Gizmodo
The Pitch A Super Bowl debut we somehow overlooked, this Dell spot features a cast of thousands swarming around one lucky laptop owner. With an XPS M1530 tucked beneath his arm, our handsome protagonist goes roaming around the streets of a European metropolis, Mick Jagger's "Charmed Life" pumping on the soundtrack. The city's denizens hail his approach with cheers, butt slaps, and at least one passionate kiss, treatment usually reserved for sporting heroes rather than users of mid-range computing hardware. What has this shaggy-haired Everyman done to deserve such adulation? Well, that Dell of his is part of the special-edtion (RED) lineup, so $50 of his purchase price went to The Global Fund. A noble endeavor, to be sure, but (and excuse the ensuing crassness) will this good-hearted approach really help Dell move product? Read on for an answer, as well as a special "Making of..." clip.
The Pitch A Super Bowl debut we somehow The Spin Since Michael Dell returned to the helm a year ago, Dell has struggled mightily to rebrand itself as cutting edge rather than value-minded. On the product front, that's entailed everything from rolling out a worthy iMac competitor to veering away from lackluster AMD chips. But the more noticeable changes have occurred on the marketing side, where Dell has focused on creating glammed-up ads targeted toward the style conscious. (Hype Sheet previously swooned over the company's use of the Flaming Lips' "The W.A.N.D." in one great spot.) This (RED) ad, directed by the man responsible for Nirvana's seminal "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video, continues the trend. (See below for that promised behind-the-sceneser.) But Dell doesn't want you thinking they're just in the computer game to make cake—they've also got heart, just like fellow (RED) backers American Express, Microsoft, and (perhaps most notably) Apple.
Counterspin Cynics, including our tart-tongued droogs over at Consumerist, have raised some important questions about Dell's (RED) pricing scheme. The laptop featured in this ad, for example, costs $150 more than its plain-Jane peer, yet only $50 of that goes toward the Global Fund. The only spec difference is that the (RED) model runs a tweaked version of Vista. Is that really worth an extra $100? Or has Dell built in a way to make a little coin off consumers' best intentions? On top of that, the intersection between commerce and charity is always guaranteed to make some folks squirm—especially when the commerce part is far more visible than the end results in the developing world. Last year, AdAge controversially estimated that the (RED) campaign has spent more than its raised, a claim that elicited a strong rebuttal. Hard to tell who's right here without taking a closer look at the books, but Dell should realize that today's consumers are a naturally suspicious lot; you can't just say you're on the side of the angels and expect immediate praise.
Mission Accomplished? The spot certainly spurred a lot of Google searches, which was Dell's true aim—note how they leave the details of (RED) vague, and simply tease with the joinred.com URL at the end. Will that translate into gangbusters sales of (RED) XPS laptops and desktops? The hunch here is "no"—the price premium seems a wee bit high, and I trust that the majority of charity-prone consumers might prefer direct contributions (as well as their attendant tax write-offs). But even if you're an ultra-cynic about the commerce-charity meetup, you have to admit this is an effective ad—the do-good angle aside, it basically makes the XPS M1530 seem like the computing equivalent of Axe body spray. That's a pretty impressive image overhaul for a brand that, until recently, couldn't shake its rep as the Night Swept of hardware.
Hype-O-Meter 7.5 (out of 10). Yes, you can certainly question the sincerity of Dell's commitment to the cause. (And, please, do so in comments.) But this spot fits in rather neatly with the company's efforts to shed its Ben Curtis past.
Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired, a columnist for Slate, and author of the forthcoming Now the Hell Will Start. His Hype Sheet column appears every Thursday on Gizmodo.
Comments
Actually, the city in the first spot is not an "European Metropolis" is Buenos Aires, Argentina.
And, altough i like the idea that for every computer they sell, something goes to charity, i think it's a ripoff that the carge you an extra that is bigger than the amount they donate.
apple=pawned
I just saw the red 1330 at BB yesterday and it make macbooks looks very boring. Not to mention way slower and heavier.
if i donate 50$ without buying a dell laptop, does that still make me as admirable as that guy in the ad? how about buy a normal dell and donate 150$
@flareak: Yea, I wouldn't by the project red version either as the "old" red one was cheaper(the other colors are now cheaper) and don't come with the "Ultimate" premium.
Hype is hype. If you want the red book great, and if in some off-the-wall way some of the money you spent to satisfy that want goes to a 'good' cause, great. None of us need any of this shit, red, black, silver or good old putty colored to live our lives, so get over it.
