digg

Join DiggAbout

Donkeys and Elephants and Delegates,oh my!
Check out the most popular Elections 2008 content on Digg.

Apple Advertisement on CNET's Vista Page... it gets better...

cnet.com — Go to the Windows Vista page on CNET and watch this ad. One of the best online ad's I have ever run across.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • underburn, on 11/21/2007, -7/+220Make sure you play the ad - with sound.
    • Dokument, on 11/21/2007, -31/+2what?
      • dosher199, on 11/21/2007, -3/+23If you didn't hear, just read it a second time.
        • DarkSamus, on 11/21/2007, -2/+8he's a .doc wannabe, what did you expect
        • Dokument, on 11/29/2007, -0/+1"If you didn't hear, just read it a second time." read that to yourself..... ok now you get my joke. sorry people i forgot how thick headed diggers are. my bad
      • rompom7, on 11/21/2007, -2/+2I'm only getting the top banner ad.. Is there something else to it? Can someone explain / screencast / screenshot or something?
    • Audacitor, on 11/21/2007, -1/+59You'll (usually) need to turn off Adblock. And NoScript. And whatever other defensive systems you have deployed.
      • wicketr, on 11/21/2007, -0/+11Correct. I didn't see any ads on the page.....If most ads were like this, I wouldn't use AdBlock. But most of them are lame and annoying instead of intriguing and informative.
        • macbookpromat, on 11/21/2007, -2/+4Man if you didn't get to see that ad, you can always scroll down to the buy Vista links at the bottom of the page and see that Mac OS X Leopard is in that area. I found that pretty funny as well.
    • PathDaemon, on 11/21/2007, -5/+16I'm not seeing it... maybe it's because I'm on a Mac?
      EDIT: It's not visible in Safari, but is in Firefox...

      But what had ME laughing out loud — really, hasn't happened in a while — is further down the page in the "Buy Windows Vista" section…
      I would really love to know how that got there. It's not marked as an ad.
    • cleverboy, on 11/21/2007, -2/+1Not just on CNET I don't think. I remember seeing it somewhere else.
      It had me howling, and honestly I wanted to find the "commercial" version somewhere.
      • CraigJ, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1Was all over engadget untill this morning... They had a bigger version which was a real cycle sucker...
    • GeForce8800GTX, on 11/21/2007, -8/+2I'm not turning off ABP, you crazy?
    • culbeda, on 11/21/2007, -6/+1Ahh... a smaller version of the add that was hosing up Engadget's site yesterday. Great. Nothing makes me want to switch to Mac more than an advertisement that drags down the performance of IE AND Firefox and forces the publishers of the site to issue an apology.

      Great idea, horrible execution.
      • artofwar420, on 11/21/2007, -0/+8You must have a horrible computer, wow.
    • WhiteIce89, on 11/21/2007, -4/+4You know I was always wondering: if Apple is so great, why does it constantly need to be on the offensive against Microsoft? That doesn't give the impression of superiority, rather it looks like Apple has no personal security in its product. Microsoft never had to attack Apple, they just quietly kept their dominant market share.
      • extraspecial, on 11/21/2007, -1/+3Because it's effective marketing, and it increases sales.
      • tonicboy, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2Good thing you don't work in marketing. Apple's job is not to give the "air of confidence". WIth about a 5-7% market share, they clearly need to be on the offensive to gain market share. This is Marketing 101, it has nothing to do with being good or not.
        • mrsteve007, on 11/21/2007, -4/+1Sorry to say it, but Apple is on the defensive here. If you start looking at real-world stats, their market share *is* slipping. Stats on my personal (35k hits monthly), work (400k hits monthly), and this fairly well known site mirror the same data.

