Given that Microsoft’s new “Laptop Hunter” ads do little else but play up the fact that you can find PCs that are cheaper than Macs, it was only a matter of time before the parodies started rolling in. The first one, dubbed “Homeless Frank,” is a solid effort.
In 63 seconds of pure mockery, the video’s creators, LandlineTV.com, are actually able to show off some of the holes in Microsoft’s argument in these ads. “Windows Vista Home Premium? This is bullshit,” Frank notes while checking out a PC. Sure, it’s a crude way of putting it, but a lot of users are not happy with Vista, and Microsoft fails to mention its software at all in its ads.
Frank goes on to ask, “is this plastic?,” while picking up one of the PCs. He continues, “this whole line of motherboards are just second-rate Korean components.” Yes, one of the reasons some PCs are cheaper than Macs is that the parts and components they use are cheaper than their Mac counterparts.
“I’m poor, but I’m not retarded,” Frank notes at one point in the video. That speaks to the idea that while Microsoft is smart to play the cheapness card in a down economy, there are at least some reasons that shoppers have been buying Macs in recent years, raising their market share. And it’s not just to get the Apple logo.
Find one of the real Microsoft ads, featuring “Lauren,” below the Frank spoof. And CrunchGear has its own thoughts on the spoof.