Must not have been a windy day….
YouTuber sibilare135 noticed something kind of odd about Microsoft’s latest “fake real people buying a laptop commercial”.
Wow, looks like Lauren and Sue really gave the Mac vs. PC buying experience some real thought, doesn’t it? Well, apparently if one looks a little closer (as fanboys are want to do), it seems (please try to contain your shock) this whole shoot might have been a set up.
You see, at the 5 second mark we see the girls outside listing what it is they are hoping to find on their laptop hunt, followed by the girls entering the store, conducting a full shopping session with the duo looking at every laptop Best Buy has, then deciding the Mac is far too expensive, and ultimately choosing a Windows laptop. This is then followed by a shot back out in the parking lot of the girls hugging with joy as they are handed their reward money for a job well done. And guess what? The clouds and cars in the background do not seem to have moved an inch in all that time.
Above: Which came first? The money or the laptop?
While the very presence of clouds implies some sort of circulating air mass, it appears time has stood still for that long, thought-out shopping experience that must have taken place. Why, it’s almost as if they filmed their reactions BEFORE they went into the store and decided whether they were going to get a PC or a Mac.
But that obviously can’t be, right?
I know it costs a little more to set up a shoot twice, but I think Microsoft could have afforded to shoot a genuine set up, genuine comparison shopping experience, and genuine outcome, don’t you? Especially given the amount of scrutiny their ads are being subjected to. I mean, think of all the money they saved using REAL PEOPLE, and NOT ACTORS! Surely there was a little SAG money left over to shoot the ending AFTER the middle? Or at least digitally move the clouds a couple feet?
Even if one assumes the girls found/were told to find that Dell before hand, and then feign excitement when given the money, doesn’t that fake excitement constitute “acting”?
wow. That’s either horrible directing, or horrible editing. I can’t tell what happened, money wise. Maybe after they shot it, they realized they never got the shot of her listing the imaginary specs she wanted, so they shot that later? Or, if they gave her the money before they went in, then why did they show her getting it after she got out?
oh, and that’s assuming they weren’t actors, this time around. If they are, then all bets are off.
Just noticed that at the 1 second mark, she already has the money, then at 5 seconds they don’t, then at 45 they get it.
🙂
– The Doc
Fake + Acting = Facting.
That’s how they were able to justify it as a fact…
Lauren is hot. I expect her to be a mac chick within a year. Hint hint Doc!
@Matt: Yeah, that would be a nice switch!
I think their point is PC’s are cheaper and its true. It could be a combination of editing and directing, but I have yet to see this on television.
@Matt
Hah great idea!
No matter whether these are actors or not, this is a completely standard way of working. The interview might well have been taken afterwards, someone asking “What did you look for in a computer?”, the answer being what’s used in the beginning. So this is a dumb post. Thanks anyway.
Oh and in case you’re wondering “then why did they use that at the beginning?” – that’s’ called editing.
ROFL!! Awesome comparison man!!!
I have to agree with Bjarki Guðjónsson, They would of conducted an interview before hand, filmed her looking at the laptops and then again a final round up interview when they have left.
I would class this one as BAAAAD Editing., on another note, right at the end when she has the (Crap ) PC in her hand the shot has changed to the other side of the car and the cars that were orginally parked up on the first shots, have moved off.
its just a good example at how desperate microsoft has gotten to try and corner the market again with “Real Life” situations.
A
On another final note, I would love to see Microsoft give out the exact same amount of money that a lower end mac laptop would cost. I’ve notived that they tend to give half the amount and/or just under the amount of the cost of a mac, in the hope that they can corner students and low income families.
things may just get interesting if that was to happen.
A
I second that she has to become Mac Chick of the Month!!!
The MS Ads are probably done by J.J. Abrams… one of the worst directors of all time. Messing with poorly written plot-lines. Not knowing what to do using a shaky hand camera… a ruining Star Trek making it a mindless blaster action movie… yawn…
Sry… but I’m ranting about this movie for the last 14days straight… I want my time and money back…
These adds hurt my soul. The get a mac adds have some character and humor to them. I found them humorous before I even considered getting a mac. It’s funny that microsoft is targeting a platform that can run their OS and still give them sales for Vista or whatever. Generally, most people in the know who have a mac have windows running in some form, whether it be boot camp, parallels or things of that nature.
i can see dell put a whole 4 minutes into designing there box
wish i could say the same about the laptop
@ Matt, Tice: I third that!!! Apple should put her in an ad!
Her Apple ad should have:
– MacBook that met her price target
– $2,000+ PC laptops that she says “why would I pay for this?”
It seems that there is a new car in the final photo. How do you explain that?
And not just the clouds were motionless – the sun didn’t move either, as indicated by the shadows of the cars. A continuity blooper.
Umm…I think its more that she is stepping forward to grab the money. It doesnt matter if there is wind or not if she is MOVING to grab the money.
I think we may be over analyzing here a bit guys…
😉
Eiiyeah!
Or.. Perhaps they got some 1700 bucks BEFORE they entered the store to buy a computer? -“You get 1700 dollars from us. Go get a computer! If it’s cheaper keep the rest as a salary for this commercial”. Why else would she choose a computer for $900?
Then again if the cheapest Mac was $2k that explains the $1.7k limit on purchase.
You meticulously avoid the REAL question. When looking at the Macs, her mother asks: “WHY WOULD YOU PAY TWICE AS MUCH?” Her answer: ” I WOULDN’T”.
