December 7, 2007

Pass The Bong, It’s Another Whacky Zune Commercial

Duncan Riley

67 comments »


We first covered the rather different advertising campaign for Microsoft’s iPod wannabe MP3 player the Zune in November. Enamored perhaps by the surrealism presented in the original campaign, Microsoft has sponsored a project called Zune-Arts, which created the above ad for the Zune.

According to Wired earlier this week, the site is dedicated to creating “pieces of art, content with viral potential, instead of just a [regular] 30-second commercial.” Microsoft’s Robert Schaltenbrand said that the campaign is part of Microsoft’s push to target “the cultural core, the key influencers in society that pay attention to this kind of art,” presumably so they’ll buy Zunes. Each clip created for the project revolves around the concept of sharing, which apparently is the Zune’s main selling point.

Regular TechCrunch commenter Fake Steve Ballmer claims that Microsoft has “finally cracked the cool thing” but I can’t help that think that this would be way cooler under the influence of one of a variety of drugs*, as opposed to it being appealing to a broader spectrum of key influencers. Does this make you want to go out and buy a Zune?

*TechCrunch does not condone the taking of illicit substances, description for graphical demonstration purposes only

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  1. David Kahn

    Wow. First comment. Anyway, the commercial is totally awesome, and I agree that Microsoft has finally broken it’s seriousness to a new fantasy world. It’s now what I would call, artistic cool (don’t ask). It makes me proud to be a Microsoft fan. Yes, it does make me want to go out, buy a Zune, and ditch my stupid Video iPod. However, ever since Bill Gates issued a public letter on account of the zune 2 being out, basically saying he liked what the zune team did, but if the team had more time, it would have been a whole lot better, I’ve been inclined to sit that round out and wait for the Zune 3. Awesome Commercial though.

  2. MG Siegler

    I have to agree with Fake Stevie B - these are SO MUCH better than the typical MS sludge advertising. Will I buy a Zune because of it? No. But I’ll consider downloading whatever that song is on iTunes :)

  3. Troll

    It’s a stretch of a commercial, but i doubt it will have anywhere near the impact its competitor(ipod) has made

  4. Ryan W.

    I like the approach Microsoft has on the creativity level. I’m actually interested in picking up a Zune 80 and selling my iPod touch. Although I’m not sure about that quite yet.

  5. pep

    i like it alot better than the ipod commercials…

    the marketing for the zune has always been colorful, lively…different…The original zune was anti-climactic though to all the marketing.

    This has changed with the zune 80. it is very nice to look at. And goes very nicely with all of the pretty colored ads…

    This is a very cool ad by the way…cute characters, vibrant colors, cute little story, cool tune to top it all off…

    Im likinig the zune brand more and more every day, it is used very nicely in this ad…

  6. Andrew

    MS needs to release iZunes along with that

  7. Taboo

    No I will not buy a zune again… However the commercial is lovely, and I will hit that bong for shizzle my nizzle.

  8. Rob La Gesse

    Wow. I have a Zune 2 (80GB). After having bought four iPods and two Sansas (kids are hard on these things!).

    But I had to test the drug theory. Watched the commercial “sober” and liked it ok. Smoked Peyote, did two mushrooms and a few bong hits, shot up some Valium and bought a ton of MS stock.

    WTF - MS stock probably has more room to move upwards then Apple stock does, right?

    Commercial was definitely better on drugz, but I ended up watching it for three hours! I missed Friday Night Lights and Vegas!

    And seriously - I love my Zune. Plugs into my XBOX 360, my HDTV, my Windows PC AND my little ears. And syncs over WiFi. Honestly, the Zune is a better music/video player for my taste. Even when I am stone cold sober (hey, it happens!)

    Rob

  9. Angela Hayden

    No, I don’t want to buy a zune. I detest microsoft.

    I might like it a little better if microsoft were to send me a bag of pot. (for medicinal purposes)

    sincerely,

    angela hayden
    ART GODDESS

  10. Russell Heimlich

    I bought a Zune 80 because 1) My Creative Zen Vision:M suddenly died, and 2) The new Zunes have a great set of features compared to anything else out there.

