (VIDEO, POLL)

The battle between Microsoft and Apple seems to never end. PC World reports that at a Microsoft conference on Wednesday, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner revealed to the audience that an Apple lawyer actually called him to complain about the ubiquitous 'Laptop Hunter' ad campaign.

Here's PC World:

"And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey -- this is a true story -- saying, "Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices." They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business. (Applause.)"

What made Apple so angry? PC World points out that Apple's price cuts were significant enough to make many of the ad's price information inaccurate. Here's one of the offending Laptop Hunter ads, in which a cheery red-headed woman finds a PC laptop for under $1,000:

WATCH:

And here's one of Apple's advertising responses to those pesky laptop hunters. The ad goes directly after the type of comparison shoppers featured in Microsoft's spot:

Story continues below

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Comments

[youtubeit]

this economy is in such deep *&^ yet Obamma & Summers live on another astral plane, unwilling to aknowledge reality, even though 995 of Americans expiernceit and KNoW what's going on, and are tired of the BS.

good articles: http://www.iamned.com

[greenmonk]

MIcrosoft are like Republicans.
They have all the old money and use it to lie because they know they can't compete on an open fair playing field.

[AcaciaJules]

I'm a strong democrat, and I find that offensive. Mostly because I HATE Apple, which is all about money and status, which to me, seems more like the Republican side of things.

And isn't it Apple who's whining? They have 5% of the market. Oooohhh, wow, impressive.

[overcat]

In your mind, Apple is "all about money and status". Of all of the Apple users I know, and I know quite a few, I seriously doubt any of them are interested in impressing you.

[ccpostman]

Try almost 10 percent butt wax.

http://www.tuaw.com/2009/01/02/apple-market-share-tops-10-windows-share-lowest-since-tracking/

Keep hating Apple, and their market share keeps going up!

[Turquoise66]

I'm fine with my HP laptop. I do get viruses, but with my security, it tells me where the viruses and I just delete it, and bam! it was as if nothing happen. Apples are too small and expensive.

[Eduardo333]

I go back to DOS with a faint memory of CP/M. I have wanted to punch out both Jobs and Gates. Most of their accomplishments have been stolen and they have played up minor differences as if they are important. They have ignored concepts like affordability and reliability. It' like trying to choose between two cars and the salesman can only talk about is the number of cup holders. Both types have periods of being buggy. Apples do tend to have a little more reliability. Microsoft allows you access to more hardware. And we could go on and on like they do. I have stepped away entirely though. I discovered Linux. I shopped around and found a well built computer and put a Linux distribution on it. My computer life is now free from both of these groups of clowns, and I saved a lot of money in the process. Linux distributions are only now reaching maturity, and so I have had to get to know my machine a bit more than I wanted to. I am not a computer expert but have found it a lot easier to do this than paying the Apple premium or experiencing the anger and frustration when the Microsoft blue screen of death appears. For anyone who is willing to learn a little to save a lot I invite to join in a movement away from commercial creeps like these, whose narrow minded efforts only poison our lives.

[Davidrs]

I think that the idea of LInux is great and I know that it is getting easier to install. However, the problem is that it often takes more than willingness to learn when you are dealing with Linux. There is just no way to know whether a given distribution has the drivers you require for your sound and video, your peripherals, etc. Linux, as the direct descendant of Unix, also involves various concepts inherited directly from the old mainframe computer world, e.g. "mounting" a drive. It's a steep learning curve. Most people do not want to spend a significant number of hours learning new computer habits and getting things fine tuned enough to work. My son uses Ubuntu and loves it, but he is an IT professional who has advanced computer knowledge, and I know that his setup did not come easily even for him. I too once tried out a Linux distribution--this was a while back and things are no doubt easier today, but still--"willing to learn a little to save a lot" may be misleading. You might have to learn a whole lot to save a lot, and still not get things to work quite right. Sad but true.

[Tyrione]

You're correct. You're not much of a computer expert, nor a historian.

As for Linux you can thank about $8 billion of corporate investment for it being in the state it currently resides.

I have three desktop operating systems I use by experience and choice: OS X 10.4/10.5 and 10.6. Linux 2.6.30 Debian Sid for the past 9 years, followed by FreeBSD 7.x/8.x.

The expected functionality cross over about 70%. The other 30% of Windows vs. OS X depends on the platform's design and language choices.

OS X benefits from NeXT and Openstep which was a decade ahead of the rest.

[PatrickWalker]

What the SAG actor in the MS add wasn't allowed to say after the camera was stopped:

"I'm a PC and I got what a wanted ... and I'll get what I deserve."

Mostly because it wasn't in the approved script...

[vandegrasse]

Apple is the superior computer. Period.

[DaleR]

Apple is the more expensive computer. Period. That is a fact. What you posted is not.

[ccpostman]

MS was to chicken to tell people the processor speed of the 17 inch computer that chick bought. Most likely it is a T4200 or slower with the lovely Vista Home system from he||.

How much would a 2.53GHz PC be. Answer...S­ame as Apple's and the PC bugs and viruses are free.

[tim333]

Sometimes but not always. When I got my thinkpad the closest macbook was heavier and had half the battery life.

[WritusMaximus]

Doesn't matter how "superior" (to each her/his own definition), Apple lost the war years ago. Steve Jobs decided to keep control of everything, Gates decided to license (common sense) but Gates' move is seen by many as "brilliant". MS makes money whether Windows machines are sold or remain on the shelves/warehouses. Steve Jobs had the chance to take over the world but didn't see nor care about ramifications of keeping everything in house. Don't feel too bad for Jobs, he's done alright, billionaire alright, thanks in large part to Pixar.