The end result speaks for itself: She got “EXACTLY WHAT I WANT” & it wasn’t a Mac.
And, correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no Mac that can do what she wants in the $971. price range, correct?
Also, check out the the disappearing/reappearing sunglasses throughout the video.
@ Zanny
Quote:And, correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no Mac that can do what she wants in the $971. price range, correct?”
This straight off Apples website:
MacBook
From $949
Students save
up to $100
so if shes a student (as the Add suggests) Apple offer the macbook for less.
And as for her requirments, she wants it to look nice, but then looks at a pink laptop.
until Apple decide to use the same colour process for thier macbooks as they do for the iPod range, im afraid the colours are limited.
the other requirment, is it must run programs..
nuff said.
Microsoft fails again! For all you guys who thinks she’s hot, look at her mom. Yeah thats her when she’s 40. Now that she’s starting with a Windows PC on the get go, she’ll be twice the size. NO thanks! 😉
the big giveaway is not the shadows, the clouds, or the cars. Check out the reflection of the sun in the before and after photos, the little white orb in the hood of the car.
They never show the PC she buys.
She looks at the Macbook Pro…and says it’s too much…duh….it’s for professionals…thus the Pro part of the name.
She never addresses her battery life criteria. In fact, if anything, it sounds like she changes that to color.
They never define portability – is it weight, thickness, screen size? What is portable? Because I bet my definition is different than hers.
Also, I don’t care what computer you buy, $971.99 is not going to cut it for anything besides writing papers, reading email, and the occasional PowerPoint (er….Keynote).
Of course, because she bought a DELL, she is going to have an poorly designed computer to begin with. Not only will she start in the hole, but think of all the money, time, and aggravation she will be put through when her computer decides it’s had enough.
I am willing to pay a little bit more to get a computer that I don’t have to worry about. PC people are always saving, virus scanning, backing up, restarting, defraging, redoing, reformatting, and any other type of maintenance you can think of, their computers.
I have managed to get my Macbook Pro to “blue-screen” (it was stuck a the screen right before the login), and ALL I had to do to fix it was put the install DVD’s in one right after the other, and two hours later I had my computer back the same way it was when I had last used it. This has never been done on a Windoz machine before. If windows loses a system file….and you don’t have all your files backed up some where….you are either paying $$$$ for a computer rep. or you are losing all your data.
Get A Mac and save yourself all that pain and suffering.
Also if you look at her moms glasses hanging round her neck you can see that they are in the exact same position in both frames. I don´t think that would be likely if it was real.
Ohhh, why do we even care about this? Because it´s so fun!
UHHH- how does mom know the Mac is twice as much? They haven’t picked out a computer yet and the budget is $1700. Clearly editing or perhaps scripted to pick out the $971.00 laptop. Another good point was made about her being a student and receiving a discount from Apple. That is the truly deceptive part of the ad. I care because it is disingenuous and MS continues to spend real money on ads instead fixing the bloatware that has become the OS and Office Suite.
Dang. I thought this was gonna be a new spin off of “two chicks one cup.” You know, maybe… Two Chicks, One Mac?
While i find these ads “ethically challenged,” there is a grain of truth to them. And they’re working. A new survey says that more people believe Windows PCs are better values than mac. This ad supports the “Mac tax” meme, and is convincing many it’s true.
While i still believe it’s worth paying extra for a Mac, I’m starting to believe we’re being screwed by Apple. While a MacBook Pro is plainly better than a comparable HP, is it really 2 times better? A comparably equipped Dell or HP is only about 1500 bucks (less if you go with Windows Home Edition). A Toshiba is about $1,300. What can make the MacBook 1,300 to 1,500 bucks better? They use a lot of the same parts,. The chassis can’t cost $1,000 more, can it? The 13″ White MacBook costs $300 (~40%) more than a comparable HP.
I’m going to have to think hard about replacing my current notebook. I might have to look hard at putting together a Hackintosh.
After working in Hollywood for the past six years I can say this with conviction: EVERY COMMERCIAL NO MATTER HOW “REAL” THEY LOOK, CONTAIN ACTORS. These are not real people by any stretch of the imagination. They were cast to LOOK like everyday people but they are not.
As for the clouds not moving, when a director shoots a scene in one location they will shoot everything right then and there. After that they move to the next location. Its time efficient and cost saving. They probably shot the opening then the end back to back. Editing takes care of the rest. Way and I mean WAAAAAY too much time has been spent by people noticing continuity errors which don’t even matter. The problem with the whole concept is Micro$oft itself! I LOVE Apple so don’t mistake me for a MS backer. I am most definitely not. I’m trying to inform and save you all some time and energy.
That’s what you get when you edit commercials in MovieMaker
Instead of calling this one bad editing, bad directing, or bad whatever… why don’t we just call it (and the rest of the MS ads) what they are?
Just bad.
And Chris, a lot of us know how commercials (TV shows and movies) are shot and why it’s done that way. That doesn’t invalidate criticism of the MS ads (or anything else filmed or taped). It’s why there are continuity people. Who, evidently, weren’t doing their job on this MS spot, or any of the others. Or maybe MS’s ad people thought they’d save MS a few dollars and not have a continuity person.
And, btw, not every person in every commercial is an actor. There have been a number of very famous commercials that have been done with actual, live non-actors. Remember Victor Kiam of the Remington shaver spots?