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

What do you think? Which ad is more persuasive?

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Apple Or Microsoft: Which Ad Is More Effective?

Microsoft's 'Laptop Hunters' Ad

Apple's 'Elimination' Spot

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Comments

[hdj8501]

Yes, I never have to worry about my Macs breaking or getting a virus or any apple system not being up to date since Apple automatically downloads the lated addition every time I turn it on. The quality is well worth any extra price! I'm a Mac!

[Kache]

I have 2 XP laptops. Cost half what a comparable Mac would have. I get auto updates, run Window's firewall and Window One Care. Both machines are online 100% of the time. I have never had a virus, I have never had a crash. 3 years on both machines and still counting.

[rbchilds]

As a hobby I do work with photographs and as such, the windows platform just doesn't cut it. Using Photoshop with scanned images (500mb+ files) both OS versions of Photoshop will ocassionally crash, Windows more so than OSX. I can't run multiple Apps, i.e. Capture One Pro, Aperature, Capture NX simultaneously on a Windows PC due to the limited amount of RAM. I guess I could always purchase a Win Server to expand the RAM but then again I would be paying twice as much the cost of a MAC Pro. Now back to the pesky app crashing problem, I can always relaunch the program with a OSX, but not so on a WIN platform..it requires rebooting the whole machine.

[steele967]

I'm a Windows user, like them way more then Macs, but I do see the appeal of Macs.

I just hate the pretentious, smug campaigning of Apple.

[ksflower]

It's not pretentious OR smug if you are that good. It's just the truth.

[AdamJones]

you just proved steele967's point... ( oops )

[Puzzles]

I bet you have one of those little apple stickers on your car's rear windshield. I truly love my Kenmore fridge. I think I'll get a Kenmore sticker for my car.

[cgracec]

i agree. the apple ads are pretentious. and most people i know who own macs are, oddly enough, pretentious as well. the reason they buy macs is not because they need superior aspects of the mac, it's just that they want to look cool.

[Kache]

Apple users are pretentious. They pretend they have something better when the truth is, they just have a cult machine that cost more.

[karinova]

Oh, come on. That's a stereotype.
It's partly Apple's fault, with those ads, but still-- it's a stereotype.

There are plenty of quiet, normal Mac users out there who aren't overprivileged hipsters gratuitously displaying their iPhones. Loose analogy: a Mac is like a Mercedes or something. Yes, they cost more. However, they really ARE nice cars. And yeah, there's that stereotypical Mercedes owner. You know, That Guy. But there are also many more Mercedes owners who are regular people who saved up to buy their Mercedes because they really like driving nice cars, but they're not rich so they bought last year's model and they're going to wear that baby OUT, and yes they love their Mercedes, but like, it's a car, so they're not all pretentious about it, because clearly that's lame.

But all we ever think of is That Guy, because let's face it, he's fun to mock.
But he's a caricature.

[PotatoesVsPotatos]

Yes Barfuls, you nailed it!

[Barfuls]

Microsoft doesn't make PC's. Microsoft makes the Operating System used on PC's. Does anyone else find it odd that Microsoft avoids any comparison at all between using their operating system and Apple's?

[AdamJones]

I think Microsoft doesn't feel Linux is a threat yet, so they don't consider them a competitor. However, Mac's run an operating system other than Windows, and since Mac started the 'dont buy a PC campaign', its only right that Microsoft takes a stand.

[ChristianEcon.com]

They should develop something to stand on then besides a tech support/training generator.

[stagebandman]

This is like baseball, American League vs. National League. If you're a fan of one, you dislike the other. It doesn't really matter whose best. Personally, I'm a Mac guy, and would never buy a PC. Never. But that's just my opinion. If others want to save a little money now, but wind up buying twice as much software to do the same stuff that's included on my Mac laptop, that's their prerogative. If you want to get a computer that is obsolete every two years, then by all means, get a PC. I'll stick with what works for me.

[Puzzles]

"If others want to save a little money now, but wind up buying twice as much software to do the same stuff that's included on my Mac laptop"

Please, know what you are talking about. AutoCad, SolidWorks, Pro/E ...etc. Of the software I use to make my living only ONE is available for the MAC OS. If someone wants a fashionable coffee shop machine to surf the internet, blog, set their appointments, and send email, then a Mac is an option. Want a number crunching computer to do work with that is compatible with all the other machines out there? Mac is not an option.

[stagebandman]

What a foolish response. I run several bands and write music on my Mac. It does everything that I need, and runs the Finale program better than a PC does. I suggest you reread my first two lines. I knew I'd get the wackos worked up.

[PotatoesVsPotatos]

Correction - 9 people switched to Mac and 1 to PC.

[PotatoesVsPotatos]

Please tell me you are not serious about superiority of Microsoft and PC computers...

Every PC user I know whines and complains about his PC and Windows, and every Mac user loves hardware and OS. That is just the fact. If you use computers since at least mid 90's and followed development of Mac OS and Windows you know - anything that is good in Windows, and actually user-friendly on any level, was stolen from Mac OS. You can find hundreds of blogs with pictures about it and see for yourself.

