Apple Demands Microsoft Pull Laptop Hunter Ads

[Becordial]

Ummm... Apple have been dropping prices.

And it's not unfair, because it never happened.

What's unfair is that we've got a complicit media who never really question enough, about much at all. And I have to say that's true of this piece and the media's unwavering reporting of any and all of the breathless claims made by companies including Apple.

 

[Mac Kiwi]

I would not be surprised if MS add a barb about it into their next ad. If they do, I will bet the ad was made before the call took place.

 

[charlituna]

Could you please explain to me why the low end mac mini costs 639 euros ($900) in the EU?? http://www.e-shop.gr/show_per.phtml?id=PER.904083

is it not an imported item. and do those not generally end up higher priced overseas.

I imagine a scenario where the actors in the ads - I do not believe they are real people - take the cash from the production company to buy the crappy Vista PC then as soon as the production company leaves they return the unopened PCs for a refund and march over to the Apple store to buy a Mac for a few hundred dollars more of their own money.

doubtful.

because the production company most likely paid them exactly as was declared, with the computer. and with no receipt and they probably ripped the box seal. so no receipt, open box etc and no one is going to take it back. It might even be tagged that it was a promo item. I remember my roommate getting an ipod from work that he couldn't return because Apple had them flagged as a goody bag item so only the original buyer (the company he worked for) could return them with the receipt.

double if they got a paycheck as well.

Ummm... Apple have been dropping prices.

And it's not unfair, because it never happened.

yes it did.

by tradition Apple revamps the line and either keeps the price point or raises it. this time they revamped and dropped all the computers but the white one between $100-300. making the prices of the 15 inch line not the ones in the ad. and there is some question that that was even a 15 that was showing and not a 13 inch. which would double the false claim.

 

[rickbuddy72]

Apple is Smart

Apple Computer's competitor created a weak competitive comparison advertisement in showing definitive price and product.

The comparison is no longer valid if the price or product changes.

If the price of the product is no longer what the Microsoft is claiming in their advertising, then the ad is false; moreover, illegal.

It's the law, look it up: 15 U.S.C. § 45.

Apple dropped the price, therefore Microsoft has to drop the ads: the ads are now false advertising.

Major advertisers, and their agencies usually avoid competitive advertising with such specificity for this reason.

Game Over.

Brian Richards

 

[rickbuddy72]

I'm no advertising or legal guru, but since the entire Mac lineup of laptops got revamped a few weeks ago, and some made cheaper, could the Laptop Hunter ads be construed as false advertising? I mean that in a legal sense. Some of them do quote a price on the Macs.

If in fact the call did go down, it was probably more like "stop running those false ads or we will sue you over it."

Here's how Im thinking of it. Imagine if McDonalds ran a commercial telling people that a Whopper cost 20 bucks. I got a funny feeling that would be a problem.

For the most part, you are correct.

One minor correction, Apple would not sue Microsoft, they would file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, which is empowered to enforce laws against false advertising.

Generally, the FTC will review the case and if they find the complaint to be justified they will order the offender to cease and desist.

It is not unusual for a company to give an offending competitor a heads up and ask them to stop the advertising. Filing and answering such suits is very expensive and time consuming. It can take busy executives from both companies from their daily responsibilities.

Brian Richards

 

[zey]

Apple have a massive brand presence in the US. This is not the case in other countries. For example, Microsoft recaptured the top spot in a key brand recogniton survey in the UK from Google who are now third. Apple are ninth.

Same sort of thing in Australia too where, incidentally, these "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads would actually be illegal, at least on broadcast television. Adverts here aren't allowed to make negative claims about their competitors, only positive claims about themselves.

Consequently, I can't remember the last time I've ever seen an Apple ad on the telly.

 

[JAT]

And on Vista or Windows 7 you have to bypass twice as many obstacles. There are UAC prompts and password prompts, there are IE and Google warnings about malicious sites, there are Outlook/Mail warnings about opening certain kinds of attachments...

I guess if every new user is compelled to head straight for a Russian porn/crack/serial/torrent site, click every false promise link and boldly bypass every warning on the way, it poses a problem, but otherwise no.

I've used Windows since 1992 and never got any kind of malware onto any of my machines even back when the door was wide open (Win 95/98). In order for it to happen on Vista or Win7 I'd have to actively want a malware infection in order to make it happen.

Use your brain and a healthy dose of caution and self preservation, don't be a daredevil, and you'll be fine. I.e. just approach Windows like you would anything else in life... unless you're one of those people who put on a radiation suit, a helmet and a gun holster when you go to the grocery store to pick up some bread.

I know this is a comparitively old post, but I have to comment, anyway.

