Microsoft Laptop Hunter Ads Caused Legal Complaints by Apple
Jul 16, 2009 - By mikepayne
Microsoft Laptop Hunter Legal Dispute – Apparently Apple was none too happy with their cameos in Microsoft’s Laptop Hunter ads. In the ads, supposed “laptop hunters” were allowed to select the laptop of their choice for under $1,000, no matter the make. While these paid actors always chose Windows, they combed over the Mac section of these local electronics stores and complained of the price. Apple’s legal department had apparently contacted Microsoft to complain that this was misrepresentation, and that Apple had “lowered their prices” since the production of these spots. Microsoft COO Kevin Turner had this to say:
“…two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey — this is a true story — 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.”
We don’t expect any real legal action to come of these early, undocumented complaints, if they even exist. Is this the work of sleuthy PR on the part of Microsoft, or did this complaint really occur? We’ll leave that up to you. [via appleinsider]
Friday, July 17, 2009 7:14AM
"these paid actors" Please state you source for this comment? In the same speech Kevin suggests that they were people found outside the location.
Kevin : "Just giving people saying, hey, what are you looking to spend? "Oh, I'm looking to spend less than $1,000." Well we'll give you $1,000. Go in and look and see what you can buy. And they come out and they just show them. Those are completely unscripted commercials. "
Friday, July 17, 2009 1:25PM
Microsoft should be able to run these commercials if they want to… you get what you pay for, right? If someone is looking for a cheap laptop, then a windows laptop is probably going to be their choice. If someone is looking for a good laptop that is reliable and isn't going to end up being a lemon, then they are looking at spending over $1000. The only message I get out of these commercials is that low-end laptops run Windows OS. Personally, I would rather spend the extra $$ to invest in a quality laptop that is going to last me more than a few months without having hardware issues. I have seen too many people buy $500-700 laptops only to find they have purchased a piece of sh*t. I'm not saying that this is always the case, but it happens quite frequently. I use both PCand Mac, paid over $1000 for each and haven't had problems with either machine.
Friday, July 17, 2009 2:17PM
She's HOTT!
Friday, July 17, 2009 3:43PM
Source:
http://gizmodo.com/5190861/someone-found-microsof...
http://www.laurendelong.com/About%20Me.htm
Monday, September 28, 2009 11:01AM
[...] Apple may have chosen to call Microsoft out on its commercials intimating that Macs are far from affordable, the electronics giant is also [...]