Microsoft Posts Anti-Apple Windows Phone Videos of Questionable Taste [Update: Removed]

[Michael Scrip]

YOU need to watch them again. Consider the casting of the 'PC' and the 'Mac'.

It was also clearly meant to represent who uses them. If you're unable to acknowledge that, there's nothing I can do for you.

Nope.

"I am a PC... I am a Mac"

That was the line. The person in the commercial IS the computer. They are computers that are personified.

He did not say "I am a PC USER"

Below are the types of computers that were common during the "Get a Mac" campaign.

I'd say the casting for the PC was spot on.

 

[CFreymarc]

I gotta agree with the ad. What the hell has Apple been doing the last 6 months?

And to answer that. My guess is the A-list at Apple have been working on the iPhone 6 and the iWatch while the B-list upgraded the iPhone 5 buying time and generating revenue to get the next generation right.

 

[donutbagel]

At least Samsung pulls this off with devices that people might actually prefer over an iPhone.

At least Samsung's ads actually make sense and try to convince people why their phones are better. I don't know what this ad is or if it is even an ad.

This video basically says "Apple has been fooling around for the past 6 months, the iPhone 5S is secretly made of plastic, and Steve Jobs's dead corpse has been the CEO for the past 6 months."

 

[matttye]

#timetoswitch ...to a new ad agency.

 

[Tunster]

Nope.

"I am a PC... I am a Mac"

That was the line. The person in the commercial IS the computer. They are computers that are personified.

He did not say "I am a PC USER"

Below are the types of computers that were common during the "Get a Mac" campaign.

I'd say the casting for the PC was spot on.

Fat, bloated and uninspiring.

Basically M$ all over I support. That's why Nokia and Windows Phone will be shelved in the next few years when they cant make a quick enough buck from the smartphone trend.

 

[donutbagel]

It was also clearly meant to represent who uses them. If you're unable to acknowledge that, there's nothing I can do for you.

"I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC". No, no sane person calls himself a Mac or a PC. And notice how PC in the ad crashes. People don't crash, they faint. People also don't run Windows or have MagSafe power inputs.

Then Microsoft made the "I'm a PC, and Windows 7 was my idea" ads that made no sense. Clearly, their marketing team did not understand Apple's ads well enough to parody them.

 

[spinedoc77]

Rubbish, in the I'm a pc ads the pc users were represented as loosers and apple fans as cool. You saw it as cute and funny??? Wow very selective.

Yep, I don't understand why people are being so selective when Apple has a marketing team as well.

 

[OneMike]

my first thought was actually tim cook

 

[HowEver]

This is spot on:

They're* and you're not very bright, the "S" versions of the iPhone are minor updates (you can thank the competition- or lack thereof- for that). What I don't understand is how you visit this site yet are oblivious to incredible changes in the operating system, the new chips included in the iPhone 5S and the fact that there is a FINGERPRINT SENSOR. (Maybe not new, but what successful phone is currently using this? I can't say off the top of my head).

Get your head out of whatever hole it's stuck in. Accuse Apple for lack of innovation all you want when the competition hasn't accomplished half impact the iPhone has presented to the market. At least the iPhone has shaken things up with nearly every release.

 

[Rogifan]

View attachment 433031

This is a beautiful and slick design

And where's the antenna? And how do you get decent battery life and camera in something that thin?

 

[rillrill]

ms - this is parody. take notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJafiCKliA8

 

[spinedoc77]

No, it was just some high-level Apple employees messing around and saying things like "We're going to make the iPhone plastic to save money." Even misleading things like implying that the 5S is made of plastic and that that fact is hidden from the consumers. Then a bunch of other things that didn't even make sense.

Oh so they aren't even making fun of Jobs, just Apple in general. What's the big deal? Is anyone on here STUPID enough to actually believe marketing?

 

[prowlmedia]

Linux/android beats WP8, WP8 beats symbian, symbian beats blackberry, blackberry beats flip phone, flip phone beats iCrap.
Get an apple computer, not an apple phone!

Any company or individual who releases closed software is harming everyone on earth. Those companies or individuals should be hated, instead they are loved, because they rip off open source software, to create their own trashy software, what microsoft did was to first sell PC manufacturers their junkware, and then once most people were used to using windows, forced the PC manufacturers to use windows, and never use any open source operating systems. Apple has always made their junkware closed source, and are just as bad as microsoft. Together, those two evil companies infect 99% of personal computers on earth with their junkware.

Most animals (including humans) will automatically hate anything they are not used to, or is uncommon for their societies, homosapians who do that are not even considered humans to me, and they defiantly do not fit their species name, sapian, maybe they should be called homoidiotus. That is where the Linux and Mac hate comes from, it is also where racism, sexism and discrimination comes from. It comes from nonpeople.

Rubbish, Just like most of your comments. If everything was open source then we would all be spending 5 hours a day cleaning up all the viruses of our machines. And while you may have technical knowledge to do something about it 80% of people don't know how, want or care how a computer works.

A lot of open source projects are bugged to hell and have zero support. XBMC is an exception to that rule but I still prefer the closed source plex as a total solution.

As a dev, I make zero money on open android pirate hell and a ton of money on iOS.

Oh and basically your last paragraph says you don't like haters, but right at the start don't get a. iPhone!

