We've held no punches in sharing our thoughts on Palm's recent ad campaigns, but the one spot that was actually not heinous has seemingly served as the basis for one of Microsoft's first-ever WP7S commercials. Debuting here at the tail-end of MIX, the ad spotlights Anna -- a fictitious gal we've certainly heard of before -- using her new smartphone to share photos with her dear lover Miles. It also features Luca, a kid with an undying love for playing Xbox LIVE titles, who seems to be caught somewhere in between the world of nature and nurture. At any rate, it's worth your while to give the new Microsoft commercial and the Palm ad which it has oh-so-much in common with right after the break.
Oh, and Palm -- we guess "Windows Phone 7 Series was your idea," right?
Update: Yes, that definitely looks like an HTC HD2 at the 0:43 mark, but you can rest assured WP7S won't ever come to that gem in native fashion.
Very dynamic ad. Distinct enough from that Palm ad. Everything was moving too fast though. Couldn't follow exactly what they were doing on the screen. Man, was I surprised that lady is the boy's mom... or is she? What was the significant of the last scene when she was looking at a page titled "babysitter"? Is she getting one or is she canceling?
Palm's ad is so much more entertaining. Why can't Microsoft get a good commercial out. They need to clean house with their marketing team. And start using another marketing firm. The "I'm a PC" is a totally bad rip on the Apple ads. Now this bad rip of Palm. Even if Palm had ripped the idea from MS, they still did a much better job at it.
@nitrog7 We need to realize that MS is gearing this phone to people that are 38 years old. What's the average age of the posters on here? 25? Definitely no more than 30. This phone isn't supposed to be interesting, it's chrome-less, it's supposed to be your first smartphone. It's not a toy, it's just supposed to work. The games are for the 38 year old's kids.
that kid didnt know what he was doing on that device, it probably frustrated him so much that he started jabbing at it with his thumbs furiously. wonder where we can find the full clip of him goin bonkers...!
@liquidsuns My thoughts exactly. Facebook isn't even going to be released until Q1 2011. It's amazing that they show how you can upload pictures to a service that doesn't even exist yet. WP7 must have a time machine feature. Maybe it's also waterproof so it can work in a hot tub.
And why PalmOS choose to use the pale boring creepy chick that had folks question if she's a talking corpse moreso then take notice of the phone itself & not this fresh hip ad that showcases their product is beyond me.
Does anyone else find the music choice in the Microsoft ad all to close to the recent iPhone add music? I mean, it's so similar I thought it was the same song.
I just wish they'd really do something entirely different. They just seem to lift elements from competitors. It's kind of getting disappointing.
Honestly, Palm makes WebOS seem more lively and interesting, while Microsoft makes it a little dragged out. It would help if the Windows Phone 7 ad maybe had some actual verbal dialog or something. I liked Palm's ad better, but I would still be torn between the two. Crappy barely multitasking, or excellent KickAS (see how I did that) multitasking. Intense high-end hardware, or mid-range hardware. No copy/paste, or copy and paste. I just couldn't.
That is truly disgusting. I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose, hell, I wouldn't be surprised if it Palm and Microsoft used the same advertising company. Either way Microsoft cannot launch that advert alongside Palm's. How embarrassing.
I've never seen that Palm commercial on TV. They should have been promoting that one instead of the creepy girl. Verizon should be airing that Palm ad this second.
Wow. Way to unscrupulously steal a marketing idea. I'm starting to not like Microsoft's approach to things. First saying cut and past is not important.. now this..? I dunno...they are starting to feel a little Apple-ish to me.
This is not an ad, it's a promo video. Different approach, different priorities, different target audience. Learn to understand the difference, Murph. Such errors are a disgrace to so-called tech-sperts writing for the most popular blogs.
I thought the second video was another windows ad until the end and thought it was much better than the first. Simple and to the point. They didn't copy it write.
I like these ads, but they are not realistic (wtf holograms in the air ??), but they are better than the laptop hunter ads. could you imagine those ads for phones ? ^_^ lol
In the windows video, what i love is how the girl looks up a direction on her phone while the guy is driving... does that mean these phones won't support turn by turn GPS ? even tomtom in my old winmo device does this !!!! :-)
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posted March 18th 2010 11:36AM
@NeoXY and on a side note, I'd also like ot move fast with her if you know what I mean ;D
Very dynamic ad. Distinct enough from that Palm ad. Everything was moving too fast though. Couldn't follow exactly what they were doing on the screen. Man, was I surprised that lady is the boy's mom... or is she? What was the significant of the last scene when she was looking at a page titled "babysitter"? Is she getting one or is she canceling?
quiet dog bite hard!
The Palm ad is snappy
@spid Agreed. It's very effective. It also makes you think the screen is more than a measly 3.1 inches.
the iPhone ads kill both the windows and palm ads.. lmao.
Palm's ad is so much more entertaining. Why can't Microsoft get a good commercial out. They need to clean house with their marketing team. And start using another marketing firm. The "I'm a PC" is a totally bad rip on the Apple ads. Now this bad rip of Palm. Even if Palm had ripped the idea from MS, they still did a much better job at it.