[ReedYoung]

Speaking strictly about the advertisements, not the products, Microsoft's ad is noisy and full of rapid motion; it's "shock and awe" or psy ops marketing. If you don't notice that, you may be susceptible to it. But if you notice it, say by immediate comparison to Apple's demure, straightforward conversations in one undecorated setting, it looks like Microsoft has intentionally resorted to the "baffle with BS" strategy, which to me suggests the marketing division knows that product development has created little or no factual basis to recommend their products. If I just woke up from a Rip van Winkle episode that started in the 1950s so I knew what a "computer" is supposed to do but these ads were my first introduction to the modern purveyors of them, my first reaction would be "what is Microsoft trying to hide?"

[KevG]

This sounds good, but like Apple's oversimplified ads, it's too simple. Apple's ads are just as obfuscating by presenting the simple, clean, self-satisfied Apple world which is reflected in most of the pro-Apple commenters here. Not only do they insist that Apple is always better, but they insist that it's not possible that Microsoft can be better, in any circumstance, for any consumer. That crosses the line to fanaticism, but they seem perfectly comfortable with that. It's the glassy-eyed serenity of the fanatic that we see in Apple's simplified­-to-the-po­int-of-chi­ldishness ads. And the defensiveness of the fanatic that emerges whenever Apple is questioned.

[ReedYoung]

"Apple's ads are just as obfuscating by presenting the simple, clean, self-satisfied Apple world which is reflected in most of the pro-Apple commenters here. Not only do they insist that Apple is always better, but they insist that it's not possible that Microsoft can be better, in any circumstance, for any consumer."
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lilyth/strawman.html

[chuchII]

it doesn't have the TV spots that Mac and MS does but frankly the laptop hunter could drop their prices more by eliminating the "Microsoft tax" and grain the security of a mac by picking up a linux based machine.
it's pretty short sited that more people don't consider linux in a new computer.

[ReedYoung]

I wish to associate myself with his comment.

[NWRICK]

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=1125977&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US

[Gabester]

Microsoft is running a brilliant ad/publicity campaign; they are using psychographics (Jedi mind tricks), and are spending lots of money on reach and frequency.

Apple needs to get their agency to increase their reach and frequency in order to fight back. Apple's ad agency should use non-traditional forms of media as well. I haven't seen Apple's response enough, and I watch a lot of TV.

I'd like to see an Apple commercial where the Microsoft look-alikes would just be cardboard cutouts with speakers where their mouths are saying things like, "I'm a PC because I'm picky" or "I'm a PC and I'm a film maker" or "I'm not cool enough to be a Mac user," with Justin Long (the Apple guy) just tipping them over exposing their phoniness with hilarious counterpoints, and the price drops should just be a quick mention at the end of the commercial. The cardboard cutout of Lauren would say "I'm not cool enough to be a Mac user" and Justin Long could just tip her cutout over with the slight touch of his finger and say, "nope, you're just a piece of cardboard with a speaker" which could not only be a nod to the publicity about her being an actor, but could also be a memorable soundbite insinuating that PC's are just cardboard cutouts with a speaker. Yep. You have my permission to use that.

[WritusMaximus]

Apple lost the war years ago. Steve Jobs didn't want to license, wanted to keep control of everything. He succeeded, and Microsoft was so much richer for it.

[ObamacratInCA]

As I write this there are 54 pages of postings, more than 3800 comments. Are we the tools or corporations or what? Why do Microsoft or Apple even have to run ads when we'll do their bidding for them for free? (This comment was created on a MacBook Pro.)

[Dan Dubno - Huffpost Blogger]

[Ping]

Ubuntu is the way

[rcpmac]

Microsoft executive Jim Allchin's "I'd buy a Mac" e-mail, introduced as a plaintiff's exhibit in the company's Iowa antitrust trial in 2007

From: Jim Allchin
Sent: Wednesday, January 07

To: Bill Gates; Steve Ballmer

This is a rant. I'm sorry.

I am not sure how the company lost sight of what matters to our customers (both business and home) the most, but in my view we lost our way. I think our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how important current applications are, and really understanding what the most important problems [our] customers face are. I see lots of random features and some great vision, but that doesn't translate onto great products.

I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft. If you run the equivalent of VPC on a MAC you get access to basically all Windows application software (although not the hardware). Apple did not lose their way. You must watch this new video below. I know this doesn't show anything for businesses, but my point is about the philosophy that Apple uses. They think scenario. They think simple. They think fast

We need a simple fast storage system. LH is a pig and I don't see any solution to this problem. If we are to rise to the challenge of Linux and Apple, we need to start taking the lessons of "scenario, simple, fast" to heart

jim

[overcat]

Very interesting. What's also very interesting to me is that I know several highly skilled, lifelong professional computer programmers who work for companies that produce widely used software products for the various Windows OS's, who, when Apple released computers capable of running Windows via Parallels Desktop software as well as OSX, bought Macs for themselves. These individuals all have highly detailed technical knowledge of both software applications and computer hardware and how the interplay of the two work, and they "voted" with their dollars. That's quite a statement, and nowhere in that statement is the "look at me, I'm so cool" that so many Mac haters insist that Mac users are really asserting.

[Ping]

Anyone who argues that one is superior to the other is brainwashed. The fact is that both s.uc.k. in their own ways.

And it is incredibly foolish to get a Mac to run MS Office. That's about as dumb as you can get.