          http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

          Note that by the new year, there will be more than 2x's as many users of Vista than there are of Macs. At the current rate of growth, Vista should eclipse XP's install base by mid 2009.
      • Spuy767, on 11/22/2007, -0/+2If Microsoft is so great, why are they always on the offensive against Linux in the server space?
    • iChainsaw, on 11/22/2007, -0/+1i'm not seeing any video ads...i just see one with an apple logo and an imac...
  • brnews, on 11/21/2007, -20/+7For operational sake, just give up!
  • ericson1149, on 11/21/2007, -38/+5This is really good! I didn't figure it out right away (I had my volume on mute), but this CNET ad just happen to be in the Vista page. Coincidence? Maybe someone at CNET staff is having too much fun with the codes.
    • kodek, on 11/21/2007, -3/+30The codes? That's not MySpace.
    • Audacitor, on 11/21/2007, -0/+10Coincidence? Do you know how much Apple must've paid to get this up there? That, or there is one hell of a die hard Apple fan at Cnet.
    • jo3design, on 11/21/2007, -6/+6do you have any idea how business works? Or advertising? And this didn't cost Apple any more money to advertise on this page than it did for any other page. It's ADVERTISING and it's business. You want that ad space, you can buy it too. This is just ingenius on Apple and Chiat/Day's (creative agency) part. Definitely worth turning off Adblock.
      • accbymaldemer, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1yeah but more visited pages most likely cost more to advertise on for sure.
    • boomchockalocka, on 11/21/2007, -9/+2If I were Microsoft I'd be ripping PC Mag a new one. That was really piss-poor of them.
  • transversed, on 11/21/2007, -2/+216i wonder how much cash changed hands for that one
    • epicstruggle, on 11/21/2007, -4/+46Probably not as much as when MS plastered Gamespot with xbox 360 ads on the day that Sonry realeased ps3.
    • netburnr, on 11/21/2007, -3/+8Apple has plenty to spend on advertising these days.

      Good ol CNET.
    • 1town, on 11/21/2007, -12/+4You are not suggesting that companies actually pay to put advertisement on sites do you???

      What's next, you're gonna tell me that the American Idol judges doesn't just drink from humongous Coca Cola cups because they're thirsty and they love some coke?
      • apetresc, on 11/21/2007, -10/+2Um, what? Are you actually suggesting that it's somehow immoral or shady for a company to pay a site to advertise for them? Maybe I'm totally misinterpreting the spirit of your message but it sounds like you're suspicious/resentful of this fact.

        It's the way things are MEANT to work. How else?
        • Cupantae, on 11/21/2007, -0/+6I really, really wish you were joking
      • obrysii, on 11/21/2007, -0/+11Wait. They...they don't just love Coke?
    • Jadey, on 11/21/2007, -6/+1Online advertising is usually purchased at a CPM (cost per thousand) and the cost is based on: the size of the ad unit + the popularity of the page it is going on. So, there was likely an initial buy and the more its viewed, the more Apple would pay.
    • 80hd, on 11/21/2007, -1/+4"hey CNet help us embarrass Microsoft and we'll give you guys a couple free iPhones"
      "DONE!"
  • schestowitz, on 11/21/2007, -29/+7Very weird indeed. CNET are Microsoft partners.
    • damonic, on 11/21/2007, -0/+21money changes everything.
    • sulayman, on 11/21/2007, -3/+12No they aren't.
      • schestowitz, on 11/21/2007, -8/+3They had a partnership to promote Vista. It happened 2-3 months ago. Search the Web for info.

        There are other similar partnerships and they give a column placement to Microsoft lobbyists every now and then.
        • sulayman, on 11/21/2007, -0/+4That's not a partnership, that's ADVERTISING. CNET has no more of a 'partnership' with Microsoft than it does with the hundreds of other companies that advertise there daily.

          p.s. "Microsoft Lobbyists"? What is this, Capitol Hill?
    • delmar14, on 11/21/2007, -0/+2Anyone who puts up money can still advertise.
  • nikkunikku, on 11/21/2007, -11/+463Best double-banner integration I've ever seen - genius!
    • antdude, on 11/21/2007, -1/+30Does any Web programmers/developers know how they did that? That was brilliant! I like how the audio was muted by default.
      • rspeed, on 11/21/2007, -3/+34They asked the actors to look up and to their right. Tricky, I know!