@nitrog7 i agree but them 'i am pc' adds did shut apple up. they stopped their adds, i havent seen another one of them apple adds since
@nitrog7 We need to realize that MS is gearing this phone to people that are 38 years old. What's the average age of the posters on here? 25? Definitely no more than 30. This phone isn't supposed to be interesting, it's chrome-less, it's supposed to be your first smartphone. It's not a toy, it's just supposed to work. The games are for the 38 year old's kids.
that kid didnt know what he was doing on that device, it probably frustrated him so much that he started jabbing at it with his thumbs furiously. wonder where we can find the full clip of him goin bonkers...!
Cool ad....people playing with their phones and doing amazing things like uploading pics to facebook. Windows phones are gonna be crazy hightech!
@liquidsuns My thoughts exactly. Facebook isn't even going to be released until Q1 2011. It's amazing that they show how you can upload pictures to a service that doesn't even exist yet. WP7 must have a time machine feature. Maybe it's also waterproof so it can work in a hot tub.
HOT TUB WP7 TIME MACHINE!
Here's a tip: Don't show your customers hugging devices in your ads!!!
Clearly it is okay to have Windows Phone 7 Series on a HD2, but whatever you do, DON'T SHOW THE BUTTONS!
@joelfinch SHOW ME THE THREE BUTTONS! NO BUTTONS? NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Ooohhh, I'd like a hologram feature please, MS! :)
err... although, then there's the privacy/security issue...
Whats wrong? i liked both Ads.. Microsofts ad seemed like it was cut short. Palms music is nice.. anyways. both are good.
Pffft Windows Hologram is just a big Windows 7 Phone. FAIL
Can you turn of the hologram when you are looking at pr0n? That could be embarrassing turning your phone on in public...
Except, the chick in PalmOS ad > Anna by a good light year
And the music in PalmOS > generic ad jingle music.
Here's to hoping the next time MS copies Palm it involves real multitasking to reborn OS.
Looks like heavy rain
And why PalmOS choose to use the pale boring creepy chick that had folks question if she's a talking corpse moreso then take notice of the phone itself & not this fresh hip ad that showcases their product is beyond me.
@LiveFromThe215 +1,000. This Palm ad would have moved tons of units.
we in the hiphop culture call this 'Biting'
Does anyone else find the music choice in the Microsoft ad all to close to the recent iPhone add music? I mean, it's so similar I thought it was the same song.
I just wish they'd really do something entirely different. They just seem to lift elements from competitors. It's kind of getting disappointing.
because we all know how well this type of add works.
Boring life? Make it seem significant by dwelling on every aspect of it with your phone, yelling your exploits at others.
And it's unsurprising that nobody would sell to 38 year olds using actual 38 year olds.
Honestly, Palm makes WebOS seem more lively and interesting, while Microsoft makes it a little dragged out. It would help if the Windows Phone 7 ad maybe had some actual verbal dialog or something. I liked Palm's ad better, but I would still be torn between the two. Crappy barely multitasking, or excellent KickAS (see how I did that) multitasking. Intense high-end hardware, or mid-range hardware. No copy/paste, or copy and paste. I just couldn't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q-HtdW03Zs
This WP7 ad shown at MWC in Feb had the same style from 0:45.
Which came first?
That is truly disgusting. I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose, hell, I wouldn't be surprised if it Palm and Microsoft used the same advertising company. Either way Microsoft cannot launch that advert alongside Palm's. How embarrassing.
@laze How else are you going to show features on the phone. I can think of two ways:
1) iPhone style: no people, just fingers and the screen.
2) MS/Palm style: where the screen lives in holograms.
In both instances you're showing features of the phone that help you live your life.
What else you got?
I've never seen that Palm commercial on TV. They should have been promoting that one instead of the creepy girl. Verizon should be airing that Palm ad this second.
Waiting for Xbox owners to rage out that MS wants you to play a game with no buttons...
I actually like the Palm ad way better. The stupid functional family facade makes me cringe.
@One Love
The real question is if they would hit you.
Wow. Way to unscrupulously steal a marketing idea. I'm starting to not like Microsoft's approach to things. First saying cut and past is not important.. now this..? I dunno...they are starting to feel a little Apple-ish to me.
I like Palm's a lot more. It has more character. The MS one just feels like a generic safe commercial. (Plus the Palm girl is hotter)
Great ad. Can't wait to see how this does.
The more competition the better. Anything to drown out Apple haha
- Sent from my Nexus One
They have amazing phones but a crappy car???
I'd really want one of those holographic screen phones [a la xenosaga].
If they don't support the technology it would be a scam.
Is Palm suing Microsoft for campaign copyright infringment?
@JW Well-played, sir. Well-played.
This is not an ad, it's a promo video. Different approach, different priorities, different target audience.
Learn to understand the difference, Murph. Such errors are a disgrace to so-called tech-sperts writing for the most popular blogs.
I thought the second video was another windows ad until the end and thought it was much better than the first. Simple and to the point. They didn't copy it write.
@Miral they didn't copy it right because there's no copy/paste function in WP7 :-p
I like these ads, but they are not realistic (wtf holograms in the air ??), but they are better than the laptop hunter ads. could you imagine those ads for phones ? ^_^ lol
In the windows video, what i love is how the girl looks up a direction on her phone while the guy is driving... does that mean these phones won't support turn by turn GPS ? even tomtom in my old winmo device does this !!!! :-)
Yeah, that was pretty blatantly a rip-off of the style. At least MS didn't have that crappy ooga-booga music from the Palm ad though...
Anna does not know how to drive. She takes the picture of the car and is driven around.
HD3 confirmed?