Pawn Star Lies In Scroogled Commercial

If you catch the latest advert from Microsoft it features Rick Harrison and Richard "Old Man" Harrison. In the advert a young woman brings in a Google Chromebook hoping to get a ticket to Hollywood for it. Other than it is another advert from Microsoft that complains about the Chromebook and actually tells you nothing about the Microsoft product it also contains a few misleading facts.


The misleading facts, as stated by Rick Harrison, are:

"This is the Google Chromebook. A relatively new kind of device. Because Chromebook applications are web-based when you're not connected its pretty much a brick."

FALSE. The advert was uploaded by Scroogled on November 25, 2013. Yet, on September 5, 2013 Google rolled out a whole host of apps that work offline. These include games, productivity apps, creative apps, book reader and much more.

"You see this thingy. That means its not a real laptop. It doesn't have Windows or Office."  (Said while pointing at the Chromebook logo)

FALSE. I have a laptop that doesn't have Windows or Office and it is a real laptop. It has Linux on it. And the reason it doesn't have Office (or even OpenOffice) is because I don't need it. And if you want you can install Linux on a Chromebook right alongside the Chrome OS.

"And when you are online Google tracks what you do so they can sell ads. That is how you get scroogled"

MISLEADING. It is implied that Google tracks you when online but Microsoft doesn't. Which is odd when the Microsoft Research teams are working on new ways of tracking without cookies across multiple platforms. An article from The Verge on October 10, 2013 reported that "Microsoft, which sources say is working on a technology that could track users across Windows computers, Bing, Internet Explorer, Windows Phone devices, and Xbox consoles in order to serve highly targeted ads." Maybe the Microsoft advertising department has no clue what the Research department is doing. And already Bing is tracking everything for the purpose of advertising revenue.

"Unfortunately I can't buy everything. Especially when its not what it appears to be."

TRUE. Like the advert you just got paid to be in. It is definitely not what it appears to be.

I watch, and enjoy, the Pawn Stars TV show. I'm not against them - the old man is funny as hell with his no nonsense attitude in the show. But this is something that I don't think they should have got involved in as it is false, misleading, advertising from Microsoft.