You, sir, have absolutely no idea what a "new" user is like. According to this post, you're apparently a computer geek, like so many of us here. How on earth would you know what a non-geek is capable of f***ing up? Even the IT guys who actually deal with idiot users come on the web and claim to not get it, after fixing the problems all day. Probably stress-related denial to try to keep sane.

"Use your brain". ROFL. These are users who would go through twice as many disclaimers as you say Vista provides (I've not used it, but seriously, that's a selling point??) and then lie about it, possibly without even understanding they are lying. Except then they complain about how many disclaimers and warnings they had to dismiss in the next breath.

You don't think they actually READ those warnings....do you?

 

[mosx]

People are saying these ads are "False advertising" and "illegal"?

Because Apple dropped the price?

Yeah, Apple did drop prices on two models while downgrading another model significantly to lower the price.

However!

Please show me one point in ALL of the ads where price is mentioned specifically. Show me one ad that Microsoft is currently running where someone says "this system is $1,999 and it only features this...".

The only vague comment in all of the ads is one made by the woman looking for a computer that is "good for cutting video". She said "this is the best Apple for under $2,000 and it only has 2GB of memory". She actually said "Apple" and didn't say "MacBook" "Mac" "MacBook Pro". The fact of the matter is that she could still be referring to no less than 4 different portable systems by Apple for under $2,000 that do still ship with only 2GB of RAM. The fact that she said "Apple" not specifying a single product, plus the fact that Best Buy and others still have the older models on display and are still clearing out stock means that these ads are far from "illegal". Saying they're "illegal" is about the same as saying the Earth is flat.

Everything else about the ads is completely true. You can't get a 17" notebook for under $1,000, you can't get any Apple notebook for under $700, Apple doesn't offer a single notebook thats good for gaming or even capable of playing blu-ray discs. And the final point of the ads is that you get much much more for much less by going with a PC. Believing Macs are a good value for the money is, again, like believing the Earth is flat.

Again, if you want to talk about dishonest ads and who has a claim for false advertisement, let's talk about those "Get a Mac" ads. Theres so many false and flat out BS claims in those ads that Microsoft could sue Apple into oblivion for it.

 

[iEdd]

She said "this is the best Apple for under $2,000 and it only has 2GB of memory".

The best "Apple" for under $2k has 4GB memory.

Ad says 2GB memory.

Following?

And the final point of the ads is that you get much much more for much less by going with a PC.

I dunno, the vibe I get from the ad is a screaming "I want the Mac, but it is too expensive so I will dump all my previous criteria and get this PC". Seems to just reinforce the fact that it is a luxury item rather than damage the brand.

 

[starstreak]

I dunno, the vibe I get from the ad is a screaming "I want the Mac, but it is too expensive so I will dump all my previous criteria and get this PC". Seems to just reinforce the fact that it is a luxury item rather than damage the brand.

Really? The vibe I get is "I want more in a laptop than just good looks". Untill Apple opens up to 3rd party to create other "Apple like computers" Apple will be more exspensive than that of a PC. It's a catch 22. If Apple did that, then Apple would fall into the same issues that plague the PC. Which is compatability issues. 95% of the time my PC acts up is because of a driver issue. Apple doesn't run into that because they only allow certain hardware to work on it.

As it is right now, you can get more hardware bang for your buck for a PC. And like a broken record in ALL of Apple's ads, all the apple can say is "Come to us, there are no viruses." And let's face it, that line isn't a threat to anybody who smart enough to read here.
If Apple wants to win the "noobs" They gonna need to add more hardware and lower the price.

 

[polaris20]

Mosx, couple things:

First, my MBP plays L4D just fine, for the times I actually have time to play a game (this laptop is for real work, not watching movies and video games)

Second, Macs are a good value to those who like their workflow and stability. You apparently are once again having a tough time separating fact vs opinion again; do I need to link the definitions again?

I agree though, if all I was going to do was play games and watch movies (as you apparently do) than I would just get a Dell or something. However for me, being able to interface seemlessly with the Linux workstations and servers while still having MS Office open, as well as RDPing into Windows machines and running VMWare for testing is just too convenient.

If it doesn't work for you, fine. We get it. Win7 is a great OS and I'm sure you will be happy. Did you sell your MB yet?

 

[FF_productions]

Apple lowered the price on a couple models, and now they think they have competitive prices? Umm, Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, and White MacBook are all the same damn price.

 

[Norco]

Apple lowered the price on a couple models, and now they think they have competitive prices? Umm, Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, and White MacBook are all the same damn price.

They're not trying to be competitive to the lower market segment, just the upper. They still want to cost more so all the toothless rednecks can't afford one.

 

[djellison]

Second, Macs are a good value to those who like their workflow and stability. You apparently are once again having a tough time separating fact vs opinion again; do I need to link the definitions again?

