March 26th, 2009

Microsoft ad: 'I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person'

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 1:44 pm

Categories: Advertising, Corporate strategy, Vista, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Advertisement, Microsoft Corp., Laptop Computer, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft has new consumer PC ads out, set to begin airing on March 26 during March Madness basketball.

I just checked out a preview of one of the spots over on www.windows.com. The 60-second ad is all about “Lauren,” who wants to buy a new, 17-inch-screen laptop for under $1,000.

Lauren isn’t a die-hard Windows fan, who, like me, crosses to the other side of the street so as not to get too close to an Apple store (hoping to avoid roving bands of rabid Mac fanboys/girls and their ilk). Lauren checks out the forbidden fruit. But she can only find one, measly 13-inch Macbook in her price range and joking tells the camera, “I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person.”

(The sarcasm is amusing, but I already forsee a new “I’m a Mac” commercial spoofs on this one. And unlike many Microsoft marketing managers, I don’t cotton to the idea that any time you can get someone talking about your products or ads, even if it is negatively, is still good news.)

As part of the latest wave of Windows ads (other phases of which have included the perplexing Seinfeld series, the Mojave Experiment, “I’m a PC” and “The Rookies“), the new “Laptop Hunters” series of ads focuses on customer profiles. What kind of Windows PC should you get if you’re a gamer? (A $1,900 Asus G50 G50VT-A2)  A designer? (A $1,000 Lenovo IdeaPad Y530) A parent? (A $630 Toshiba Satellite A305) A socialite? (A $1,500 Lenovo IdeaPad Y730).

(Where’s “A recession-plagued writer” with a link to a $500 netbook? Or even the pricier Vivienne Tam edition?)

Update: Brad Brooks, Corporate Vice President of Windows Consumer Marketing, characterized the new campaign as highlighting Microsoft’s heritage as a low-cost player. “It’s about making technology affordable and focusing on value and what it means,” Brooks said. Microsoft’s contention is “we provide better value at any price point.”

I’m not sure I fit in any of the Laptop Hunter profiles. But I’m definitely in the market for a new PC. But I’m holding out for that shiny WIndows 7 one I bet I’ll get to buy later this year…

What do you think of the Laptop Hunters ads? Better or worse than what the Softies have tried so far as part of their $300 million “Life Without Walls campaign?