I used Mac since 1992 and PC since 1995. I abandoned PC in 1998, not because of hardware mainly but because of Windows. Ugly interface, illogical OS with so many stupid things that here is not enough space to go about it. I have 9 people at my company that switch to PC in the last 7 years and one person switch to PC.
But none of this matters really.
IF ITS CHEAP IT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS GOOD (or as good). Its like Wrangler jeans will brag about their prices compare to Donna Karan and make commercails about it. Or "Can you imagine Benz is 56K and our Chevy is only 15K" So? What a moronic basis for advertisement. It is so simple - you got what you paid for. God bless PCs - people can choose what they want. Cheap crappy made hardware with cumbersome OS or a computer that works and gets the job done.

[AdamJones]

ATI makes the FireGL graphics card. They are installed in most Mac's, and can be found in many PC's. Intel makes the Processors now found in the newest Mac's, and have been in PC's since the beginning. Many PC motherboards outperform the Mac motherboards.

Macs are far inferior to hardware compatibility than PCs, its a fact.

Mac OS is based on Debian, a distribution of Linux. What, they cant create something on there own? They tried, before OS 9, and failed...

Im too tired to go on... maybe I will pick this up tomorrow....

[deepfreezevideo]

You left the PC in 1998 therefore you have no idea what a PC is like anymore.

[Fromageball]

The one thing I do admire about most Mac users I've known, is that for people who seem to know absolutely nothing about computers, they all sure can go on and on and on finding things to talk about why Macs are better. If you like your $2500 laptop that's fine, I like my $900 PC and will be using the other money to finance a trip to India. We all have our priorities.

[arunsjunk]

The one thing I do admire about Windows users I've known, is that for people who seem to know absolutely nothing about computers, they all sure can go on and on find things to talk about why PCs are better. If you like your $900 PC laptop that's fine, I like my worry-free $2500 Mac. Since I'm self-employed/productive and hire cheap PC users, I don't need laptop money to finance my trip to India. We all have our priorities.

[nonvoters]

thats the whole point when using a mac u ge to use it when using a pc u become a pc technicain

[Beau Roland]

She's super cute.

[KPinSEA]

If Apple doesn't want to be considered a pricey boutique product, then maybe they should make their money on software, not hardware (like Microsoft) and let third parties actually manufacture reasonably priced hardware.

The happiest OS-X guys in my office right now run Dell Mini-9 netbooks that shipped with XP and were then upgraded to OS-X.

[AdamJones]

not possible. a PC can never be 'upgraded' to OSX.

Can OSX run on a PC? Yes. As long as it is Intel based, and the proper 'hacks' were implemented.

Can a PC operating system get 'upgraded' to OSX? No. However, a PC can be 'upgraded' to a Linux distro.

[cosmicbullfight]

Well, since I don't $h1t gold bricks, I pretty much have to go with the PC option. I've had bad PCs before, but the one I'm currently running is actually awesome. On the other hand, I know people who have had a fair number of Mac problems, mostly involving shoddy hardware and shoddier tech support responses.

I agree with one of the previous posters who said it should really be a matter of personal preference. This whole Mac v. PC debate is entirely absurd and the advertising warfare surrounding it is a bad case of puerilely giving in to an obnoxious and ultimately inconsequential flame war.

Based on the merits of the advertising, I think the Mac ads are incredibly d1ck1sh and always have. I think they'd be better off focusing on the product instead.

[sherwoodforest]

You can get a used Mac.
The ad is true though- all my friends send me emails about viruses all the time- I never have to worry.

[AdamJones]

not true. there are mac viruses, just not nearly as many as windows. oh, and some of the vulnerabilities found on Mac sometimes are far more serious than that found in Windows bugs.

[cmang]

Both commercials are pretty dumb.

[cmang]

Windows is terrible for Unix programming. The mac handles my unix programming, iphone programming, graphic design, music production and windows programming with ease.

I pay the mac price for the productivity and capability. Macs these days are capable of running far more software because Unix, Mac and Windows stuff runs natively on it. They have a fix on a certain segment of unix geeks who need multimedia, and people who just can't stand using Windows.

If I didn't have Mac, I'd be using Linux for my desktop. Not as smooth an interface as Windows, but so much more flexible.

[AdamJones]

Macs are Linux based ( Debian ), not Unix based.

[cmang]

Linux based? Sorry, bro, not quite. :) MacOS X the system was based on NeXT. The kernel is a hybrid of a Mach microkernel (which is a unix microkernel) and some parts from BSD Unix. The userland is mostly based on FreeBSD with some GNU. The only part of MacOS X that comes from Debian is the use of .deb packages, which has been used on other non-Linux platforms as well. So there is really no Linux in MacOS X, despite the similarities.

Additionally, MacOS X is certified as a real Unix system by The Open Group (a bit controversially), which is why Apple advertises it as a "UNIX."

[StrayTalk]

Bottom line is: Are you satisfied with your computer? I literally hated every PC I ever owned or used at work. Since I purchased my first Apple I've been very happy with Macs. Your experience may be COMPLETELY different. Buy what YOU like. Down the road, I may even buy a PC. Right now I'm buying what has worked well for ME even if it costs a few bucks more. A week later I don't even think about the cost.

[jazzybo]

Windows 7 is really good! Personally I think Mac's are over priced.

[KeysE2S]

Worlds. Biggest. Nerd. Fight.

...and yes, I doubled my comment count in the thread X-O