You are having a tough time separating fact vs opinion.

I like workflow and stability. I do not want a Mac workstation. It would not offer good value. For my workstation - I want a PC.

For email, web (if Safari stops crashing for 10 minutes), photos and most of all Keynote...I want a Mac.

So I have both.

 

[polaris20]

You are having a tough time separating fact vs opinion.

I like workflow and stability. I do not want a Mac workstation. It would not offer good value. For my workstation - I want a PC.

For email, web (if Safari stops crashing for 10 minutes), photos and most of all Keynote...I want a Mac.

So I have both.

And you have a reading comprehension problem.

Second, Macs are a good value to those who like their workflow and stability

Did I say they're a good value to everyone? No. Macs are stable. Windows is stable. They have different workflows. Pick one you like. Go with it.

Had I said "Macs are a good value for anyone who likes good workflow and stability" you'd have a point. However, I didn't say that.

I have all three; Windows, Linux, and OS X. They all do different things well.

 

[dejo]

Same sort of thing in Australia too where, incidentally, these "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads would actually be illegal, at least on broadcast television. Adverts here aren't allowed to make negative claims about their competitors, only positive claims about themselves.

Wouldn't that make the "Laptop Hunter" ads illegal as well? I'm guessing they don't air in Australia either. Is that correct?

 

[Soulstorm]

There's one very important thing when comparing Microsoft's ads to the Get A Mac ones.

Apple is attacking PC's. PC's are not Microsoft. While PC is standing as Personal Computer, in real life (and in Apple's ads) when we talk about PCs we mean everything that is not a Mac.

That's the important thing right there: Microsoft does NOT own any PC. Microsoft is a software company, that builds software for PCs. So, when the Get A Mac ads talk about PCs, they don't talk about Microsoft, but for many companies, without naming one.

Microsoft on the other hand, launched a full frontal assault on the Mac. And that's why Apple has the right to be pissed off.

However, I do find some right on Microsoft's part since some Get A Mac ads attacked Vista directly.

However, apart from all this story, I believe that Microsoft's ads are directed to people irrelevant with the PC world. The fact that Apple's products are more expensive is well known for decades now (literally). While Apple's ads target known PC vulnerabilities (viruses, incompatibility, major issues, hardware of lower quality), the ONLY thing Microsoft had to say is that Macs are more expensive? Wow. I think that they just dug their own graves with their ads.

Imagine FIAT to make similar ads about BMW's price to cars. It's essentially the same thing: Pointless.

One thing that really bugs me though, is Microsofts hidden insults and categorization behing those ads. I remember an ad displaying a woman saying ironically "I'm not cool enough to get a Mac". So what does that mean? That everyone who buys a mac is a show off? I am very far from this point, but I was really angry seeing the woman saying that. I remembered some years ago when people looked at me like I was some kind of alien when I was telling them that I have a Mac.

Anyways... we'll see how it goes.

 

[LagunaSol]

While Apple's ads target known PC vulnerabilities (viruses, incompatibility, major issues, hardware of lower quality), the ONLY thing Microsoft had to say is that Macs are more expensive? Wow.

"Macs may be better, but they're more expensive. And you're not worth it." - Microsoft

 

[gunraidan]

There's one very important thing when comparing Microsoft's ads to the Get A Mac ones.

Apple is attacking PC's. PC's are not Microsoft. While PC is standing as Personal Computer, in real life (and in Apple's ads) when we talk about PCs we mean everything that is not a Mac.

That's the important thing right there: Microsoft does NOT own any PC. Microsoft is a software company, that builds software for PCs. So, when the Get A Mac ads talk about PCs, they don't talk about Microsoft, but for many companies, without naming one.

Are

You

Sure

About

That?

 

[Eidorian]

"Macs may be better, but they're more expensive. And you're not worth it." - Microsoft

On the flip side...

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

There's one very important thing when comparing Microsoft's ads to the Get A Mac ones.

Apple is attacking PC's. PC's are not Microsoft. While PC is standing as Personal Computer, in real life (and in Apple's ads) when we talk about PCs we mean everything that is not a Mac.

Have you ever even WATCHED those ads???? No, you have not or you'd know they cover a WIDE RANGE of topics, 99% of which have 100% to do with the Operating System, known as Windows and sold by Microsoft. Apple implies everything that makes a PC slow, buggy and attacked by cyber-thiefs is Microsoft's fault. And they would be right in the sense that PCs and Macs have the SAME BASIC HARDWARE now and so ANY attacks have EVERYTHING to do with Microsoft and Windows. In short, get your facts straight and stop trying to mislead people about what Apple has been doing.