    I managed to get the last Zune in the DC area -> http://www.russellheimlich.com.....e-dc-area/ After looking around on Amazon Marketplace, i saw I could make a hefty profit from my purchase and I ended up reselling it 5 days later for $329.99.

  11. Paul McEnany

    They’re wasting their time. Just a continuation of the previous commercials, it’s just an attempt to go after apple. Good luck. If I were microsoft, I’d make the zune an ipod for the business user. Add wifi, apps, maybe even a projector. Do something different…

  12. Arpit Jacob

    @Paul did you know that the zunes 2.0 were sold out. also was one the hottest selling gadget on amazon.

    I the ads are way more cooler than apple’s ads.

  13. Dheeraj Sultanian

    Any marketing people out there? So every MP3 player on the market is THE SAME THING - a hard-drive or flash memory with an MP3 decoder. The only way to differentiate is through marketing - which apple is simply masterful at. They are not selling ipods in the their ads, they are selling the coolness associated with the ipod, which is really what the customer is purchasing. There are dozens of MP3 players that are better that ipod technically.

    Microsoft is selling the funky idea that zune is psychedelic, which differentiates it in the marketplace. Do you really want to be like everyone else or do you want to be different (remember when this was Apple’s pitch?)? Its actually a brilliant strategy. You can talk for hours about features and technology, but people are buying image with these things now. Way to go MS!

  14. Alvis

    Phenomenal commercial. Would make for a sick virtual world campaign.

  15. Jon

    The commercials are nice eye candy but that is all they are… they don’t get me EXCITED to go out and buy a Zune anymore then the iPod commercials do.

    I would suggest that they are even a little bit too far “out there” for most people to understand or to bother trying to figure them out - in a world where more people look for Bitney Spears then what is going on in Darfur - I don’t think this comment is much of a stretch.

    Jon

  16. IpodisBorg

    Stop the Apple Borg take over!

    Green Bud rules!!!

  17. Snyggast

    Positive marketing. Apple likes to bash.

  18. Paul McEnany

    @arpit - you sure you want to go ahead and claim zune as a successful product launch? not sure if i’m willing to follow you out on that ledge.

  19. Tostada-man

    No…I don’t feel anything…

    Nope…nothing…

    Not a thing…

    Wait….wait a sec….I….kind….of feel…

    Yes…there….there…it….is!

    Je…je….je…je…je…

    I’m gett’n an iPod, dude!

  20. Rajeev

    Viral Advertising feels like a good idea to me, could easily reduce the costs of advertisinsg.

    http://tekno-world.blogspot.com

  21. What's Hot Today.com

    Great commercial….

    http://www.whatshottoday.com

  22. Alex

    Duncan, you’re right. This reminds me of the days we used to hit the bong and go watch the Pink Floyd laser show in Golden Gate park. WOW! Those were the days.

  23. MikeW

    Take a step back for a second and think how this type of stuff causes people to buy arbitrary products. Every day. It’s almost insulting when you realize that this entertainment is intended to cause you to buy. Yet we create it, consume it, and buy.

  24. micfo.com

    Looks good idea!

  25. Koz

    FYI - the song in the commercial is “Eucalyptus” by The Deadly Syndrome - great LA band.

    http://myspace.com/thedeadlysyndrome

  26. ITrush

    This is really a great idea, iPod enthusiasts and wannabes will definitely love this.

    Nhick
    http://www.itrush.com

  27. RVK

    Pet peeve: There’s no ‘h’ in “wacky”.

    Nice ad but I’m quite happy with my iPhone thanks.

  28. Matt

    Already did… Zune 80 rocks! I highly recommend it.

    I dig the retro bright color magazine ad campaign and these commercials almost bring out some of the lsd left in my spine.

  29. matt

    I don’t get it and I think that’s a good thing.

  30. Steve

    WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SPARK THAT BLUNT SPARK IT!!!!!11

  31. Steve Ballmer

    See how the ugly trollish creatures eat the cute little regular animals then morph into larger versions of them?
    ZUNE Baby!

    http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

  32. iProtestant

    the ONLY way for the zune to be “cool” is to not put the word “microsoft” anywhere near it. so they don’t put it in the commercial.

    the animation is very good as is the design and the music.

    still don’t want a zune tho.

