Top ten laughably bad tech ads

AnonymousWed 19 September, 2007 6:15pm

I hope you know that the Steve Ballmer "ad" is a parody ad. This was never broadcast as a real ad for Windows 1.0. Steve is parodying car salesmen ads from that period.

AnonymousWed 19 September, 2007 7:17pm

Is this post supposed to advertise how much of a Microsoft sycophant Crave and c|net continue to be? You think the two Apple ads are laughable? They were both gold, especially the redoubtable Ms. Feis.

First, the Costner ad wasn't aimed at suits, but at independent business people who wanted to escape the button down world, which it did very effectively. And as for the mouse, I guess you don't understand that some people are actually left-handed. So he did use the mouse correctly, something he couldn't do with a PC mouse (if there even was one) at the time.

As for Ms. Feis, she was charming, believable, sympathetic, and attractive. What more could you ask for in a spokesperson? I guess the fact the she helped Apple gain 3 points of market share and millions of dollars in free publicity from both mainstream and non-traditional media is what convinces you this was a crappy ad.

Or was it the continued cash flow from Messrs. Ballmer and Gates that helped your decision making? As Apple sales grow, your reputation as MS hacks grows with it.

MattThu 20 September, 2007 3:48am

If Kostner's supposed to be left handed in that ad, why is his watch on his left wrist?

AnonymousWed 19 September, 2007 8:19pm

Please note n the Apple ads
Kevin Costner in 1983 was an unknown actor with virtually no screen time
he was using a Lisa & the 1st mouse ( yes just the mouse ) under $1,000
I was in the word processing industry and Xerox reps wouldn't even let us play with theirs
It had 3 buttons and could be VERY confusing

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 3:13am

From Last Comic Standing: " I wouldn't steal car, but if my mate called me up and said, hey Sam, I just got a new car, would you like me to burn you a copy?, i'd probably consider. "

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 3:14am

I love how the slim phone commercial says "Just Plug It In." then gives the cost *plus installation.*

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 3:15am

am i the only person who noticed the phone number is missing one digit? or was this taken out purposely.

IvanThu 20 September, 2007 3:36am

Sweet MSDOS 5 frees up 46k of memory at least, this is a dream come true!!

Steve MurchThu 20 September, 2007 3:56am

This was not an advertisement at all -- it was a parody, and made for a National Sales meeting, and then shown at an annual Company Meeting. (I was a MSFT employee from '91-'97 and remember seeing this video at a company meeting.)

It was SUPPOSED to be stupid.

SteveB has done many silly things, but come on -- this was *never* broadcast as an advertisement and was intended to be a parody all along.

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 5:49am

The fact that his watch is on his left wrist means nothing. I'm a leftie and I do it.

Rupert TempleThu 20 September, 2007 6:57am

I love it how worked up the Mac fanboys get over this. One guy "anonymous" even managed to rant on beyond the preview text. I bet he went and punched the wall and yelled at his mom after that post.

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 7:09am

I really don't know what to say... I wish I had known that you guys were going to post this video so I could have discouraged you from it. I want the last five minutes and eight seconds of my life back.

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 7:22am

That was KEVIN COSTNER in that Apple Ad!!! LOL!!!!!

MischaThu 20 September, 2007 10:08am

The Ellen Feis ad is hilarious. Praise to Apple for doing something different at the time.

'Let's buy a Mac, because a stoned girl managed to crash Windows.'

Classic.

cbThu 20 September, 2007 2:40pm

The comments are better than the videos! this is hilarious.

The left handed people I work with hold their mice the same way as I do, they don't twist their arm around so they're holding it from the side. But Kostner probably never used a mouse - that was so long ago.

But seriously, couldn't you have just did a short recap of "don't copy that floppy"? I think I felt some brain cells die.

