“Microsoft Corp., engrossed in multi-million dollar marketing blitz to counter… rival Apple, Inc., is now using a portion of its budget to fuel guerilla retail tactics near the Mac maker’s stores,” Sam Oliver reports for AppleInsider.
“AppleInsider reader [Tom submitted a] photo, which shows a large Microsoft-branded kiosk parked outside a shopping center-based Apple retail store,” Oliver reports.
“‘It’s a friggin booth where you can record your own ‘I’m a PC’ video,’ he said. ‘This is outside the Apple Store, Bullring, Birmingham, England.’ He added that a trio of Microsoft staffers will be on hand to turn patrons off from the Mac for the next three days,” Oliver reports.
Oliver reports, “Last month, Microsoft tapped advertising firm Crispin Porter & Bogusky to use Apple’s assault as a foundation for a direct counter-strike with its own series of ‘I’m a PC’ ads. As part of the campaign, Microsoft invited visitors to its website to upload videos and photos that demonstrate ‘how they, too, are PCs.’ The company has since select a handful of those clips for inclusion in television commercials that can be seen airing on network television this week.”
More in the full article, with larger photo, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Kendon” for the heads up.]
Typical pseudo-rebelliousness from Crispin Porter & Bogusky. What a sham. Somebody really should tell Microsoft that Macs can not only say “I’m a Mac,” but they can also easily also say “I’m a PC,” too. Better yet, “shhh!” Let them go. $300 million more flushed down the toilet.
Vista-erasing/XP-loading HP, Dell, Toshiba, Sony et al. can’t be happy that Microsoft is stupidly going this route and helping to expose their PCs as OS-limited to the world.
Only Apple’s OS-unlimited Macs can run it all.
Anyone exiting an Apple Store has every right to go into that booth and explain why they’re a “PC,” too. Just say something like:
• I’m a PC, too because Microsoft locked somebody in somewhere with something along the line and now I am forced to pollute my pristine Mac with Windows in order to access some random program that my long-retired boss had some geek write in 1996 that my company sees no reason to ever update; or
• Because I want to play a game that some shortsighted developer decided to make Windows-only (even though Mac users have more disposable income and are proven to actually pay for more software).
Those are the only two reasons, besides plain ignorance, why people ever boot Windows.
You know those Apple logo stickers they put in every box? You know what to do.
Shameless coffee mug plug: In a world without fences and walls, who needs Gates and Windows? (Get one today – it’s an especially great gift for IT guys!)
Sabotage!
And here’s MY script:
Hi. I’m a PC. My PC is an Apple Macintosh. Because I care.
Like it? Use it. No charge.
Surely placing your inferior product next to the hottest item on the market so people can draw a direct comparison is an act of insanity. Why would they do that?
It makes sense on a juvenile level. MS marketers think they are being “in your face” with Apple by doing this.
Also, if your intent is to get good “I’m a PC” viral video footage (and it seems like that’s it), then this is in fact the best location for it. A lot of Windows users resent Apple and when they walk by and spot the Apple store, that’s the moment when the unreasoning hatred boils up inside of them. The perfect moment from Microsoft’s point of view.
I predict a huge amount of Apple customers screwing around with the booths, but the few Windows users that end up going in there might provide MS with some gems.
so how long does it take for Mac fans, since they’re already at the Apple Store, to commandeer the booth and record THEIR idea of an “I’m a PC” ad ?
I would like to see some the clips they can’t use because they were made by Mac users. LOL!
We all know that Crispin Porter & Bogusky is a Mac house… I’m thinking that they’re deliberately doing a stinky job with the MS campaign to undermine their client. “I’m a Piece of Cr*p.”
OMG, I see potential for so much fun! Please tell me that MS isn’t really doing this! If it is true and it becomes a wide spread thing, it will demonstrate their absolute desperation. The picture is Photoshopped or something, right? No, even they are not this dumb! Oh wait, monkey boy is in charge now.
Shame on the shopping center management that allowed that. That’s a good way to lose good tenants.
Someone should take a zune in one…
I think this demonstrates that even if you pair a hot advertising agency like Crispin Porter & Bogusky (who’s done some great ad campaigns with clients like MINI and VW) with Microsoft, MS is still going to find a way to screw it up.
I think this demonstrates that even if you pair a hot advertising agency like Crispin Porter & Bogusky (who’s done some great ad campaigns with clients like MINI and VW) with Microsoft, MS is still going to find a way to screw it up.
That’s great. Attract even more attention to the Apple Store. How much abuse are those “trio of Microsoft staffers” going to take from Mac fans visiting the store? That should be amusing.
And even if I used a Windows PC, I’d be very embarrassed to say “I’m a PC” on a video.
A cheep spray can can work wonders….
They want viral, let’s give it to ’em. Every Mac user with an Apple store in your town-inundate these things with variations of I’m an Apple PC, I’m a Mac and I’m a PC, whatever you like. This is so going to explode in their faces.
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New temporary window display idea for the Apple Stores that have Microsoft parked outside.
“I’m a PC too” sign with new MacBook connected to new 24-inch Cinema Display, running Solitaire.
I can see that kiosk covered in those Apple stickers now…
Wish I’d said this.
“Life Without Walls” slogan after the Windows flag logo is bizarre. If you don’t have walls, why do you need Windows?
This just in, all the kiosks are still slow even after upgrading to a quad core with 4GB ram, and continue to blue screen.
After a few hours browsing around the Apple store, you’re probably dying for a Pee C.
Use the booth.
LOL, here’s one:
“Hi, I’m Deepak Chopra, you may not know me, but I’m pissy!”
This jsut makes me feel a little sick
how long till someone opens up one of the kiosks and exposes the Mac Pro underneath.
Hmmmm,
I expect that would bring up big leasing problems for any mall allowing this in America. And there might be legal problems for MS as well, if they in any way interfere with an Apple customer attempting to enter the store.
Windows: Life Without Walls
If there are no walls, where do the Windows go?
MS software on what hardware ?
The comparison is not going to be pretty for those in the portaloo.
The new macbook is going to feel so much better.
I trust Apple will lock down the store wi-fi network to prevent the MS crowd from ‘stealing’ a connection.