 

[mdelvecchio]

I gotta agree with the ad. What the hell has Apple been doing the last 6 months? But unfortunately, the iPhone 5C/S will not flop. People will once again line up in droves. I don't understand it. They're not bad phones, but their not innovative.

absurd. who else has laid the groundwork with an incredible 64-bit mobile OS? did you watch the presentation, where the Chair developers extolled the virtues of its raw speed? and the improvements to the camera -- composite image focus stitching, dynamic multi-tone flash, burst mode, slo mo, etc...theyre all innovations that im excited to use and experience.

people buy what they like. people like iphones. incremental updates are the name of the game...you arent supposed to be blown away every single year. but over time it keeps getting better and better...

 

[spinedoc77]

Is there a link to a saved video? I can't watch them since MS took them down.

 

[Rogifan]

Oh so they aren't even making fun of Jobs, just Apple in general. What's the big deal? Is anyone on here STUPID enough to actually believe marketing?

Microsoft obviously thought they were awful or in poor taste or they wouldn't have taken them down.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Rubbish, in the I'm a pc ads the pc users were represented as loosers and apple fans as cool. You saw it as cute and funny??? Wow very selective.

wrong. there were no "users" in the apple ads, only the PC and Mac themselves, personified. PCs were fat and ugly, thus their personification was as well. not their users.

pretty obvious.

 

[prowlmedia]

Who do you think brought us Android?? Who else were they going after if not Apple?? And then buying Motorola... how is that not targeting Apple?

I was Talking about advertising strategies not the business. As is the thread.

 

[Michael Scrip]

ms - this is parody. take notes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJafiCKliA8

Wanna know what's funny?

That commercial came out as the iPhone 5 was launched.

And that particular quarter was Apple's most successful iPhone quarter ever.

It's almost like when Apple's competitors try to slam them... Apple actually does well.

Thanks Samsung and Microsoft!

 

[IzzyJG99]

Seems like the individual who seemed very skinny was meant to be Jobs, I guess? That was kind of....really, really in bad taste.

 

[CFreymarc]

Nope.

"I am a PC... I am a Mac"

That was the line. The person in the commercial IS the computer. They are computers that are personified.

He did not say "I am a PC USER"

Below are the types of computers that were common during the "Get a Mac" campaign.

I'd say the casting for the PC was spot on.

Same here. FWIW, there was talk about doing a similar campaign with iOS and Android.

There were many proposals (keep in mind, loose talk from a few happy hours gathering a very interested audience at The Bank in Saratoga) over this idea. Was told the issue was should you bring back the same actors or have a new diatribe?

Supposedly the leading idea was pair of teenage girls talking about their phones. The iOS girl would be this blonde and popular, cheerleader type while Android was an pale emo / goth girl. I would have loved to see the test screenings of those ads.

 

[4Apples]

And where's the antenna? And how do you get decent battery life and camera in something that thin?

The design is similar to the 3GS., curved/rounded back plate so it gives the illusion of being thinner. If they were able to fit everything 4-5 years ago it shouldn't be an issue now. Plus it feels better on the hand and in the pocket.

 

[T-Will]

I think the pointless part, from the point of view of Microsoft, is that these ads sound more like Apple fans whining about apple products. Microsoft doesn't offer any better suggestions.

Sure, Apple is making a plastic phone. But they are also making a metal phone. Pretty much every competing smartphone on the market is plastic, and most of those are "cheap" plastics.

Yeah, Apple is "only" giving us a fingerprint sensor. WTF is Microsoft giving us? Can Microsoft-owned Skype on a WP8 phone answer calls in the background yet?

I totally agree, I'm not saying Microsoft is offering anything better, just that it's funny to see fanboys get their panties in a wad (I'm one too, but no panty-wadding here).

 

[hummus]

I have no problem with Microsoft products at all (I've been a happy Xbox user since first one launched), but for such a big company they consistently flub their marketing attempts in spectacular fashion. They keep piling the negative baggage onto the perception of their brand and can't seem to get out of their own way. It would be hard for them to make themselves look worse than they already do.

 

[LizKat]

Yes and Apple won big time. Like to see you do better. Apple knows that selling cheap-ass phones to a cheap-ass market is diminishing returns. Go back to Wal-Mart and your Big Macs.

Did you look at the spec for the 5C? And they're not cheap. Isn't the correct complaint that it's not cheap enough? Apple knows how to calculate a margin and chart the thing out by now, so I wouldn't count on the 5C failing to please in that department.

I avoid Wal-Mart and have not graced the drive-in window of fast food places since the 90s when I was still working 80 hour weeks and cut corners on cooking for myself on Fridays and Sundays so I could spend more time in the boondocks on weekends. Now I live in the boondocks all the time and always cook from scratch. The memory of all that grease on those "freedom fries" has mercifully faded.

Don't worry. When the 6 comes out, I'll likely go for it, and get mocked for spending too much money on the high end storage model when my 5C will by then be only a year old and people will suggest that I don't need a new phone yet, or a bigger phone yet.

Come to think of it, were you among those who mocked me for going for the first MacBook Air? First iPad? First iPod? First clamshell ibook? The Powerbook 170? First 512k Mac? No? Sorry, must have been someone else. I always take flak when I spring for new hardware. I'm used to it, but not used to having a choice of new hardware in one release, and then being taken to task for making a good pick for my own circumstance. But ciao, I'll get over it by next Friday when that green 5C shows up on my doorstep.