        In all seriousness, though, it shouldn't be a terrible difficult feat to accomplish using Javascript.
      • jo3design, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1There are a couple of companies that offer this type of rich media. Eyeblaster is one, and Unicast is another. They pretty much basically wait for both files to load fully, and "talk" to each other to sync up correctly.
      • jsebrech, on 11/21/2007, -1/+36In flash you can have different movies talk to each other over a localconnection, even if there's no supporting code in the surrounding page.
        • pault107, on 11/21/2007, -2/+14I'm not sure why you're being dugg down, as a Flash developer I can tell you that jsebrech is correct.
        • noahhoward, on 11/21/2007, -0/+2Doesn't localConnection stuff have the habit of pulling up the flash settings page? I have a feeling they'd want to avoid that. For this it may just be as simple as timing the movies.
          • ccheath, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1which is easy to test with flash block installed... i started the top banner a long time before the side banner and nothing happened on it until the side banner went... they're not using timing... that's for sure
      • andburn1, on 11/21/2007, -3/+3I grinned when I saw the sound was off. They know that people will turn on the sound because they're intrigued, but know they'll turn it off if they force them to hear it. Just another little piece of smart from Apple.
        • sulayman, on 11/21/2007, -0/+6Actually, the audio bit isn't unique to Apple. Virtually all ads that play on CNET (and most other major websites) are muted by default and require you to unmute them if you wanna hear audio. It's more of a publisher policy than an advertiser one.
    • tektalk, on 11/21/2007, -3/+2That... was... Brilliant!
  • CanOfMDAmp, on 11/21/2007, -47/+7Can someone post a screenshot? I have adblock running. Thanks!
    • zetec, on 11/21/2007, -4/+25Just turn off Adblock for 20 seconds. It's worth it. It's video anyways, screenshots don't really work.
      • CanOfMDAmp, on 11/21/2007, -12/+2It's a pain in the ass for something only marginally funny.
        • jo3design, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2kind of like having to click on the "show this reply" link to view this comment? How about instead of reply to this reply of a reply, disable adblock for the specific page, and then refresh your page :)
        • bigsteve, on 11/21/2007, -0/+4It's more clicks to reply, spell check, and submit than it is to turn off adblock...
        • noahhoward, on 11/21/2007, -0/+2Then why are you so worried about seeing it?
    • schmons, on 11/21/2007, -1/+25its rather ingenious if you ask me, props to the advertising team at apple for pulling this one off
      http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4550/picture1tn ...
    • ddcrandall, on 11/21/2007, -0/+11it's not from the cnet page, but here's a video of the ad on another site, courtesy macrumors via youtube: http://tinyurl.com/2yqbef
    • CraigJ, on 11/21/2007, -0/+2Lazy much?
  • zetec, on 11/21/2007, -14/+97I have to admit, I thought it was pretty cute.
    John Hodgman is just adorable.
    • frant1c, on 11/21/2007, -29/+6It doesn't seem that way if you're straight.
      Sorry, I had to.
      • badtz, on 11/21/2007, -3/+19why are people so obsessed with "i'm straight so I must act like a societal lemming" ......
  • mysteri0usdrx, on 11/21/2007, -66/+50I have a feeling this isn't worth turning off AdBlock for.
    • zetec, on 11/21/2007, -8/+61Actually, it is. Only about 20 seconds long.
    • ChromaVita, on 11/21/2007, -4/+29You know you can disable it on just one page right?
    • mysteri0usdrx, on 11/21/2007, -29/+12After going back and watching it, I was presented with yet another "this is a bad product because it is bad" advertisement. Honestly fanboys, what does it say about a company when instead of showing the advantages of their product, they resort to calling their opposition mean names?
      • Audacitor, on 11/21/2007, -6/+4That the disadvantages of system W are greater than the advantages of system X? Then there's system L, but that's an entirely different story...
      • trogdoor, on 11/21/2007, -5/+15It was a creative use of two banner ads and even slightly funny to boot. Calm down.
        .
      • BushLin, on 11/21/2007, -14/+5Don't worry that 10 Mac owners dug you down mysteri0usdrx, if Apple had something positive to say about their products then they might have a larger market share than 1%. Media hype doesn't make you successful and Digg isn't a representation of the outside world.
        • weareglass, on 11/21/2007, -1/+4Talking about how good their products were was all Apple used to do back in the day and it got them nowhere. It may not be this ad campaign but obviously something is working better for them now.
          • BushLin, on 11/21/2007, -2/+1I would admit their products are better now (FreeBSD OS, Core 2 chips) but I only know that because it's my job to know the market, all I get from their current campaign is that Vista sure does suck (which it does), but this doesn't show me any features or advantages of their product.

