Hi Freddie,

Thank you for your post about our Laptop Hunter ad featuring Lauren. We’ve been actively listening to the social media conversation around the ad and we agree with you that the reaction has been an amazing demonstration of just how passionate people are around selecting the computer that’s right for them.

We’ve seen blogs and tweets ranging from complete agreement with the message of looking for maximum value in a laptop purchase to those you mention above regarding Lauren and SAG. It’s important for folks to understand that we didn’t feature Lauren in the ad because she was an actress. We selected her because she was someone in the market for a new computer. In fact, as we’ve said previously, our work with Lauren began with her decision to participate in a market research study, and when given the option to participate in the ad campaign she decided to do so. Regardless of your profession (actor, student, doctor, farmer, etc.), we think it’s important for everyone to have choice when determining the features they want in a new computer and the price point they want to pay. And we think that PCs running Windows provide the best possible selection of capabilities at a wide range of price points.

As Lauren pointed out, this is about getting “just what she wanted.” She is just the first of several “Laptop Hunters.” Check out http://www.microsoft.com/windows/watchtheads/ in the days and weeks ahead to see more real people weighing their options, considering their needs and budget, and finding the computer that’s right for them. In short, doing just what you would do if you were in the market for a laptop.

Best Regards,

Marcus Schmidt
Windows Social Media Team
http://twitter.com/MSWindows