You could'nt pay me to buy a Dell!
I am sitting on about 200 Dell's that went south right after the extended warranty. Turns out Dell used the wrong heat sink, which causes the processor to burn out after about 3 years of use.....
ps: your better off buying a lap dance from a 90 year old hooker..
I don't know, it looks strange when you consider the RED to be an AIDS awareness product... all those people... grabbing him and touching his ass...
At least in the AXE ads they don't remind you of syphillis banging all those models...
I bought the Red Del XPS One
Very pleased
Why doesn't everyone just buy a regular computer and give me the 50? I'm making a cure for the HIV, and I need to pay rent.
@Loremaster101: based on your claim that you are sitting on "about 200 dell's" with bad processors, i can only assume you are in some form of a production environment. I could go on and ask why you/your company did not perform yearly maintence, including changing thermal compound, but instead i pose this question, what leads you to believe you ahve 200 bad procs...they jsut dont die like they used to...they would get a thermal shutdown long before the proc burned regardless. What model system is it.
Am I the only one who is offended by this new trend and the fact people are buying it? They are SELLING you a little slice of "feel good about myself" that you can wear as a fashion statement. What a joke! Does buying red consumer electronics make you a better person? These companies are marking up the price and donating just a part of that markup, if this were anything more than a marketing gimmick, companies like DELL would just make one lump sum donation to the cause themselves. If you want to make a difference go out and volunteer or donate money to a good cause, don't buy a red laptop!
I think the extra $100/laptop probably went to produce this spot and buy ad time on the Superbowl so Dell could congratulate itself on the $50 charity.
I guess you could call it a "Douche Premium".
@pkbsd:
You are not the only one offended.
Here's something else to piss you off. The corporation takes that money, donates it to a charity, and then they get a deduction for the charitable contribution.
My favorite is those big plastic charity boxes that Wal-Mart puts out. People drop their change in there, then Wal-Mart takes this pile of money they got for nothing, donates it to a charity and qualifies for a tax deduction.
Nice racket.
Let's be perfectly clear here -- there is NO difference in price between IDENTICAL configurations of non-RED and RED systems. Dell partered with Microsoft on this program. Dell's contribution includes RED verisons of the XPS One and XPS M1330 and M1530 notebooks. Microsoft's contribution is a RED version of Vista Ultimate (typically a $149 upsell across the industry). The contribution generated by the sales of the sales of a RED systems goes directly to the Global Fund. RED is not a charity - it is a brand. It's very simple, if you are in the market to purcahse a new computer, you have the choice of going with a system that contributes to saving lives
@anneATdell: Even if the price is the same, I feel it's better to donate your time and money rather than advertise the fact that $50 of your $1500 purchase went to charity. Look at the commercial, they are selling the feeling that you are a better person than everyone else because you bought the red laptop.
pshh... Why are you hating on Dell so hard?
The fact that they added (Red) to their products is a good thing no matter what the pricing scheme is. At least 33% of the added cost is donated; who knows how much Microsoft got, and then Dell is making a decent profit. This seems like simple economics where this product is supposed to be seen as an exclusive item and (Red) products are usually more expensive, so Dell can charge more. Apple seems to be an exception to this with their iPods, so I suppose they should be commended for that.
Anyways, I think Dell is doing a great job rebuilding their image. The new XPS laptops are getting great reviews with tons of happy customers, and the new latitudes (E-series and XT) look amazing. Mix in some fresh ads and you have enough ingredients to say they're doing a great job.
The actor in this kinda looks like Justin Long (aka "Mac guy"). Would have been better if they used him.
I'm a big Dell chick - all my Windows machines have been Dell.
But I really, really hate the whole product(RED) bullshit, and the fact that Bono is behind it makes me hate it even more. All product(RED) does is make you feel better about yourself by spending money on yourself...on a product that basically serves as a blaring beacon screaming, "look world! I'm better than you because I contributed to an AIDS fund, and I have merchandise to prove it!"
(a) how about contributing money to something that hasn't turned into a trendy celebrity cause?
(b) how about contributing money directly to the cause (which is tax-deductible, btw), instead of helping a huge corporation get even MORE tax cuts?
product(RED) is nothing but a PR move and a pathetic feel-good joke.
I saw the shooting of this commercial. They made it in September in Downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina which happens to be the most european looking city in the Americas. It looked like a Hollywood super production! Awesome experience.
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