The third and fifth are the only one that shows the product before most of the audience would be lost (ADD). That said, they're alright, but not incredibly memorable. They don't differentiate themselves soon enough (you think they're an iPod) unless you notice the non white headphones. That said, they are not iPod style commercials, but you still, for the most part, are not sure what the product is, or really what it does (other than play music) unless you are paying close attention or already know what Zune is.

Welcome to the social. Oh! You're the first one here. Well, can I get you a drink? I'm sure some more people will be here soon. Please, have a seat. Just a few more minutes I'm sure. What time did the invitation say?

wow. that first one is one of the most painful commercials I have ever seen.

Balmer needs to throw some chairs at the shitty advertsing department.

Those were all pretty boring. You would think with 5 ads, they might have tried to show off five cool different features, instead of hinting at what one feature is.

Does the Zune come with a free dog or breakdancer? If not, then how about a friends certificate, redeemable for one friend, or lame party where nobody talks to each other, they just listen to their own music?

Well, I'm not a Zune hater, actually I'm thinking of buying one, but... damn, those TV spots are just disgusting, they're kinda boring, they're very Microsoft-ish.
I wouldn't be surprised if that thing doesn't kill the iPod. C'mon, just compare them with the iPod's ads, they're just plain cool!

Man that was the worst advertising I have ever seen, and they actually did 5 and not one of them where a good commercial for the product..

Way to go Microsoft, and i'm actually looking forward to the Zune. Whoever was incharge of that should be fired.

Because that sucked bigtime, just awful... I could have made a better commercial with my eyes closed.

Did some college kid shoot these ads with his cellphone? It might have been more memorable to watch someone toying with a Zune while throwing the advertising dollars for this product into the crapper and giving it a flush. In fact, I come up with more creative ideas than these while I am sitting on the john each morning.

Zune on! Apply directly to the forehead!

I've got a better campaign: For great justice, take off every zune!

It's like they KNOW that they can't compete on style with the iPod... iPod ads advertise the product - it's all about the product - it's sexy, it glows and does weird light trails - and you even get recognizable talent to produce music for it - but the Zune? it's know for.... dogs. And sharing music, and both of you hitting "play" at the same time so you can slow dance to it...

awkward commercials. just frustrating - if you're confident in your product - let me see it.

Have you guys been to the Zuneinsider.com ? I'm a fan of indie and all but that site and the person running it makes me almost not wanna be associated with the product. This whole trendy 'indie' kick they're tryin to use to market it is going to alienate more people than it's going to draw in.

They should have done some more direct marketing using the colors:

Black Zune: A group of 20somethines are riding a subway, listening to heavy rock on their Zunes, passing songs, nodding at each other over how bad ass their new tune is and headbanging, then walking into a gruop of other 20somethings and going into a concert where the band is playing the same song they were passing about on the train.

White Zune: Throw a little hiphop on it, slap it in a boombox style dock sitting on top of a nice speaker box in the back of a tricked out 'pimp ride' and show people having a block party to the zune.

Brown Zune: Show that indie BS you made above, they, it's not like taste matters, only whats vague enough to be 'cool' cause no ones heard of it and everyone pretends to like it so they can be exclusive.

wasnt the original ipod ad just some dude listening to music on his mac and then an ipod? and then they mention the thousand songs bit? prolly on youtube. dont want to bother looking it up.
as envy said, target audience has add. i think i prolly do. short. straight. to the point. ok, micro$oft?

I love the fourth one. What it has to do with Zune though, is beyond me.

I love, love, love obtuse, experimental advertising.

The ads that make you pay attention and remember them, and make you just want to be a part of something that created a spot that cool.

But these? Ugh. They aimed high and completely, utterly missed the mark. Unless you were really paying attention it wouldn't even be apparent what they're advertising, and nothing about the ads are really engaging in any way. Insultingly long and zero payoff... you don't even get a decent look at the product.

iPod's ads are successful because they present a fun vibe but absolutely keep the focus on the product. This shows me a bunch of home-movie clips with the Zune hidden in a few of the shots. I know what Microsoft was going for, but they definitely blew it with these.

