April 16, 2009: Apple hits back at Microsoft following an advertisement that criticizes Cupertino for failing to sell decent laptops for less than $1,000.
“A PC is no bargain when it doesn’t do what you want,” Mac PR director Bill Evans tells Bloomberg. “The one thing that both Apple and Microsoft can agree on is that everyone thinks the Mac is cool. With its great designs and advanced software, nothing matches it at any price.”
Apple vs. Microsoft: An ad battle
In the long-running culture war between Apple and Microsoft, advertising became almost as big a battleground as operating systems. Apple almost always focused on identity rather than specs.
For instance, the brilliantly bleak “1984” ad for the original Macintosh cast IBM as a dystopian overlord and Apple as a rebellious upstart ready and able to change the status quo. And Apple’s minimalist “Think Different” ad campaign showcased cultural icons, creativity and artistic freedom rather than actual computers. Cupertino repeatedly marketed itself as a countercultural movement as much as a technology company.
In contrast, Microsoft often leaned on pragmatism or awkward attempts at cool. The company’s “Laptop Hunter” ad campaign, which touched a nerve and prompted Apple’s response on this day in 2009, followed customers as they went in search of affordable laptops. The ads spotlighted the “Apple tax” — the premium paid by consumers who bought Macs over much more affordable Windows PCs.
As can be seen in the example below, the Microsoft ads did not criticize Apple laptops for any design element or performance shortcoming. Rather, they focused on pricing.
The young woman in this particular ad sets out to find a laptop with a 17-inch screen for less than $1,000. Shocker: She doesn’t find one in an Apple store.
Hitting back at Apple’s ‘I’m a Mac’ ads
Microsoft also commissioned a controversial report from Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates. It compared the prices of Apple computers and PCs as well as hardware differences.
Microsoft’s goal in all this? To counter the negative image of the PC fueled by Apple’s popular “I’m a Mac” ad campaign.
Redmond had reason to worry. After dominating Apple throughout the 1990s, Microsoft was starting to decline in popularity in the 2000s. At the same time, Apple was enjoying a hot streak. This was partially thanks to the “halo effect” of hit products like the iPod and the iPhone, which brought in new fans.
In May 2010, Apple finally overtook Microsoft in market value. A little over a year after that, on August 9, 2011, Apple blew past oil giant ExxonMobil to become the world’s most valuable company. Today, the two tech giants remain near the top of the valuations list.
These days, the war between Apple and Microsoft is over, to the point that they cooperate in many ways. There are Apple Music and Apple TV apps for Windows, Windows users can send and receive messages and calls via an iPhone, and much more.
And, in a strange twist of fate, Microsoft, Samsung and other rivals are raising prices on smartphones, tablets and notebooks just after Apple released its most affordable laptop ever, the incredibly popular MacBook Neo.
Have you always been an Apple fan, or did you switch over from PC? Let us know your story below.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