    ‘course i don’t want anyone to piss in my ear either.

  33. fede

    video is not available…

  34. ACE

    iFans can’t handle real art……they must stick to their elitist players and desktops/laptops. And to say Zune Arts is something better served with your local neighborhood dope is really a low blow. What? The psychodelic nature of the iPood commercials and billboards not doin’ it for you?

  35. Dave Barnes

    As an Apple fanboy, I liked the commercial.
    I just don’t understand why the AT&T logo is up in the sky.

  36. Tim

    There cool in an artist way, with a fun little story. But, these ads are far from selling anything. The apple ad’s use the product to show it’s coolness. These ads show cool, but no product. Even if they showed the product at the end that would be better, but that still doesn’t match up to having your characters use the product throughout.

  37. Preston

    I bet it looks cool on the big zune screen too. Just pass along the colorful weirdness.

  38. JSolo

    Zune 80 not being in stock is due to a couple potential reasons.

    1. Under manufacturing due to poor anticipation of market demands.
    2. Component shortages for whatever reason.
    3. Line down issues - always a possibility and it has stopped Macbooks from shipping before.
    4. Under manufacturing to create artificial hype by seeding the market with a limited amount of devices.

    I’m voting for #4 as the Zune has been underrated versus the iPod in just about every review there is out there (if only Metacritic aggregated reviews of consumer electronics as well). Furthermore, both messaging for the Zune 2 is nearly non existent and mindshare of this last gen device is at the same level. The Zune 2 social is still a ghost town and I bet the few lonely Zune owners are getting tired of sharing songs with themselves.

  39. ajadoniz

    Look at me, I’m cool because I say “iPod wannabe.”

  40. Fabian Schonholz

    Cool video … a little violent, however. I agree with you Duncan, I would have enjoyed it better 20 years ago ;)

  41. Michael Griffiths

    Is is too much to expect that you’d do some research before posting?

    Zune-Arts.come has been around since the original Zune was released. By all means, it was “relaunched” - given a new interface - a few weeks ago:

    http://www.zune-arts.net/Press.....aunch.aspx

    But that hardly qualifies as “new;” nor does it justify the first paragraph in the post.

    “New to TechCrunch” does not equal “new,” and it’s a misrepresentation of the facts to suggest so. While TechCrunch is “a blog,” it’s one in name only - and personally, I’d appreciate a touch more accuracy.

  42. Jesse Farmer

    I’m not going to buy a Zune, but I did download this album from iTunes to put on my iPhone because of the commercial.

    Thanks Microsoft!

  43. Cosmic Ray

    The comments are depressing :(

    Real Technology
    - http://youtube.com/watch?v=85zCwCQPDI8

    Real Drugs
    - http://youtube.com/watch?v=2C5XuylNFLo

    Best watched on an iPhone.

  44. RD

    Groooovy duuude.

  45. Gregory Pierce

    Just what the world needs, another product commercial that has no actual relevance to its product!

    Kudos.

  46. peteremcc

    Reminds me of Spore actually.

    And is that the AT&T logo!?!?

  47. chrisco

    they are trying too hard… (to put it nicely)

  48. liquidboy

    Geez apple fanboys, or ms haters ….. in today’s age of media playing devices everything is an iPod wannabe!

    They got to the market first with an amazing marketing campaign, and cool designed product.

    Give MS a break, they’ve done amazing things with the zunes (from version one to version2)…

    This advert is testament to the changes going on in MS regarding there products. Kudos to them..

    I’ll definetely be getting a zune, probably version 3 but maybe version 2. I recently got an iTouch, but that thing always plays up on me (especially when im browsing and playing music at the same time!

    Support your favourite products by not bashing their competitors! What are you guys , 12 yo’s ???

  49. dan

    cool commercial, too bad you don’t know it’s for the zune until the last 2 seconds. it will never work

  50. Weird Blogger

    Cool video. The one on the Zune site with the snakes is good too.

