Microsoft and Google are not the best of pals, with the companies in a high stakes battle to get you to use their competing products on the web, or via the cloud, and to use their different operating systems and computing platforms. This war for customers is sometimes manifested in a positive way, by offering better products and experiences and winning over users that way. However we also see evidence of this war in the use of negative advertising campaign strategies, with the high tech equivalent of name calling and hair pulling. Depending on your own opinion this negativity is either sour grapes or useful in providing important information to customers to know what they’re getting.
Microsoft has often been slinging mud at Google in recent times with the previous Scroogled ads and ads revealing negative information about Google’s underhand business practices. In my opinion Google has set itself up for these attacks with the very holy motto of “don’t be evil” contrasting with many cases of privacy invasion and the oblique obstruction of companies that tread on its financial toes. People like to see the “holier than thou” knocked off their pedestal.
Now we have seen a new Scroogled advert which was “leaked” during Google I/O and said to be an internal bit of tomfoolery.
The original Google version
“If you put this (Chrome) here (on all your devices), the web gets better, addresses fill automatically, passwords get remembered, for everything you do, however you do it, Chrome has you covered, for everyone, now everywhere, one browser for your laptop, phone and tablet.” The advert is backed by a soundtrack culled from Beethoven’s 5th symphony.
Microsoft’s Scrooglized version
“With Google Chrome, Everything everywhere is tracked, to target you with ads, to monetise your personal info, even when you are (in bed, in hospital or on the toilet), Google watches everything you do... and uses it to make a profit off of you, Chrome has you commercialised, following you, monetising you, now everywhere. Don’t get Scroogled.” Again the soundtrack is Beethoven’s 5th and the ad looks more of less the same in most ways except for the man running away from the Chrome icon with the dollars streaming from his pocket.
