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More Corporate Shenanigans: Microsoft Changes Laptop Hunter Ads After Apple Complains

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laptop_hunters_3It must be a Friday, because most of the news this morning is all about corporate and PR shenanigans between companies.

Recently, Microsoft created a stir in the tech ad biz by running its Laptop Hunter ads that specifically targeted Apple’s higher priced hardware. The fan boys on both sides went crazy. Last week, word came out from Microsoft that Apple was complaining about those ads not being factual and threatening legal action. That ignited another storm of fan boy nonsense.

Now it appears Microsoft has indeed changed one the ads to more accurately reflect the price cuts that Apple instituted. On the surface that sounds like Microsoft’s announcements that Apple was complaining about the ads was an early smokescreen when they knew the ads were going to have to change.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather see these guys spend the money to compete with products and not advertising games.

Via AdAge

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Sumocat

    07/24/2009 at 8:33 am

    I’d rather see Microsoft advertise something other than a plain laptop. Would it kill the campaign to show a PC that, unlike a Mac, has a touchscreen? Those are cheaper than Macs too.

  2. Loren Heiny

    07/24/2009 at 9:27 am

    All this bantering back and forth over Apple vs Microsoft marketing blustering reminds me of cliff jumpers on the Salt River here in Phoenix. Huh?, you ask. You see, each spring it’s popular for many of the college-aged “kids” to go tubing down the Salt River. It’s fun. However, there’s inevitable drinking and that leads to some poor thinking. And sometimes these less-than-clear-thinking people climb the cliffs to jump off of. Unfortunately sometimes they hit the cliff walls on their way down. I’ve seen it happen. Thing is though, that even when you can clearly see from the river they aren’t going to clear the jump, people cheer them on, encouraging them to jump. It’s terrible to watch when they don’t make it. Point is that Fanboyism can lead to similar poor encouragment when cooler heads provide a better outcome. And in business, isn’t that what you want? Microsoft’s decision to re-edit the ad is the right one. No reason to waste a possible legal hassle, especially in these economic times. If you were CEO of Microsoft would you take the risk that potentially would backfire and cost yet more layoffs of the very engineers you need to advance your products? I wouldn’t in this case. Again, Microsoft has done what it has done many times: Ultimately the right thing.

  3. GoodThings2Life

    07/24/2009 at 9:46 am

    I’m with you Warner… I would much rather see them market their products and features rather than trash-talk each other. It’s like two college rivals trying to one-up each other at a 10-year reunion. Get over it.

  4. Mike

    07/24/2009 at 10:22 am

    I say to Microsoft, “Prove it!” Apple has better things to do then worry about these stupid ads. This would be extremely out of character for Apple to dignify this campaign with any response.

  5. CLC

    07/24/2009 at 11:12 am

    I don’t know…. I seem to recall people asking where Microsoft’s response to the Apple ads were.
    When these ads first came out, we were all like “FINALLY!” because Microsoft wasn’t taking the bashing lying down anymore. *shrug*

  6. Loren Heiny

    07/24/2009 at 11:18 am

    Mike, same goes for Microsoft. They shouldn’t have bothered responding in public. Just change the ad–as they have done for all the other commercials–by making them shorter and tighter and to the point–and then move on. Microsoft could have just re-edited the video as part of their “normal process” and said nothing and that would have been that. Now we have both sides doing cartwheels in this year’s Marketing Olympics. The good thing, Warner, is that we’re more than 1/2 way through the summer slowdown, the “real news” is just ahead, whatever it is. :-)

  7. Srini

    07/24/2009 at 10:24 pm

    Rather spending money on “cool” ads and complaining if they end on the wrong side of the “cool ad”, apple can think of ways to optimize the cost of their “Shiny White Mac” :-), so that more people can get a find it affordable. Lots of people like Mac but stay away coz of the price, and that is true.

    Same with Microsoft, where they can put in their minds and money on to improve customer experience of their software and work close with vendors for a more reliable user experience of the PC’s that people put in their hard earned money to buy.

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