            As a consumer, I would never buy the products of a company who only negatively advertise with childish remarks about their competition. As someone with power over large amounts of IT purchasing it makes them look unprofessional, desperate and underhand.
        • CraigJ, on 11/21/2007, -2/+1They have way more than 1% current market share. More like %5 to 8%
          • BushLin, on 11/21/2007, -3/+2I was being unfair when I said 1%, current figures show around 2.5% of the TOTAL WORLDWIDE share. I'm sure you can find a market such as US notebooks where they're at something over 5% but let's face it this is all small fry compared to someone like Dell or HP who sell plenty of servers too.
        • noahhoward, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2Hey, hey guess what.... once the banner has your attention, if you click on it it takes you to pages and pages about how their products work!!! It's an amazing thing I just discovered. I'm going to call it a "teaser".
      • noahhoward, on 11/21/2007, -1/+3The point of a banner ad is to get you to look not to explain the entire concept of computers and analyse what makes them better or worse. You click the ad THEN they give you the information. Do you complain about teaser trailers for movies because they don't show you the whole film?
      • soopafly, on 11/21/2007, -2/+1I thought it was pretty entertaining. Sorry, maybe you should contact the ad agency and tell them to include bullet points and a PowerPoint slide show.
    • fordhamwt, on 11/21/2007, -5/+11I find it interesting that you would be turning AdBlock off on the Vista page... If you don't see the irony....
    • MikeCerm, on 11/21/2007, -18/+5It might be worth turning off Adblock, but I'm certainly not changing my HOSTS file just to view an ad.
      • saifatlast, on 11/21/2007, -5/+22Wow, you're so hardcore doing things the hard way! I wish I could be so leet like you!!!
        • jo3design, on 11/21/2007, -9/+2itz 1337 etard
        • proton, on 11/21/2007, -6/+4Editing a text file is hard? Wow, Apple's REALLY got you guys spoiled.
      • CraigJ, on 11/21/2007, -0/+4OK, see that little stop sign with the tiny black arrow? click that arrow, click Disable Adblock, refresh page, watch video, click arrow again, click enable Adblock. Exceptionally difficult, I know, But I think you can figure it out. If not, maybe even a Mac is too difficult for you.
    • shortcircuit13, on 11/21/2007, -3/+12I did, and it is.
    • akilleen, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2You have searched your feeling correctly, young padawan.
    • accbymaldemer, on 11/21/2007, -1/+3i have a feeling you're a dick then
    • topherbook, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1You have chosen... poorly.
  • Gabnoj, on 11/21/2007, -4/+13Screenie for us getting localised international ads?
  • thedingman, on 11/21/2007, -15/+2How much money did you think that cost? And I bet Gates is going to be pissed when he hears about that...
  • jiqiren, on 11/21/2007, -23/+18wow, the ad is already having problems loading... how do you make an ad system that can't serve enough ads? WTF?
    • Audacitor, on 11/21/2007, -1/+12Just as easily as you make an web server that can't serve enough pages.
  • neoian, on 11/21/2007, -13/+5Made with Adobe® Flash® Software
  • Bagration, on 11/21/2007, -12/+274It was worth turning off my ad blocker
    • Paulk501, on 11/21/2007, -11/+1Same her bargration. i did the same
  • xpose, on 11/21/2007, -18/+12Funny yes.
    At the same time I have to say wow that CNET let that happen. MS will be so pissed off at them
    • heartsblood, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1I'm pretty sure they didn't just "let that happen". That was 100% intentional, and my guess, very expensive.
  • luke374, on 11/21/2007, -8/+73Ballsy move Apple, ballsy move.
    • hawridger, on 11/21/2007, -0/+7Apple nothing! Ballsy move by CNET!
    • madcat1212, on 11/21/2007, -6/+9I really wish apple would give up on that ad campaign.
      I am starting to feel ashamed of my MAC. They are
      bullying microsoft too much to the point that they look
      foolish.
      • Rekzai, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2I agree.
      • soopafly, on 11/21/2007, -0/+3If you own a Mac and call it a MAC, you shouldn't own a Mac. j/k
      • mailman-zero, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1I agree. They are bullying Microsoft so much that Microsoft DOES look foolish!
  • jasonpoon, on 11/21/2007, -5/+196Here's the same ad in PCMag.com
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAUlK8_2VE
    That's why Steve Jobs said we love the PC guy, he makes everything works!
    • thegenome, on 11/21/2007, -0/+3yay thanks for youtube link... adblock blocked it out :(
      • mailman-zero, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1Adblock can easily be temporarily disabled, you know.
  • PiMPSP, on 11/21/2007, -3/+14Apple forked out alot of cash for this...these ad's are taking place all over the net..engadget has it as well and a few others, although I usally dont turn off my ad block engadget made a point to say the ad was casing a problem for their site so it made me curious.
    • Tooltucker, on 11/21/2007, -15/+3I suspect Apple's paying a lot of cash for Diggs. Check out how often Apple ads are in the top ten here. It's not a nice company people. If it were the Ipod would support Xvid and Ogg, and Itunes/Qtime would ask you before installing itself as a default player in Firefox.
      • mrBitch, on 11/21/2007, -0/+4Apple is paying cash for diggs ? Where's my money, bitch !
    • viniciusfontes, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2And they should be paying well: even your comment is being dugg down!

