Microsoft “Laptop Hunter” Ads Made on A Mac?

By Nicole Martinelli (6:42 am, May. 05, 2009)

bogus

Microsoft’s controversial Laptop Hunter ads were probably conceived, pitched and perhaps created on  Macs, if these office snaps of the ad agency behind them are anything to go by. They show the desk of Alex Bogusky (with two Macs) at Crispin Porter + Bogusky plus the surrounding office space, also full of Macs.

I wouldn’t mind getting paid to sell PCs, as long as I didn’t have to work on them, too.

Via rixstep

Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Advertising | Comment on this article

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About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli was born in San Francisco and has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. Cultish tendencies and love for DIY increased while living on the Old Continent, where tech came late and cost more in Big Mac index terms. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. Since 1999, she's been tapping away at zoomata. You can also find her on Facebook, Linked in and Twitter.

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24 comments

    I love my Mac, but I can’t believe this photo is making rounds as some proof of CP+B “wrongdoing.” It’s BS.

    IT WAS TAKEN IN 2005 IN MIAMI, long before CP+B won the Microsoft business. Nowadays, Bogusky’s emails are signed: Sent from luxurious Windows Vista Ultimate. Which could still be on a Mac, since Windows also runs on Macs.

    Tessa Stewart, on May 5th, 2009 at 9:41 am

    Of course they’re made on a Mac, Crispin Porter + Bogusky is a Mac-based ad agency.

    Can Alex Bogusky Help Microsoft Beat Apple? By Danielle Sacks – May 9, 2008

    http://www.fastcompany.com/node/849664/print

    In April 2007, long before the Microsoft account came Crispin’s way, Bogusky had told me that “Crispin sort of exists because of the revolution in desktop publishing that the Mac brought about. You could be a small shop and compete against Madison Avenue for the first time because all the tools were in your computer.”

    Adam, on May 5th, 2009 at 9:51 am

    What’s controversial about the Laptop Hunter campaign?

    Carson Stanwood, on May 5th, 2009 at 10:52 am

    I don’t know any ad agency in New York that uses Windows PCs for production work.
    I would be surprised if they were indeed created on Windows.

    > Nowadays, Bogusky’s emails are signed: Sent from luxurious Windows Vista
    > Ultimate. Which could still be on a Mac, since Windows also runs on Macs.

    They might be forced to use Windows machine during MS campaign.

    > luxurious Windows Vista Ultimate

    Funny!

    No name, on May 5th, 2009 at 11:09 am

    I love this article so much it hurts.

    The Idiot, on May 5th, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    Of course, knowing M$FT, it may well be a condition of doing work for them that they have to use PCs, no matter how much longer it takes.

    Gus, on May 5th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    I work in advertising…90% of the agency creative’s use macs. I wouldn’t be surprised if microsoft requires their agency to “use” windows machines. I also know a few agencies with cell phone clients who are required to “use” their phones. Most of those creatives have two phones. One they use (almost all iphones) and one they “use” when they go to client meetings. It’s pretty funny, actually.

    d, on May 5th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

    Carson — There’s been some debate over how honest the ads are, they’re supposed to show average consumers, and, in at least one case, the average person was an actor… And whether the eternal price debate/features is valid the way it plays out in the ads…

    http://www.techflash.com/How_real_is_real_life_Windows_ad_Apple_sidewalk_scene_is_fishy_42033192.html

    http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/03/26/pc-to-mac-im-cheaper/

    http://cultofmac.com/new-mac-bashing-microsoft-ad-has-real-people-get-excited-about-blu-ray/10042

    Nicole Martinelli, on May 5th, 2009 at 11:13 pm

    Since they sold out to the devil I think Microsoft should insist that they to use crappy PC’s running Vista to run their ad agency. :)

    Paul, on May 6th, 2009 at 3:27 am

    Actors? … in a commercial … the horror.

    bas, on May 6th, 2009 at 3:52 am

    Well, they do say that advertising is legalised lying.

    MacBore Matt, on May 6th, 2009 at 4:16 am

    So what?

    I’m also sure that at some point in apple’s production/retail chain PC’s are used in the equation.

    Should the next headline be “Shipping containers filled with Macbook Pros loaded onto ship with a PC controlled crane! How embarrassing for Apple!” Or “Fedex scans iPod shipment with a PC”

    Jay, on May 6th, 2009 at 7:50 am

    Jay,

    You miss the point. Microsoft is trying to convince consumers that Apple laptops are so overpriced and a bad choice, yet their own ad agency is using Macs. If Mac weren’t worth the investment, then they ad agency would have PCs on their desks.

    Apple isn’t trying to convince people that Macs are the ideal platform for controlling cranes, scanning packages for FedEx, or other embedded systems work.

    Fred_M., on May 6th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    [...] Portrait of the Artist as a Young Slut [Rixstep via Cult of Mac] [...]

    The Cool Tech Stuff Blog » » Microsoft’s ‘Laptop Hunter’ Ads Made on Macs?, on May 6th, 2009 at 1:45 pm

    omg i know! The other day, my BFF Jackie saw an ad for an HP home printer in a magazine that was printed on a commercial printer!

    what a bunch of hypocrites. Products aimed at average Joe should be created by professionals on those very same consumer level products.

    …………..or maybe you’re hyping a controversy that is not in fact a controversy.

    greg, on May 7th, 2009 at 3:39 pm

    Fred_M

    designers are not the same as the average consumer. While buying an Apple might make sense for someone who is splicing HD video in real time, most of us are checking our email updating an XL spread sheet, and watching youtube clips.

    This is like saying TV ads for those $100 flip HD camcorders need to be filmed on those same crappy cameras, instead of the 50,000 dollar cameras used by most ad agencies.

    greg, on May 7th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

    I work with video and had done quite a few works for Microsoft, always on macs. Funny as hell, but no big deal, after all.

    David Donato, on May 7th, 2009 at 7:01 pm

    Although, honestly, a Flip HD campaign shot on a Flip HD would be the best marketing possible for the device.

    Pete Mortensen, on May 7th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    See the simple life episode, the interns episode 9 the ad agency.

    This was made BEFORE the Microsoft deal.

    They are not only using Windows but you can actually see the icon.

    Apple is so humilated. The most creative ad agency uses windows.And Mac users keep pretending that using an Apple makes you somehow creative.

    95 percent of the time a Mac user is a salesman.

    Ha ha ha….

    John, on May 7th, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    Ha ha ha ha…..

    John, on May 7th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

    lies lies lies lies lies lies. i am a Mac. I love to lie lie lie.

    Oh yeah Mac an craps are cheaper then PCs. They also do not look like jail cells.

    They run more software then Windows.

    The best games are made for Mac.

    I love to lie lie lie lie lie. I am a Mac….

    John, on May 8th, 2009 at 12:04 am

    [...] Wahrscheinlich wurden auch die “Laptop Hunter” Spots auf einem Mac erstellt. Das wäre dann die zweite Reihe Spots von Microsoft in kürzester Zeit, die auf Macs erstellt wurde. Photos aus der Werbeagentur lassen den Gedanken auf jeden Fall sehr glaubwürdig erscheinen. (via CultOfMac) [...]

    iPhone 3.0 Beta 5, Snow Leopard Gerüchte | macophilia - Mac, iPod, iPhone und alles andere von Apple, on May 10th, 2009 at 4:45 am

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    Laptop Hunter Ads: What Microsoft Is Getting Right « Melonie McLaurin’s Journal, on May 23rd, 2009 at 7:42 am

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