Mocking your competitors to sell your own product is nothing new — after all, Samsung’s been poking fun at iPhone users and BlackBerry devotees since the launch of the previous Galaxy. But now it seems Windows Phone is joining the party.
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Microsoft’s new ad for Nokia and Windows Phone is set at a wedding, where the bride and groom’s families and friends are divided by their smartphones as much as the aisle. A decision by a guest to take a quick photo of the event turns into a full scale war as each side lobs insults and well-aimed punches at the owner of a smartphone that rivals its own.
It’s hardly as subtle as the Samsung ads — which generally include a slight reference to iPhone owners by showing the actors using the type of white earphones that come with iProducts, or a quick shot of a BlackBerry-ish device with a full physical keyboard. This wedding scene clearly features iPhone 5s and the flagship S III with standard Samsung-issue flip covers, cleverly making use of a choice few insults that have been spouted by iFans and Samsung loyalists for months.
Microsoft reaffirms the stereotypes, with iPhone users calling the Samsung phones gimmicky, giant one trick ponies, and Samsung owners hurling around words like “iSheep” and suggesting to one, ahem, older lady that she is “a little young to have an iPhone.” Gasp! There’s even a demonstration of Samsung’s S-Beam, which lets users share files with a tap, just as it has been staged in a range of Samsung ads for the S III.
In the midst of all the fighting, one Nokia user asks another why the guests haven’t all just switched to Lumia. She replies “I don’t know. I think they kinda like fighting.” Positioning Windows Phone as the superior alternative to the masses? Clever move there, Microsoft.