      /sarcasm
    • Tooltucker, on 11/21/2007, -7/+3So it is. How predictable. I'm starting to really despise this company.
      • proton, on 11/21/2007, -5/+3They almost had me converted at one point, but something is really starting to stink.
  • marcamillion, on 11/21/2007, -4/+9You have to refresh the page sometimes. I wonder how much Apple paid for this. Must have been an arm and a leg, but this is pretty smart. I must admit.
  • BlackCow, on 11/21/2007, -14/+4Um.. the video just says "Oh what is this PC... Oh this.." then repeats :-/

    gg apple.
  • U83RMENSCH, on 11/21/2007, -7/+23I loved it. Im a pc ( do not confuse with Microsoft fan ) fan and i thought it was hilarious!
  • aussieNickuss, on 11/21/2007, -20/+27All I see is a dark "DON'T GIVE UP ON VISTA" banner that does nothing and when I click on it, it goes to apple.com/macosx. Am I missing something?
    • unloud, on 11/21/2007, -2/+12Click play in the right box.
    • aussieNickuss, on 11/21/2007, -3/+9Didn't load up for me.....all I got was a localised Dell ad on the right. I did have a loot at http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAUlK8_2VE ....hilarious.
    • blackjack75, on 11/21/2007, -7/+1Sorry the had wasn't intended for linux users I gues...
      • aussieNickuss, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2I'm on Windows XP. It served me a Dell Australia advertisement based on my geographic location.
        • noahhoward, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1Location specific then I assume. Not quite as good when they aren't displayed together.
      • Stromgol, on 11/21/2007, -0/+2It works on Linux.
      • unitedatheism, on 11/22/2007, -0/+1I'm on Slackware Linux right now, should I just forget what I've seen?
        Well, Linux users were certainly the first to give up on vista anyways....
    • xtremesniper, on 11/21/2007, -0/+2Well the "DONT GIVE UP ON VISTA" ad is supposed to light up in a clever way when PC (in the ad on the right side) hits the button.. It's supposed to interact with each other, but sometimes it doesn't sync up right or doesn't play through all the way. Try refreshing a few times.
  • colorjam, on 11/21/2007, -4/+15Anyone notice there are two different ones?
    • xaxxon, on 11/21/2007, -0/+3did you notice that when he first hits the button one the one that only says "give up", a light comes in from above on the two characters, even though no light comes on on the sign? That's cuz they just re-did the "don't give up on vista" one to not actually highlight "give up on vista".
      • jserio, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1Exactly... this one was from an actual TV commercial that they re-developed for the Web.
  • chazuk, on 11/21/2007, -18/+4All i saw was a Packard Bell ad and an apple "Don't give up on Vista" banner ad that lead to http://www.apple.com/macosx/guidedtour/

    This was so funny it caused me to fall off my chair and i was rolling around like a giggling idiot...... My life is now complete. An Apple ad on a Vista page.. SO ROFOLICIOUS!
    • monototo, on 11/21/2007, -1/+3you might not be seeing all of it (it's more than just a banner)
      as aussieNickuss stated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAUlK8_2VE
    • jo3design, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2F5
    • noahhoward, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1I think the setup were all seeing is location specific Chaz, the ads or really only funny (or at least neat if you're humor challenged) when seen together. They appear to not be paired outside of the US. Still effective but not as good.
  • Orangewarp, on 11/21/2007, -3/+5Thanks for the video link to the advert. I couldn't get the right ad part to do its thing so I didn't get it at first but was delighted to see the ad in full on Youtube. Very clever!
  • growlzor, on 11/21/2007, -8/+23Awesome. Worth disabling Adblock Plus for 20 seconds
  • MalDON, on 11/21/2007, -21/+7This is why Apple fanboys get a bad image. However funny, I don't think it's cool to do this. I support the 360 and when Microsoft advertised it like crazy on the ps3 page I didn't feel it was right either. It;s like kicking a dead horse.
    • aussieNickuss, on 11/21/2007, -5/+4PS3 is the 'underdog' to 360, however Mac is the 'underdog' to Vista. Bit of a difference there.
    • HappyScrappy, on 11/21/2007, -1/+3So just to get this right, you're not only so MS fanboy that you bother to mention you support the 360, but you think the PS3 is clearly a dead horse and so MS shouldn't poke at it?

