The Real Laptop Hunters

Funny or Die spoofs the MS "Laptop Hunters" campaign from CP+B with some hilarious results:

Laptop Hunters: Jake - watch more funny videos

I'm a PC meets I'll give you my Mac

There's a new video in the I'm a PC campaign from Microsoft (and CP+B I'm assuming) where a young lady gets $1000 cash to buy whatever computer she wants. After visiting an Apple store and finding they only have one model under $1000 she visits another store and gets an (apparently) amazing HP model for $700. Yeah, PCs are cheaper for the same hardware!



Even in this economic climate, is price really the biggest deciding point for someone looking at a mac vs a PC? Sure, it's a consideration (and the reason I'm not typing this on now) but it doesn't erase or even dismiss the lust some people have for macs. In fact, it might even encourage mac lust. "If I only had another $500 to spend I could get what I really want, a mac."

But I understand where the spot is coming from: emphasizing price when everyone is more price conscious.

Let's face it, price is a hollow arguement in the end. It says nothing of features or usability of the hard / soft ware. It says nothing of performance (other than hardware specs.) In my mind Microsoft shouldn't try to compete with Mac's OSX, but rather focus on its own features. Find its unique functionalities. The ways it can improve your life or your business. Tell me why I want Windows not why Macs are expensive.

And on a side note, what happens when a devout Mac fan offers the actress "Lauren" from the commercial his personal macbook for free, just so she can compare and see which computer is truly better?

ps- this post written on a pc running Ubuntu Linux so as to be as impartial as possible. Oh, and because Windows ran like shit on this machine and I can't afford a mac even though I'd like one.

Mac vs PC: The new Cola Wars?

Counter punch.

That's what it's called when your opponent lures you in and then quickly snaps back with a devastating punch. And that's what happened here when Mac responded (without necessarily directly responding) to the new Windows ads. Mac just keeps on rolling. I'd love to see this continue to escalate into a clash of the titans with TBWA and Apple on one side and Microsoft and CP+B on the other.

Alex Bogusky: The Fast Company Interview

UPDATE: Here's the article online.

You've probably seen the cover of the latest Fast Company floating around the interwebs. You know, the one with Alex Bogusky on the cover. Oh yeah, that one. As a big fan of Crispin Porter + Bogusky I had to go out and grab a copy (since it's not on Fast Company's site yet). Here's my reaction:

When an article starts with "He looked like Jesus..." you know it's gonna be really good or really bad. The first paragraph mentions Bogusky speaking at the New Denver Ad Club in April 2007, a nice little plug for the local club. The first few pages give lots of fodder to either Bogusky camp; for the haters or the lovers (hit the poll below to let me know where you fall), lots of mentions about how he turned around Burger King, launched Mini, made smoking uncool with The Truth, etc. There's an interesting graphic on the second page that details Micosofts ad campaigns since 1995. Funny how the first two from Wieden+Kennedy are memorable (Start me up, Where do you want to go today?) and the rest, from the purveyors of mediocrity, McCann-Erikson, are pretty forgettable.

Then come quotes like this:

Bogusky works on a raised platform in Crispin's 70,000-square-foot space, which once housed an indoor soccer field. His desk seems almost to levitate above the vast openness. A shiny new silver Mac-Book Air sits in front of him, next to his aviator sunglasses.

Wow, that really makes him seem Jesus-esque. It also brings to mind an issue that's touched on a few times in the article, but never in depth: how do you sell Microsoft when your whole company uses Macs? Granted, that Mac Book Air could be running Windows, but still it seems a bit ironic.

But alas when the Microsoft work does appear (rumored to happen in July) it will be the result of Andrew Keller and Rob Reilly who have taken over Bogusky's creative post while he move on to talk strategy and focus on growing the company internationally.

Then comes what we've all been thinking the whole time: the thought that Crispin has one good shot at making Microsoft cool. They will either succeed amazingly and be elevated to God status in the ad world (some would argue they're there now) or fail miserably and have to prove themselves all over again to the world to show that they haven't lost the magic.

July can't come any quicker.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Need more Bogusky? Here's another Fast Company interview with him on What Paris Hilton Can Teach you about Branding

VW: This is what the people want?

VW has a new "What the people want" site up that lets you (the people) say what you want via polls. Then Max, that clever '64 beetle chimes in from time to time as you vote. As I've said before, I'm not a big fan of this campaign. There's just no call to action. "The people want German engineering" (the tagline). Good, I'm still going to go buy a Honda (truth be told I actually own a VW, but it was bought long before this or any other campaigns of recent memory). Telling me what the people want is not an argument that's going to persuade me anytime soon. In fact, I'm more inclined to not want what everyone else wants, but that's more of a personal attitude.

I think my biggest problem with these ads is that there is a disconnect from the ads to the product. I know it's probably considered edgy or avant garde right now to not show the product (and use a '64 model instead), it's also a nice homage to the classic DDB VW ads of yesteryear, and the whole car-as-a-talkshow-host thing is arguably a fresh approach. But all of that doesn't make me want a VW, not in the least, and I think that part of the goal of advertising involved getting people to buy your product, last time I checked. So I'm sorry VW, the brand I want to love, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the agency I want to love, but this campaign is not what the people want.

What's The Truth smoking these days?

I've been a big fan of The Truth campaign from Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Arnold, but this latest effort just doesn't cut it for me. Adrants hates it because it uses a quote from 1971, but I don't mind that. I think that tobacco companies are just as evil now as they were then. Sure, there's free choice, but there's also trying to even the playing field, which I think anti-smoking ads are intended to do. I'm not going to get into the free choice vs social responsibility argument either, I'll leave that for you in the comments.

So what's my beef with The Truth? Well, this ad starts fine, if not a bit benign compared to they're previous efforts like body bags on the street and the cowboy singing through his voice box, but then the damn animated stork comes out. What the fuck is that about? Then all these animated babies start jumping out and the next thing you know it song and dance time. By the end of the thing I'm a bit confused and really disappointed. Ok, I get it, smaller babies is easier for the stork, cool, I guess. It doesn't make me not want to smoke (I'm not having babies), nor does it incite me to get behind the anti-tobacco movement like many of the previous Truth ads did when they let me stick clever signs in dog poop or harass ad agencies that did tobacco ads. All I'm left thinking is: what did I just see? And, man, I hope I never see that again from such great talent. What do you think?


Find more videos like this on AdGabber


Previously in Anti-Smoking: PSA with Sufjan Stevens Music

VW Sounds Good

I've posted a few VW related items before, some good (building the website), some bad (crispin porter + bogusky's VW falls flat) but this might be my favorite. It's fun, and it makes me want to watch it again. And again. It also makes me wonder what I might enjoy driving around in a Golf. And that's probably the best thing a car commercial can do. I think Tribal DDB is responsible for this and the previously mentioned website ad so kudos to them. Crispin Porter + Bogusky should take notes (that's not something I thought I'd ever get to say). What do you guys think: is the American work from CP+B better or the European work from Tribal DDB?

Crispin Porter + Bogusky's VW Falls Flat

Let me be perfectly clear on two things: one, I like Crispin Porter + Bogusky (I've got an application in for a summer internship... fingers crossed). Two, I don't like their new VW spots. You know, the ones with the 1964 beetle that has it's own talk show. Or the print ones in the Wall Street Journal where the car says "The people want an economic stimulus." Oh yeah, how clever, now I want to buy a car. C'mon guys, the people that brought us the king can do better. Everything else I wanted to say has already been said by Adweek.