Are Microsoft 'Laptop Hunter' Ads Phony?

Jul 24 2009, 11:00am CDT | by Robert Evans

In recent months, Microsoft's 'Laptop Hunter' ads have gotten a lot of attention. The ads, which feature families shopping for many-featured laptops while on a budget, have been a real pain for Apple. While the 'Laptop Hunter' ads have been undoubtedly successful, they've also been out-of-date for the last couple of months. Apple cut prices on a MacBook that is featured in one of the ads and dismissed as being too pricey.

Apple called Microsoft COO Kevin Turner and asked him to remove or change the ads because the comparison featured in them was no longer accurate. Turner seemed ecstatic to get the request at first, and stated that Microsoft planned to just, “keep running them and running them and running them.”

And Microsoft is most definitely still running the ads. However, they aren't unaltered. The price of the MacBook in question is now obscured, and the actress's comments about the Mac's price have been dubbed over.

Before the edit, her dialogue was; “This Mac is $2,000, and that's before adding anything.”

After the edit, her dialogue is; “It seems like you're paying a lot for the brand.”

This alteration was the only action Microsoft could have taken, short of pulling the ad altogether. Unfortunately for them, it also dispels all doubt that the ads were anything but carefully scripted out. If these had actually been random, normal shoppers stopped on their way into the store they certainly wouldn't have been able to add in new dialogue later.

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.