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Microsoft Ad Campaign Gets Under Apple's Skin

Laptop-browsing spot may be boosting Microsoft's 'value perception'

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 16, 2009 2:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – Apple demanded Microsoft ditch TV ads featuring shoppers mulling the relative value of PCs and Macs, CNET reports. In the ads, which Microsoft’s chief operating officer calls “completely unscripted,” shoppers get to keep money they save by choosing a PC over a Mac. “We got a call from the Apple legal department,” Kevin Turner told conference attendees this week, “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,” Turner said to applause, according to Microsoft’s transcript. “We're just going to keep running them and running them and running them.” Reports suggest that since the "Laptop Hunters" ads first appeared, Microsoft’s “value perception” has climbed while Apple’s has dropped.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs gestures during an iPhone announcement at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Thursday, March 6, 2008.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs gestures during an iPhone announcement at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Thursday, March 6, 2008.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
A frame-grab from the ad campaign.
A frame-grab from the ad campaign.   (YouTube)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 28 comments
mazimoyo
Jul 17, 2009 10:34 AM CDT
Really? Have not seen much thrown here. People who buy by price first get what they pay for. Those who spend more and are happy about it, good for them. Big deal otherwise. We can't live with two or three operating systems? There really has to be a winner? Wow!
Alexandria
Jul 17, 2009 7:39 AM CDT
loptout- you're acting like a child because someone likes a different kind of computer than you do, grow up. It's a matter of opinion.
Alexandria
Jul 17, 2009 7:34 AM CDT
I'm uninformed because I have an Apple computer? Oh..ok.
 

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