Microsoft caves to Apple complaint on ads

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 27 Jul 2009 at 10:04

Microsoft has been forced to tweak its successful Laptop Hunter ads, after Apple threatened to call in the lawyers.

The Laptop Hunter ads show members of the public being given a $1,000 and told to run off and buy a laptop. They invariably come back with a Windows-loaded machine, because Apple is too expensive.

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner crowed last week about how the adverts had stung Apple into demanding they be pulled, with a company representative claiming a change in pricing meant they were no longer true.

"It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business," he claimed, "I did cartwheels down the hallway."

It clearly wasn't an idle threat on Apple's part, however, and Microsoft has now tweaked one of the adverts to reflect the new pricing.

The advert features Lauren examining a range of Windows laptops and a $1,999 MacBook Pro with her mother who asks: "Why would you pay twice the price [for the MacBook Pro]?"

The new version edits out the price tag, and replaces Lauren's mum's comment with the line: "It seems like you're paying a lot for the brand."

Microsoft claims the point of the ads still holds true, despite the change: "We slightly adjusted the ads to reflect the updated pricing of the Mac laptop shown in the TV advertisement. This does not change the focus of the campaign, which is to showcase the value and choice of the PC."