MikeThu 20 September, 2007 2:46pm

#
that lisa ad was not a bad tech ad. the lisa was pricey and overcome by the mac within a year or two... but i remember wanting that computer in the worst way when i was a kid. it smoked anything else on the market by a million miles. a graphical user interface and a mouse looked like magic.
#
+1 diggsBuryDigg
alok0 by alok0 11 hours ago

Mike from
www.iwannamakemoneyonline.com

David SpaldingThu 20 September, 2007 4:09pm

Ellen later clamied to have been on an antihistimine when she filmed it. I now call it the "don't take Actifed and operate Windows" ad.

DennisThu 20 September, 2007 5:21pm

I think you put the Ellen Feis Apple Switch ad on the bad tech ads list by mistake. That ad should instead be on the list of best ads ever. I don't know if it was Apple's intention to make it appear like she was stoned, but the word "bummer" at the end seemed to endorse the counter-culture following that the Mac was having at that time. And the ad was not also illustrating how bad PCs were, but it was targeting Apple's existing customers who were stereotyped as being the artistic types who probably picked up on the stoner girl image. Ms. Feis did an interview a year or two ago and said she was only 14 and was not intoxicated on anything at the time the ad was done. But it is still a classic, legendary ad which should not be on anyone's bad tech ads list.

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 5:39pm

The MSDOS5 add is a sales meeting video. Many videos played at sales meetings (from individual stores up to the top) are purposefully campy. That video doesn't even compare to some of the ones they play now.

Also, Costner had probably never used a mouse before getting to the set. Yeah Apple should have told him, but that doesn't make the advert terrible. It's showing how an Apple can help a business owner run his business without having to learn a command line. Not really all that ridiculous.

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 6:47pm

The best part and the reason I watched this commercial is the dog.

FrankThu 20 September, 2007 9:31pm

I would copy more floppies if I knew that my computer would rap.

AnonymousThu 20 September, 2007 9:45pm

Is it wrong that I was getting excited about the feature set?

Drag and Drop! Yeah!

AnonymousFri 21 September, 2007 12:44am

The Kevin Costner piece has him using the mouse so oddly because the people shooting the commercial likely told him to SHOW the mouse - not hide it.

Why is it we techies always seem to be so trivial in our assessment of other people's use of technology? I find nothing laughable in that commercial other than it stars an early Kevin Costner trying to look like a CEO.

I've seen many people using all kinds of weird holds no equipment that is part of commercial. Had Costner's hand actually been properly positioned over the mouse, early non-techies would've laughed on about the "wire" coming out of his wrist.

Bleh.

AnonymousFri 21 September, 2007 2:50am

The really sad thing about this..is that I actually remember watching that "don't copy that floppy" video in my middle school tech class quite a while back. We're forced to watch it as one of our educational videos on our extremely high-tech brand new Macs running OSX 7or8..it had an actual CD drive!! It reminds me how copy protection has moved on these days to different standards...but I think it was a video, that I probably could have lived my life without ever seeing it.

AnonymousFri 21 September, 2007 8:42am

As bad as don't copy that floppy is. I remember seeing it as a kid on tv and still think of the song when ever they talk about copy stealing and music and games.

So I always bought games I enjoy because of this to make sure game makers got there money so they kept making more games.

It showed slightly how games get made and it changed my mind. So I think the Ad was effective somewhat for make me remember and showing me if they don't sell you won't get another one.

I can think of tons of games I liked that did not sell and they do not have any more games in the series.

bdkFri 21 September, 2007 9:51am

It's not so bad, at least here rap music was used to sponsor something related to the creation of music.

JakeFri 21 September, 2007 4:58pm

"You look like a real jerk." Best. Line. Ever.

In all seriousness, the You Wouldn't Steal ads may be a touch annoying to those who copy DVDs but they are probably exactly right for those on the bubble. The middle-class family that just got a computer with a DVD burner and are thinking about copying movies...

mc2wSun 23 September, 2007 10:17pm

Ahh, brings back memories of AMV Hell 3

AnonymousFri 28 September, 2007 3:21am

I hope you guys realize this is an opnion. Don't take it so seriously.

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