Huh. Boing-Boing calls this "Microsoft's best anti-Apple ad." We say: "That's crazy talk." To us, it seems like they've pretty much waved the white flag – Lauren comes right out and says "I guess I'm just not cool enough to own a Mac." The rest of the pitch is basically "It's got all the basic stuff you need – why pay more?"
Now, in a marketplace filled with what are basically parity products – isn't saying "We're Pretty Good! And Cheap!" the proverbial express elevator to the proverbial bargain basement? Won't all your licensees just undercut each others' prices? What if your message was something more like, "You'd Be Surprised How Cool And Easy To Use Our Products Are?" Like, you know, this?
Oh. Wait. You already did. And did it better. Do your brand managers talk to each other, Microsoft?
Building a brand is a conversation. Listening to you is like purple monkey bathtub listening to someone who just bicycle potato hasenpfeffer throws random non-sequiturs into every sentence. You guys almost have something coherent to say. The fact that you keep tripping over yourselves to say it underscores the idea that you're a big, dumb corporation.
And in this marketplace, big dumb corporations are easy targets.
UPDATE: Homeless Frank is a PC, too!
