The “Zune Insider Blog,” from Cesar Menendez, a Microsoft employee working on Microsoft’s new music project, “Zune,” has posted five TV commercials for Zune that, in our opinion, further pave the way to Zune’s inevitable failure. These five spots all fail on many levels. They are boring, overly obtuse, try way too hard to be “with it,” and fail to inspire any feeling whatsoever of wanting or needing a Zune. These are not good ads. This is not a good advertising campaign. This whole Zune thing is shaping up to become quite the debacle. Zune is “MS Bob” for the 20 Aughts.
We asked our own SteveJack (16-year TV vet) to watch the ads and comment. SteveJack said, “Awful. Truly awful. Where do you want to squirt today?™ When will the rest of the world finally see that Microsoft is a failure masquerading as a success?”
As we’re fond of asking, “What’s brown and squirts?”
Picnic (90-second spot):
Battle (60-second spot):
Concert (30-second spot):
Dog Scratch (15-second spot):
Couple (15-second spot):
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “mango” for the heads up.]
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Those commercials are incredibly boring … and what’s with the dogs …
They almost remind me of the first artsy car and perfume commercials from the early nineties. Hard to tell what it’s about. That will appear to some, I suppose because it’s “like totally counterculture, man…”
“… Dude…
They’re… how do you say… “earthy” – as opposed to the slickness of Apple’s iPod commercials. Not sure about what this says about the product…
wow those are HORRIBLE.
I mean I was kinda impressed with the xbox 360 commercials but these real suck on so many levels, maybe it is a targeted market thing and I am not with it but still, yuck.
also really you need to stop with the whole brown and squirts thing it is just really repulsive.
funny, but please stop
This is just really poor marketing.
Many viewers who are not paying particular attention (which will be most…they are ads, after all) will probably unconciously see iPods. Thanks, Microsoft!
Compare that to the original iPod commercial where he is listening on the Computer, then leaves the apartment with the iPod on…high energy, looks like it is fun.
these people look bored and the music tracks are slow and painful.
Why would you bring your Zune to a concert? Wouldn’t you want to hear the artist perform?
These have no cool factor. The only people that will notice these and sit through them will be grandparents. I guess they may need an mp3 player. Seriously I hate the slogan “Welcome to the social”. MS sux, they will sell some but will never get any marrketshare from Apple. They will beat out the small timers and that is it.
What we’re there is the world gathering of Zune owners.. All of them. They think it’s great that they can squirt at each other. And there you have the loser that DIDN’T buy a Zune, but got into the action by picking up his dog and squirting someone else. Works the same way for the same purpose I guess…
This is actually foreshadowing…
Zune owners will have to put ads in papers, craigslist, and blogs to get people all in one area so that they can squirt music at
eachother. Because they will never run into eachother in the wild.
And even if you did see some one huddled over their Zune on the bus, would you really want to get close enough to be able to share music with someone hunched up in a ball trying to watch a movie on what, from fifteen feet away, looks like he’s coveting a dog turd?
Very un-cool
I have to admit that the white one looks nice but these things are massive.
My 30GB 5G ipod is probably only half the size of the Zune.
It will fail because of the size
Not much connection between the onscreen action and the product. What a horrible color scheme for the commercials and the product – ick!
Objectively these commercials come across as trying real hard to be hip, cool, whatever. Typical MS corn. I don’t see these commercials inspiring anybody to buy the Zune, but perhaps the real question for MS is, will they actually inhibit anyone from the Zune?
BTW the new ipod Nano commercials are a lot better
No cool factor
I loved the whole grandparents thing! Ha, ha, ha!
I watched all of them. That’s 12.5 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. (After the dog scratching one I had to take a shower)