I actually liked the songs in the first two, anyone know who they were by? Whoever it is has the potential to be the next arctic monkeys.

I love that they advertise their device by having 80% of the kids not wearing it, but listening to a DJ spinning vinyl instead. MS sure knows how to advertise. Not to mention that 2 of them should be hip hop songs but feature lame indie rock songs that'll put you to sleep. Very effective.

You can almost hear the marketing director who said, "You know how the iPod ads always have a solitary figure? Let's show that our product is social."

Writer: "How would we do that?"

Director: "Oh, you know, lots of people listening to music together. Only, you know, something better. Think about it."

Writer (to other writers): "How about we do lots of people listening to music together."

Writers: "Yeah, cool, OK. Works for me. Let's go get lunch."

illiniguy: THe first commercial is using the song "Nobody Cares" by the 88. How fitting. Not sure what the second one is.

Coming from an Asia/non-American perspective, these are truly aweful ads. Wait, this is a bad joke, right?

Oops, I meant 'awful', as in they suck.

I'm in their target demo (maybe at the upper limit, but still) and a fan of indie music, but these ads still bored the hell out of me. Apple need not fear.

It's always going to be an uphill struggle for the Zune because:

1. It's made by Microsoft.

2. It's not an iPod.

With those overwhelming odds stacked against the Zune, it's hard to find a pitch that will work. Oh well, looks like we'll have a new circular forum flame fest to contend with - iPod vs Zune instead of Mac vs PC.

Lance Wallen: I really like the idea. *Those* would be good ads. Especially the first one.

So this Zune thing is a new concert ticket agency, right..? Or is it a dog charity..? No, wait, it's a breakdance revival movement.
What..? It's a digital music player..?? No way man, look at how much emphasis there is on analog and vinyl in those ads! It can't be!

they couldn't even manage to get zune.com. lame.

zune.net doesn't even work.

Cool commercials...

"Apple need not fear."

i don't think they have lost any sleep at night over the zune. if anything, the few people that do buy a zune won't be around bitching about how much they think ipods suck. they will just be crying about how much the zune sucks. people just want to complain.

illiniguy, the second song is "don't look away" by the helio sequence.

Zune is not just a hardware device, Microsoft is marketing it as lifestyle end to end solution of hardware, software and online store. So it makes sense that they aren't showing just the device because Zune branding encompasses so much more than the device itself. That being said, commercials still suck ass.

I wonder how much these "master marketers" get paid.... These were the worst commercial attempts i have seen in a long time. Even that devil baby PS3 commercial was better!

I think a paid infomercial on comedy central at 4am (in between the annoying 1 billion girls gone wild commercials) with corny music and hosts would be better than these adds. Pitiful

Ok, I wanted to actually buy a Zune, until now.

If Microsoft is going after the unemployed Williamsburg-hipster demographic, then congratulations, this will do it for you. They'll all know what a Zune is, and they'll wish they had one as they're scraping together their loose change so they can pay rent and buy heroin.

As for me, I'd pay good mone NOT to be associated with the people in these ads. I'll take Apple elitism over this crap any day.

"As for me, I'd pay good mone NOT to be associated with the people in these ads. I'll take Apple elitism over this crap any day."

you might even consider paying good "mone" for an education. I mean good God man, you are ripping on people as if you were better than them , based on a few retards you know in real life, and you cant even spell "Money", and this is a day and age when your computer will do the spelling for you, not to mention the fact that you get a freaking preview of what you are writing before you hit submit ... dumbass

Hey king_of_fools (appropriate name)... lighten up.

I most certainly know how to spell 'money', I just typed fast and hit submit. I don't compose my posts in a word processor before submitting. If you do, then bully for you and your analness.

As for my comments about the Williamsburg set, maybe you should read Gawker a bit and then you'd get the joke.

omg. i wasn't going to buy a zune before, but now i HAVE TO. i want to be cool like the people in these videos. where can i get a zune? ...has microsoft ever made ads this good before?

Hey, would any of the h8rs in here happen to know the name of the mellow track behind the fifth ad... ty if ya do... D.

Hey, would any of the h8rs around here happen to know the name of the mellow track behind the fifth ad... ty if ya do... D.