      Am I getting that right?
      • MalDON, on 11/21/2007, -1/+1No, what I was saying is I don't like it when a company had to resort to this form of advertisement. It doesn't make people switch to mac. It just makes the existing mac owners happy. Just look how many people dugg this story, likewise the number of people who will digg me down, despite that fact that I'm right.
        • HappyScrappy, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1I agree about this for many of Apple's ads. But this ad is trying to bring over those who are frustrated with Vista. And in that way, it might work. Even if Vista were a great OS, some people will always be frustrated with it, and Apple might be able to catch some of them in a moment of weakness and get them to switch. Even if they can't figure out Leopard either, Apple already made the sale!

          It's a valid tack in this case.
    • mlopes, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1Right? There's not right or wrong in capitalism. There's money. It's capitalism, baby! Yeah.
  • mysteri0usdrx, on 11/21/2007, -25/+12I'm sorry, but this ad is about as relevant as it is mature. All it does is make the windows person look silly in a situation unrelated to either companies products. When are people going to stop buying products for the marketed coolness?
    • jo3design, on 11/21/2007, -1/+12When companies stop paying agencies millions of dollars to take advantage of people's urge to buy products for the marketed coolness.
    • antitab, on 11/21/2007, -0/+4"When are people going to stop buying products for the marketed coolness?"
      Never.
    • stankinaz, on 11/21/2007, -4/+1well people did grow out of the playstation hype. people will definite grow out of the mac hype.
      • HappyScrappy, on 11/21/2007, -0/+2You mean the PS2 hype? What hype? You mean like the claim of 'Toy Story' graphics?

        "One of the basic premises of the Xbox is to put the power in the hands of the artist," Blackley said, which is why Xbox developers "are achieving a level of visual detail you really get in 'Toy Story.'" - Seamus Blackey, MS employee, 2001

        http://www.news.com/Microsoft-got-game-Xbox-unveil ...

        I bought a PS2 because there are loads of great games to play on it. No hype needed.
    • HappyScrappy, on 11/21/2007, -0/+3I wouldn't recommend you go into the advertising business.
    • topherbook, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2Dude, it's just a funny ad. Take it easy.
    • unitedatheism, on 11/22/2007, -0/+1You've just discovered Apple's means of living, as I always say...
      Anyway, it's just a funny ad, like said before, let's see if Microsoft will ever get to try battling this
  • unloud, on 11/21/2007, -5/+33What's awesome about this is that Apple bought this advertisement on the third highest results page when you search for "Windows Vista" on google

    http://www.google.com/search?q=Windows+vista&ie=ut ...
  • jmkogut, on 11/21/2007, -10/+19I'm not even an Apple lover and I adore this advert!

    http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5349/appleadver ...
  • chkdg8, on 11/21/2007, -18/+11I'm a 2 month old iMac owner and I'm glad I made the switch over. I won't let go of XP for Vista on my pc but I do notice the major differences in the OS language. Night and day.
    • pathy, on 11/21/2007, -1/+8I'd have them both in English if it was me.
    • natebb, on 11/21/2007, -1/+11Shows you how good macs really are, even a 2 month old can use it to post on Digg :)
  • gopmesiah, on 11/21/2007, -5/+8clever, good stuff.
  • newbill123, on 11/21/2007, -8/+69The ad appears on the page in two parts. The long banner ad is a non-illuminated array of lightbulbs spelling "Don't Give Up on Vista!" Off to the side the pair of John Hodgman and Justin Long appear on a white background as they do in the tv commercials. The sound is off so you will need to click on them once to hear their conversation which begins "I'm a Mac" "and I'm a PC"