Apple has been slapping Microsoft in the face about their OS for years now and Microsoft suddenly decides to slap Apple back for selling overpriced, underpowered computers that often run games at 1/2 the frame rates for the same game under OS X as they do with Windows on the SAME HARDWARE (OS X is not as fast in all areas as some would like to believe). Apple has no support for newer technologies like Blu-Ray no matter whether you buy the hardware or not (the OS doens't support it because it conflicts with their OTHER markets like iTunes sales so they choose simply to ignore 3rd party technology and thus let the OS rot in obscurity just to try and force people away from things like 1080P and to buy all of two dozen available 720P titles on iTunes. Apple cannot deliver what it promises and it still withholds Blu-Ray. It's pathetic. And all Mac fanatics can do is whine and cry about a $100 price change in a commercial and then expect Microsoft to go out and do a NEW commercial just to reflect a recent tiny price change, less than a year after they jacked up prices for no reason. If anything, those commercials are HELPING Mac users by getting Apple to lower their prices (what else would help when there are no direct OS X hardware competitors because Apple sues them all?)

Sorry, but the fanatics here are just whining about nothing. They apparently WANT to pay higher prices. It seems they don't mind Apple dragging their feet on decent 3D drivers and Blu-Ray support. They cheer when Apple makes fun of Windows machines and cry bloody murder when Microsoft throws a punch back at them. Boo Hoo! Apple NEEDS someone to keep them on their toes and get them to keep prices in check or else they just keep screwing their user base over and over like usual. Dropping prices even a little is better than raising them. If you have Microsoft to thank for that change, show some gratitude instead of trying to bite the hand that is helping you, the consumer. Otherwise, you'll convince people like me that you own Apple stock, but apparently buy PCs. That is the ONLY scenario where I could see any LOGIC and crying about Microsoft ads that help the Mac consumer with lower prices. Either that or I can only conclude Mac fanatics just aren't logical. But then I already knew that so I guess I should not be surprised.

 

[LagunaSol]

They cheer when Apple makes fun of Windows machines and cry bloody murder when Microsoft throws a punch back at them.

"Bloody murder?" I personally find the MS ads humorous. "Hi, I'm a filmmaker and I need a laptop for less than $1,000 and I'm going to get it from the tech geniuses at Best Buy, who conveniently will forget to charge me sales tax." LOL.

Oh, and wallowing in your wife's vomit after she discovers your porn habit is FREAKING HILARIOUS!

Seems Microsoft's serious ads are funny and their funny ads are not.

Apple NEEDS someone to keep them on their toes and get them to keep prices in check or else they just keep screwing their user base over and over like usual.

Um, yeah. It's called the free market, where your products command the prices people will pay for them, and not one penny more.

I don't see anyone b*tching about Windows Vista Ultimate (MSRP $399) that comes on a 10 cent DVD and about a buck worth of packaging. Cuz, you know, Apple makes the only "overpriced" products on the planet.

BTW, who is keeping Microsoft competitive and innovative with their 90% market share? That's right, NO ONE.

Conspiracy Theorize Different

 

[whooleytoo]

For me, the critical point is that most Apple marketing is very vague - very frustratingly so at times. If you're going to be specific in your advertising, you HAVE to be accurate. That's the problem with MS's adverts.

If you say "Macs are 1000% percent better than PCs", it's obviously not true; but it's so vague a statement no one would bother to try and disprove/suppress it either. If you say "You can't buy a Mac for less than 1000 euros", then it's something that would obviously be false and disprovable, and hence is likely to be objected to.

 

[polaris20]

There's one very important thing when comparing Microsoft's ads to the Get A Mac ones.

Apple is attacking PC's. PC's are not Microsoft. While PC is standing as Personal Computer, in real life (and in Apple's ads) when we talk about PCs we mean everything that is not a Mac.

Oh come on, man. They constantly reference Vista. Vista is made my Microsoft. What did you think they're referring to, Linux?

Both companies attack each other. So what. Next?

the distinction here is that Apple is actually getting its underwear in a twist over it, which, sorry guys, is pretty stupid given their potshots at MS over the years.

Macs can do more than just look pretty. Windows PC's aren't always loaded with spyware and don't crash constantly. There. Everyone happy yet?

 

[LagunaSol]

the distinction here is that Apple is actually getting its underwear in a twist over it, which, sorry guys, is pretty stupid given their potshots at MS over the years.

If your competitor is incorrectly referencing one of your product's prices in order to make their own look more appealing, you have every right to protest as such action is illegal.

Just as Microsoft has a right to protest any of the blatant inaccuracies in their Get A Mac ads. Surely Microsoft doesn't have to put up with the lies. Like, um, err, well, uh....