Monday, September 22, 2008
I'm a PC and I Have to Pay People to Plug my Product
I heard wind of this ad a week ago in Advertising Age but only saw it today on YouTube after it premiered during the football game yesterday. I'm a firm believer in promoting your brand, not defending it, and this ad where a John Hodgman look-like claims that they he hates being stereotype screams of "Just because I play dungeons and dragons and know binary code doesn't make me a nerd!" It doesn't work in high school and it doesn't work in the marketplace. Mind you, if this wasn't such an obvious response to the immensely successful Mac v. PC ads it might work. There's nothing wrong with addressing misconceptions about your brand subtly, but in this case Microsoft through the proxy of the "PC" is playing defense, and you usually don't score points on defense.
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3 comments:
Dude, this ad is boss.
For the sole reason that microsoft is finally doing something with their ad budget. They've been getting slaughtered with all those Mac VS PC commercials and finally, they've shot back.
They got our attention with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and now they're finally doing something with it. This campaign is smart and very, very well made.
PC's may not be my computer of choice, but this ad has become my ad of choice.
It's brilliant! they're painting PC users as oppressed and misunderstood. This takes what the Mac ads have done and turns them on their heads.
This is exactly what Windows needs. Exactly.
And it's f*cking awesome.
Also, PCs are still number one in the world. Macs are just too expensive to seriously compete with the PCs. I know a Mac is the "cool" computer to own, but Bill Gates still dominates the market.
I just saw a slightly different version of this ad during Football Night In America on NBC. The version I saw had lots of people of all different ages, backgrounds, and races saying "I'm a PC". It actually wasn't that bad of a spot. Showing the diversity of PC users is a pretty good way to debunk the PC stereotype that Apple has established oh so well with their Mac & PC ads.
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