In a bid to convince Apple consumers to come over to PC, competitor brands Dell, Intel, HP, Lenovo and Microsoft have joined forces in a new ad campaign. However, since the unveiling yesterday, many have labelled the partnership “desperate” and “mildly cringeworthy”.
The campaign is set to launch October 19 in the States and China, which The Verge says is about 50 per cent of the PC market.
The campaign is called ‘PC Does What?’ and has created its own teasing landing page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLMNf0uzWVIzkogJv0cInq3mbIhyVYNyUh&v=iSjRluOmCD8
However, US publication Digiday spoke to some marketers about the campaign, with one claiming it was a “desperate” move.
Managing partner at digital customer experience companies MCD Partners David Eastwood said it was desperate and a little bit “nostalgic”.
“Campaigns in which multiple competitive brands with common vested interests come together rarely succeed,” said Eastman.
Senior editor at computer publication PC World, Mark Hachman, reckoned it was “mildly cringeworthy” and on the path towards “meme status”.
“While the video ads themselves aren’t bad, the repetition of the phrase ‘PC does whaaat’—well, it’s a bit cringe-worthy,” he wrote.
“The ads themselves are relatively innocuous, promoting a single feature per ad. They seem to be deliberately shying away from the sort of ‘Oh my god, it can do that?’ tone that Apple has deliberately set into something more playful and fun. Time will tell, of course, as to whether that’s the right approach.”
