Microsoft Yields To Apple Demands, Changes Laptop Hunters Ad

Posted by Daniel Shain

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After calling it "the greatest single phone call" ever, Microsoft has actually taken Apple's complaints seriously enough to change - if slightly - at least one of their now famous "Laptop Hunter" ads.

It seems Microsoft has been doing well these days, and the popular Laptop Hunter ads are a part of the reason why. However, Apple grew upset that these ads were "misleading" and had their lawyers phone Microsoft telling them to stop. Apparently, the ads weren't representative of a new pricing structure Apple had come out with. This caused Microsoft COO Kevin Turner to virtually burst out in laughter, saying "they took off $100 or something" and that Microsoft would "keep running them and running them and running them". Apparently, he surmised, the ads were working. (full transcript here

However, Microsofts lawyers apparently decided it might be a good idea to pay a little attention to Apple's legal team after all. In the latest Laptop Hunter ad, the shopper's line has changed to be ambiguous on price. She ends up buying a $972 Dell, and at one point in the original ad (yanked from Youtube and elsewhere by Microsoft) she mentions that a Mac costs $2000 and her mom chimes in, "Why would you pay twice the price?" to which she obviously replies, "I wouldn't." Now the line reads a price neutral "It seems like you're paying a lot for the brand." Apple will have a hard time arguing that is not representative of virtually any price changes they make EVER, but it does lack a little of the zesty sting the ad once delivered.

According to Microsoft, "This does not change the focus of the campaign, which is to showcase the value and choice of the PC." I'm trying to decide if this is Microsoft being savvy and avoiding bad press or just proof that MS can't run roughshod over everything like in days of yore.

Check out the new ad here

Via adage

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Comments

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