    Spoiler (can an ad have spoilers? well, just in case)
    For those who can't get the ad to work, the idea is that the PC has a large button with a huge wire stringing off to the side and connected to this unlit sign. He complains that people aren't very happy with Vista and some are moving back to XP or considering Macs, but THIS will change the tide. He pulls out his large button and strikes it confidently. The letters "GIVE UP" are illuminated on the sign with the others still off. The Mac looks at the sign to tell him it didn't work. The PC is surprised and disappointed and strikes the button again which causes "GIVE UP ON VISTA" to now be illuminated. The Mac says "Nope". The PC becomes frustrated and starts rapidly striking the button which goes through a rapid light show flashing "GIVE UP" & "ON VISTA" before the final music trills out. The top banner is replaced with the Apple logo and the Mac and PC characters are replaced with an aluminum iMac running the Leopard default screen. Justin Long doesn't say much in the ad, but John Hodgman is very good with his faux surprise and his frustration; the fact that it's coordinated across two separate areas of the screen is also kind of neat.
    • archivist, on 11/21/2007, -1/+6...or you can watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAUlK8_2VE and imagine the vista site.
    • brisbin33, on 11/21/2007, -0/+3i have to comment to thank you, your summary was helpful (and well written) because ads are blocked at my work and i was really curious what all the fuss was about; very clever marketing indeed.
    • wfbnadador, on 11/21/2007, -0/+5as mentioned, for some reason it only highlights the "GIVE UP" part now. too bad. i liked the alternating
  • kashem, on 11/21/2007, -3/+111Online advertisers can learn from this example. Forget about the fact this is an Apple ad... as a company trying to sell product. If you actually get potential customers to WANT to watch an ad and freakin' enjoy it, that's simply gold.
    • proton, on 11/21/2007, -16/+1That's called "fanboy". Which is a good thing for a company to have plenty of, you're right.
    • sstidman, on 11/21/2007, -0/+2I think online advertisers already know that. It's just easier said than done.

      But there are also other lessons that advertisers are keenly aware of that keeps them from being edgy all the time. Like how negative ad campaigns where you talk about the faults of your competitor but fail to showcase the benefits of your product can sometimes be viewed as funny or sometimes be viewed as nasty. The line between the two is thinner than you think. Audiences are hard to predict.
  • sb76117, on 11/21/2007, -21/+5nicely done ad. i dont like justin long or any of his acting, but john hodgmen is great. i hate macs too, but not as much as vista ;)
    but the fact that apple is so smug about their OS is so... so appalling. if i had vista, i WOULD downgrade to xp just to avoid being associated with apple-hipsters. i dont care what eye candy the new version of OSX Liger, Puma, Ocelot, House Cat or whatever the ***** it is, has, it doesnt make up for the fact that you have to "coerce it to work"... and that quote was from an apple user! adbiz.com is his site.
    • louiemantia, on 11/21/2007, -4/+9I'm digging you down because I'm a Mac fanboy.
      • kidcodea, on 11/21/2007, -1/+1sounds like you just came out of the closet "man".
    • jonshipman, on 11/21/2007, -0/+3um when is a company not smug about their products? Car ads bash the other companies all the time.
    • Samburger, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1Diggin you down because I hate mac fanboys
  • hammerpants, on 11/21/2007, -8/+12Might as well be an ad for anything Mac. Thanks, CNET, made up my mind on my new buy.
    • deathweaver108, on 11/21/2007, -2/+5you mean the AD helped make up your mind...
    • FredFredrickson, on 11/21/2007, -1/+8This stupid ad actually swayed your opinion?
    • RIMberry, on 11/21/2007, -1/+5LOL @ hammerpants, you fail at life. :(
    • danno74, on 11/21/2007, -0/+3Behold, the power of advertising! Swaying the weak of mind with pretty colors....
  • V1ncent, on 11/21/2007, -8/+3Very funny, love what parts of the sign glowed!
  • BlueStreak69, on 11/21/2007, -6/+75Windows users, always spamming buttons when something gets stuck.
    • courtarro, on 11/21/2007, -2/+8Correction: "Computer users, always spamming buttons when something gets stuck."
    • sstidman, on 11/21/2007, -1/+5How do you spam a button?
    • archlich, on 11/21/2007, -0/+8Factoid: moving your mouse in circles actually decreases the time it takes for an application to load!
      /joke
      • SteelFrog, on 11/21/2007, -0/+3I'm guilty of that one. I think I might have loading-time ADD.
  • gulp35, on 11/21/2007, -24/+13Nothing buy typical Mac douchery, nothing to see, move along
    • mphree, on 11/21/2007, -10/+5I'll agree with that... The only problem with Apple is their god damned customers with the fact that they have created this uber cool computer owning society.

