Am I the only one who finds it somewhat bizarre that Apple is threatening to sue Microsoft over its “Laptop Hunters” TV campaign? I mean, the “eighty hours a week, and proud of it” mob in Cupertino have been kicking the crap out of Microsoft for years with its “I’m a PC – I’m a Mac” campaign, pointing out the numerous ways a Mac offers significant advances in everything from the operating system, to the applications, to its ease of use. Now apparently, Apple is throwing a hissy fit, ‘cos the Redmond geeks have the temerity to suggest that a low end PC laptop might cost a couple of hundred dollars less that a Mac Book. Well, fucking, duh!
Isn’t that what the Apple persona… Notice, I do not say “brand” here – I say persona – ‘Cos Apple has a personality, whereas run of the mill products like corn flakes have a brand… Is all about? So why the fuck did Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Turner state publicly last week that attorneys for Apple have demanded that Microsoft should pull its “Laptop Hunters” campaign, because it shows potential buyers comparing prices between Macs and PCs?
Personally, I think the ads suck, and in spite of Microsoft’s claim that they boost the brands “value perception,” which is marketing speak bullshit for “they sold fuck all, but they made us feel warm and fuzzy,” I have no bloody idea why Apple would even consider taking legal action against Microsoft. Particularly when they called Microsoft, and in the words of the aforementioned Mr. Turner, said… “Hey, you need to stop running those ads — we lowered our prices.’ Because they took like $100 off or something.”
To me, this is proof that GodJobs is not yet back in charge. This is the last thing Steve would even consider doing. Yes, he will sue the shit out of you and have you eviscerated if you steal the plans for the iCar, or bribe his sushi chef to disclose where he gets his fucking wasabi flown in from… But to sue someone for doing shitty ads based on making third rate gear cheaper than Apple. Impossible. Apple has never, ever sold on price. Remember the famous story of when the guy who was designing the motherboard for the original Mac, showed it to Steve and Steve hated it, ‘cos he said it was ugly and wanted it made pretty. The poor fucking engineer tried to explain that it would cost a lot more money, and besides which, no one would ever see it. Jobs came back with “I’ll see it… Make it fucking pretty.”
That’s why I think this whole thing is an aberration, and whoever was dumb enough to start it, is going to be in a humongous pile of shit when GodJobs is back full time breathing fire and brimstone. Serves the wanker right.
George Parker is the perpetrator of adscam.typepad.com, without doubt, one of the most foul and annoying, piss & vinegar ad blogs on the planet. His new book, The Ubiquitous Persuaders, has just been published by Amazon and is currently setting the ether ablaze. He will continue to relentlessly promote the crap out of it until you are forced to stab yourself in the eyes with knitting needles.
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Hey, your posts have inspired me! – I love the way you directly get to the point, and then work outwards. I’ve been trying to do figure out what I want to say about ,that would allow me to do exactly the same thing.
July 21st, 2009 at 10:42 pm
“Am I the only one who finds it somewhat bizarre that Apple is threatening to sue Microsoft over its “Laptop Hunters” TV campaign?”
No. But two things to consider.
1) We only have one persons word about it from Microsoft. This news serves Microsoft well in that it gets people talking about the ads again. Since when do Legal firms “phone COO’s up” to do their business?
2) Yesterday’s figures (2.6 MIllion Macs sold) prove that it looks like Microsoft have instilled in people’s minds that Apple is the machine to buy. So it looks like it is having the opposite of the desired effect.
July 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 pm