Microsoft new ad targets Apple’s high prices

I’ve always wondered when someone would notice how expensive Apple’s computers are. I mean for $1000 you can get the lowest end MacBook available, at 13″ and underpowered, it is really expensive to look cool.

Apple is an image and Microsoft wants to show people that it can also be an image, an image that says I have a great computer and didn’t have to pay a fortune for it.

In the commercial from advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Lauren goes into an Apple store, quickly walks back out and reports, “For $1,000 they only have one computer available, and that’s a 13-inch screen. I would have to double my budget, which isn’t feasible. I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person.” That statement is a direct hit against Microsoft’s longtime rival that implies you don’t get much computer for your money when you buy a Mac.

Last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer set the stage for the new ad’s debut when he said, “Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction. The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.”

Lauren was excited when she entered a retail store with a variety of PCs. She tries out a few keyboards and looks at the specs on a few others. Finally, the look of one PC draws her. She settles on a Hewlett-Packard model that meets all her qualifications — for under $1,000. The commercial ends with Lauren telling the camera, “I am a PC and I got just what I wanted.”

Everytime I see an Apple product I feel like I want it and I think that’s part of their marketing scheme. It’s “cool” to have a Mac or an I*something*. Other than their computers, look at their MP3 players, an iPod is $300. You can get a video player by Sony for much less…hmm.

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