      All I have to say is this: Get over it. It's just a computer.
      • chris9902, on 11/21/2007, -1/+11If you buy a Mac to look cool then you're a douche. Same goes for iPods.
      • jo3design, on 11/21/2007, -1/+5oh here we go. not another "mac vs pc" discussion thread. I'm a mac/pc user. both have its advantages; both have their disadvantages. If you're going to let an ad/commercial dictate which platform you're going to use, then I must say... you have much bigger problems than a simple "mac vs pc" battle.
        • proton, on 11/21/2007, -3/+2Well, Apple's Mac/OSX marketing team instigates the flamewar. Apparently the "mac vs pc" battle is what keeps Apple going. The only message they have for the public, when it comes to their computers, is that the competition is bad. At least the iPod and iPhone marketing teams focus on the product.
      • FredFredrickson, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1No it's not, it's a lifestyle! /jokes
    • noahhoward, on 11/21/2007, -0/+1The ad is a neat concept regardless of any immature hangups you have with labels.
  • moyness, on 11/21/2007, -16/+1So?
    • TheZorch, on 11/21/2007, -1/+3You miss the point you Vista loving Zombie.
  • jcronkhite, on 11/21/2007, -8/+9One of the best ads I've seen in a long time! I'm glad c|net let this one happen. It makes them even more credible to me. Anyway, I wish someone would capture a video of this before it's gone and post to YouTube.
    • darnit, on 11/21/2007, -2/+6Just a few comments below you from ddcrandall but if anyone missed it....

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAUlK8_2VE
    • FredFredrickson, on 11/21/2007, -2/+1"One of the best ads I've seen in a long time! I'm glad c|net let this one happen. It makes them even more credible to me."
      But if they had done the same thing to Apple for Leopard, this time featuring a Microsoft ad, would you still feel they were more credible?
      • jcronkhite, on 11/21/2007, -1/+3I would feel the same way. I'm a Linux user. So regardless, the ad was great. Even if it was against MacOS or Linux, or whatever. Not everyone here is a mindless fanboy. But I appreciate you keeping us in check.
  • jcronkhite, on 11/21/2007, -13/+7One of the best ads I've seen in a long time! I'm glad c|net let this one happen. It makes them even more credible to me. Anyway, I wish someone would capture a video of this before it's gone and post to YouTube.
  • fragile00, on 11/21/2007, -11/+2Holy *****.
  • Donza, on 11/21/2007, -7/+8Epic :D
  • Brandlor, on 11/21/2007, -12/+7So great......So very great

    As a business student that is great from a marketing perspective.

    As a Vista user that is brilliant!!!
  • ddcrandall, on 11/21/2007, -5/+15for all of those with adblock or if it isn't working for you, macrumors posted a video of it to youtube. it's not from the cnet page, but use your imagination. link: http://tinyurl.com/2yqbef
    • Commodore84, on 11/21/2007, -2/+4Dude, this tinyurl is like 4 characters shorter than the Youtube link. Are you bored or something?
      • ddcrandall, on 11/21/2007, -1/+2no, i just make it a habit to only post tinyurls in the comments section, because it's finicky about link length and i know that tinyurls always work.
  • trogdoor, on 11/21/2007, -10/+5"SERVER ERROR
    The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request."

    Somehow I don't think that's the message that Apple wanted to send...
    • Chirp08, on 11/21/2007, -2/+4Must be running Vista... ZING!
      digg me down, digg me down...
    • TheFoolyCooly, on 11/21/2007, -1/+1my thoughts exactly hahah
  • xaviermeng, on 11/21/2007, -12/+12apple's ads have great sense of humor.
  • sirbeta, on 11/21/2007, -0/+0As far as the ad space usage, it's brilliant. But I really hate all the cheap shots Apple throws out. I don't really like companies telling me what or what not to do-- especially so bluntly. Bonus points for how they worked the ad, loses some points for the actual contents... Apple is becoming more and more notorious for their downright degrading the competition ads =
  • matt.rubin, on 11/21/2007, -1/+3http://reviews.cnet.com/macintosh-os/mac-os-x-10/4 ...

    don't think 0.2 of a point justify being assholes but alright i give credit where its due
    nice ad apple
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 100 of 138 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.