Microsoft recently launched some ads that mocked Apple’s new IPhone 5C, however, their delivery of the ads didn’t go over very well with consumers.  The lengthy two minute ad is not only boring, but lacks the primary goal Microsoft was going for, humor.  Basically, the video advertisement consists of two Apple employees pitching the new IPhone features with a few men being portrayed as superiors.  Almost immediately after the videos were posted on YouTube under the Windows Phone account, criticism poured in about how terrible the ad was.  It was too-long, poorly acted, not humorous and almost went too far as some of the superiors in the video were speculated to resemble Steve Jobs and other executives of Apple.

“Dull,” in my opinion, pretty much sums up the whole ad campaign against the IPhone 5C.  In terms of marketing ethics, I would say Microsoft definitely crossed the line if the people in the video were meant as representations of previous executives of Apple.  However, I do not think that Microsoft intended for the people to look similar.  One thing that surprised me about the ad was how direct the attack was at Apple.  Normally, a subtle approach is taken to take hits at other competitors in a market, but Microsoft came right out by even calling their in-commercial product an IPhone.  In my opinion, this approach shifts the ad from a light joke to a strategic attack, and I think that Microsoft’s image suffered from it.  Obviously Microsoft realized that this was not the kind of attention they wanted and removed the videos shortly after release.  I think a more ethical strategy to take a stab at the IPhone would be something similar that of Samsung’s.

Check out the videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmGgH8XU8yk Microsoft’s Ads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJafiCKliA8 Samsung’s Ad

Source:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57602902-75/microsoft-pulls-fly-on-the-wall-anti-iphone-ads/