Microsoft Batting 1,000…dollars

Recently it seems we’ve been following Microsoft through an advertising maze. Starting Point: Jerry Seinfeld. Finish Line: Some chick named Lauren.

In an effort to one-up its healthy-wealthy competitor Apple, Microsoft hired Crispin Porter & Bogusky (No, those aren’t the three elves in the Rice Crispies commercial) to find an open position in the market and launch an Integrated Marketing campaign to get the message across. It started with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld talking about shoes, moved to the “I’m a PC” confessions, and was last seen through the eyes of “Rookies.” The new concept takes a realistic approach to selling PCs. Simply stated–The economy sucks, and PCs are cheaper than Macs.

Microsoft finally decided to address the economy with a $1,000 challenge for a few lucky consumers in the market for a new computer or laptop. The first ad of the series debuted last night, and if you watched the March Madness tournament, you may have been invited to join a red-head named Lauren on a 60-second shopping adventure. Lauren was in the market for a large-screen laptop and Microsoft told her if she could find one for $1,000 or less, they would pay for it. What do you think she found? I’ll give you a hint…it didn’t have anything to do with fruit.

Creative, interactive and realistic, Microsoft’s new approach may just stick around for a while, which kind of makes me wonder what Apple will be up to next. Hopefully they have more planned than the fat guy on Dancing with the Stars.

Read more about it here.