  51. Media Whore

    My 15 year old son has his iPod plugged into his ear six hours a day. After seeing this commercial, he said “Dad, I want a Zune”. Of course, I kicked him in the nuts and he quickly came to his senses. Death to Microsoft!

  52. Simmy

    Cool commercial. Made me think about the Zune for the first time ever…I guess that would qualify as a successful ad campaign. But reality hits and I realize I already have four iPods, am totally hardwired into iTunes and the Zune fades from memory. Oh, and as a kicker for Bill G. and his ad boys, I headed over to iTunes and dropped $9.99 on the Deadly Syndrome album. Long APPL.

  53. Matt

    I depend on Tech Crunch for critical analysis of the industry, not for some pseudo-artistic criticism from the cheap seats. Stick to valuations not aesthetics, you dorks. I am not a zune fan but regardless nice try on trying to crossover to having a shred of cred on anything emerging from the art underground (or even attempts at it).

  54. David Kahn

    The name of the song is the Deadly Syndrome…ain’t that a name for a drug induced commercial (I’m a MS fan by the way).

  55. Future Converged

    Wow, when I first saw the video, I thought it is an advert for Spore, the computer game that Will Wright and his team are working on. Honestly, there are creatures that eat other creatures, on different funky looking planets with plenty of colour.

    Then I realised its about Zune. Not bad I would say as MS has broke free from their previous attempts, but still makes me wonder where they got their idea from. Is this just a coincidence or they were really inspired by it?

  56. Danny

    The whole zunearts thing is way, way more interesting than any iPod commercial I’ve ever seen. If you are a fan of animation at all you must be able to appreciate the portfolio. If you can’t then you are truly a witless fanboi. It seems obvious to me that, aside from cool, they are more about attracting attention than moving a unit right then and there. And gee look - it did just that.

    >I realize I already have four iPods, am totally hardwired into iTunes

    Meh, they’ve said many time they never expect to win you over.

  57. Rebel

    Ok, I’ve tried the Zune, the Ipod and the Zen. I like the Sony Walkman 818. Fantastic sound. Did I mention the really great sound quality. This is what it is about for me, all the other features are secondary as long as they get the job done with a minimum of fuss.

  58. Zev Green

    WTF? I think this is only going to be “viral” by people who either already own a Zune and want to feel better about their purchase, or potential Zune buyers who are anti-Apple. I don’t see this as being productive for new sales AT ALL.

    All I know is that I am never putting a message in a bottle ever again.

  59. Bean

    I think Microsoft should be focusing on the fact that everyone has an iPod and that barely anyone has a Zune. That fact in itself makes the Zune cool. Would you buy shoes that everyone else has or get the cool, but original new shoes? Still, this commercial is a lot better than those Apple Microsoft bashing commercials with that loser Justin Long.

  60. Bizarro Ballmer

    Funny how the blogs find it necessary to talk up Zune lately for fear of being labeled an Apple fan boy site. This includes zunegadget and zunemodo as well.

    The ads and Zune website are cool since it allows digital artists exposure to their creativity. Still don’t want any MS product though. Why feed the monster.

  61. Mingo

    It looks a lot like Little Big Planet for ps3

  62. Mike Drips

    We’ve got every model of iPod here at home, but when I saw the 30 gig Brown (any color you want as long as it’s brown) on sale for $79 on Black Friday (and oddly enough even today, at Toys R Us and other retailers) I had to buy one just to see how it compared.
    It’s OK. I can buy, download and play music. Podcasts and videos offered in the Zune Marketplace are few and far between compared to the iTunes store.
    I like the Zune commercials, but I wouldn’t recommend the Zune over the iPod.

  63. Dan

    All I got out of this ad was that if I throw a Zune into the heavens I might get an iPod Touch back.

  64. Manny

    That would work out if the product and the brand by themselves could pretend to some sort of coolness. Not the case for me. In such instance this is just borrowed coolness, like my auntie dressing like Britney Spears.

  65. Spinner

    Why is the AT&T planet in the commercial? It cant be an accident, if it is every employee at microsoft is blind and retarded.

  66. John

    hey just watch the frekin commercial who the fuck cares if its a zune commercal or not
    o and by the way the zune is out selling the ipod ya u guys cant say crap about that