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Les Kern

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2002
3,063
76
Alabama
They were going to do a follow-up with those that bought PC's but found out after about a month the computers barely functioned. One was pawned, another sold on eBay. Then they all went out and bought Macs.
Make a helluva commercial.
 

neiltc13

macrumors 68040
May 27, 2006
3,128
28
The whole campaign was a failure. Like no one saw *that* coming, LOL.

Sorry, I'd love to see the evidence you have that the adverts were a failure. As far as I can see they were relatively inexpensive to produce - they didn't use any flashy effects, nor did they require celebrities or other highly paid actors.

When you look at the impact they had on this website alone in terms of promoting discussion about Microsoft's products, you have to say that they were a huge success.
 

cjmillsnun

macrumors 68020
Aug 28, 2009
2,399
48
Sorry, I'd love to see the evidence you have that the adverts were a failure. As far as I can see they were relatively inexpensive to produce - they didn't use any flashy effects, nor did they require celebrities or other highly paid actors.

When you look at the impact they had on this website alone in terms of promoting discussion about Microsoft's products, you have to say that they were a huge success.

They didn't do much for MS' sales though...
 

FF_productions

macrumors 68030
Apr 16, 2005
2,822
0
Mt. Prospect, Illinois
There’s some epic fanboyism going on in this here thread, how can you say the advertisements failed when it sparked some of the biggest thread discussions ever on MacRumors? That’s enough evidence there to say it sparked some flames, until you have solid numbers you’re just defending Apple pure and simple.

Stick this in your pipe: There are now more Windows 7 users than all Mac users combined.
 

Goona

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 11, 2009
2,268
0
There’s some epic fanboyism going on in this here thread, how can you say the advertisements failed when it sparked some of the biggest thread discussions ever on MacRumors? That’s enough evidence there to say it sparked some flames, until you have solid numbers you’re just defending Apple pure and simple.

Stick this in your pipe: There are now more Windows 7 users than all Mac users combined.

And what evidence do you have that they were successful. Since I don't see them being aired anymore, I can deem them being a failure. It didn't help to increase the sales of PC's and Microsoft's financials haven't improved since they started airing them, they have being laying off thousands.

I guess now the success of an ad is how much dicussion there is about it on Macrumors. Now that is funny.
 

neiltc13

macrumors 68040
May 27, 2006
3,128
28
And what evidence do you have that they were successful. Since I don't see them being aired anymore, I can deem them being a failure. It didn't help to increase the sales of PC's and Microsoft's financials haven't improved since they started airing them, they have being laying off thousands.

I guess now the success of an ad is how much dicussion there is about it on Macrumors. Now that is funny.

Huh? You ask him for evidence and then throw in a completely unfounded statement of your own. Just search for "Laptop Hunters" here, on YouTube or elsewhere around the web and you'll find a HUGE amount of content about them. Each of the videos on YouTube has around half a million views and the topics here have hundreds and hundreds of replies.

I'm not sure if you understand how advertising works, but it's practically impossible to measure the success of an ad for a huge brand or product like Windows - there are so many variables out there which can be affecting sales at the time the ad is shown. Most notably in this case, the adverts were shown in the period just prior to Windows 7 launching, so perhaps the uptake in sales as a result of the ads was outweighed by those waiting for Windows 7 before buying a new computer.

We've provided plenty of evidence that the adverts have been successful but you haven't provided any that they were a failure.
 

FX120

macrumors 65816
May 18, 2007
1,173
235
So when a company moves on to a new series of advertisements, that makes their previous series a failure?

Your logic is distorted.
 

belvdr

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2005
5,945
1,372
And what evidence do you have that they were successful. Since I don't see them being aired anymore, I can deem them being a failure. It didn't help to increase the sales of PC's and Microsoft's financials haven't improved since they started airing them, they have being laying off thousands.

I guess now the success of an ad is how much dicussion there is about it on Macrumors. Now that is funny.

You cannot solely focus on an ad compaign, ignoring everything else, and make statements. This little thing called a recession tends to have an impact on companies and their finances.

I am fairly certain that those employees' jobs were not hinging on the success of the Laptop Hunter campaign.

I'm also gathering you must think Apple's 1984 and Think Different campaigns were a failure, since you don't see them any longer.
 

szark

macrumors 68030
May 14, 2002
2,886
0
Arid-Zone-A
Stick this in your pipe: There are now more Windows 7 users than all Mac users combined.

I've done some searching on Google, and can find no evidence to support your statement. I found a recent article saying that Windows 7 market share had (temporarily) surpassed Mac OS X market share, but market share doesn't equal the number of users. It just means that more people bought copies of Windows 7 that week than Mac OS X.

On topic: I didn't really like the Laptop Hunter ads, regardless of their effectiveness, and am glad to see that Microsoft has moved on to something else.
 

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,028
3,003
St. Louis, MO
And what evidence do you have that they were successful. Since I don't see them being aired anymore, I can deem them being a failure. It didn't help to increase the sales of PC's and Microsoft's financials haven't improved since they started airing them, they have being laying off thousands.

I guess now the success of an ad is how much dicussion there is about it on Macrumors. Now that is funny.

All ad campaigns come and go, in fact, I think Apple's Mac vs PC ads have gone on far too long. The ads were on the air for several months, and now Microsoft has moved on to something else, that does not mean they were a failure.
 

clevin

macrumors G3
Aug 6, 2006
9,095
1
And what evidence do you have that they were successful. Since I don't see them being aired anymore, I can deem them being a failure.

its absurd and stupid reasoning, how many 2007 ads are still being played on TV right now?

do you have no concept of what ads are?
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
its absurd and stupid reasoning, how many 2007 ads are still being played on TV right now?

do you have no concept of what ads are?

They were a complete failure. Apple actually sold MORE Macs (in a recession) while they were airing, while MS posted a horrible quarter, and continued to post a loss the following quarter.

But the ads seemed to have been great for Apple!
 

Sdashiki

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2005
3,529
11
Behind the lens
So when a company moves on to a new series of advertisements, that makes their previous series a failure?

Your logic is distorted.

Yes it does mean failure. When an entire marketing campaign is designed and them implemented only to be pulled before its completion...they failed.

Seinfeld led to Laptop Hunters...

And while I dont like the PC/Mac guy ads, they still are a campaign that works and even if they dont, Apple hasnt stopped producing them.

Every cycle MS has a "new and improved" marketing scheme. And I dont recall any of late that actually did what they expected or lasted as long as they wanted.
 

fehhkk

macrumors 6502a
Jun 11, 2009
753
238
Chicago, IL
Those ads were intended to spark interests in PCs prior to the Windows 7 launch. Now all they're focusing on, is Windows 7, which makes sense, now that they have the actual product to sell.
 

moonlight87

macrumors newbie
Sep 25, 2009
10
0
Provo, UT
They were a complete failure. Apple actually sold MORE Macs (in a recession) while they were airing, while MS posted a horrible quarter, and continued to post a loss the following quarter.

But the ads seemed to have been great for Apple!


Because that is the ONLY explanation for that trend. Remember kids, correlation does NOT imply causation. There could be any number of reasons for this trend, so let's not jump to any conclusions.
 
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