Wired's Gadget Lab points out that this is essentially the same deal that Apple inked with Starbucks — only greasier.

McDonald's: Would You Like Free Wi-Fi for Your Zune? [Wired]
(Photo: iCanHazPix )

5. Goldenpalace.com at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
A man donning a purple tutu with the words "Goldenpalace.com" painted on his torso, jumped off of a high dive board into the olympic swimming pool. Greek officials were not pleased, slapping the man with 3 months in Greek prison. Ultimately, he was released and given a fine of a few hundred dollars.

4. Microsoft Zune at South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas.
At the SXSW, a man was simply posting bright large Zune posters in different locations, but it would seem that the hatred of Zune spreads far and wide. He was detained and handcuffed by police as onlookers were heard yelling things such as, "We'll have none of your advertising for your DRM'd crippleware'd crappy MP3 player littering our town!"

3. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" movie poster campaign.
This campaign featured posters across the country that read, "You suck Sarah Marshall." However, the real Sarah Marshalls' of the country were none too pleased. In response, new posters went up that read, "You suck Judd Apatow," a hostile salute to the film's producer.

2. Nvidia manufactures hype with fake forum fanfare.
A few years ago, Nivdia was accused of making fake posts in forums to tout their new product. This is probably the most common guerilla-marketing tactic since it is so easy to do. Because Nvidia is such a big company with a ravenous fan base, their forum forgeries seem to be the most infamous. The Consumerist featured this story in early 2006.

1. Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the Boston bomb scare of 2007.
Approximately 20 glowing signs depicting a character from the cartoon series were mounted in strategic areas around Boston, including places around bridges and overpasses. The areas seemed a little too strategic for Boston officials who summoned the bomb squad to dismantle the innocuous signs. The stunt cost Turner Broadcasting Company $2 million which went to reimburse Boston PD and Homeland Security. Apparently, the city feared the dreaded "Lite Brite" bomb, so popular among terrorists.

5 Great Examples of Guerilla Marketing Gone Wrong: Olympic Belly-Flops To the Boston Bomb Scare [WebUrbanist]
(Photo: WebUrbanist)

He let loose an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) and CC'd us so we could listen in:

I'm writing an email because I'm extremely frustrated by your companies phone support at this moment. I called in to 1877GETZUNE to cancel my Zune Pass Subscription because I wasn't using it enough. A lady with an indian accent came on and got my information and then placed me on hold for approximately 6-10 minutes and then warm transferred me to a gentleman who then confirmed I wanted to cancel my zune account.

Here is where the trouble begins. I get off the phone and login on my XBox 360 in and effort to purchase points to pay for the soon to be released COD4 map pack. After inputting my credit card info I get a message that states it is unable to validate my CC info. I called into 18004MYXBOX at 12:53PM on 4/3/08 trying to get them to remove the old credit cards on my account and add the new one. She starts working on that and when she pulls up my account she says this is showing as a Silver account. Well knowing I had just paid for a year of XBox Gold I informed her that was incorrect. She says it was moved to Silver today and I said no I called to cancel my Zune Account today. She then has me delete the account off of my Xbox and restore it which does nothing, she then tells me to just try it again later. I ask to speak to a supervisor at that point and after another 5-10 minute wait I get Patrick who tells me basically I have to wait 7-10 business days and gives me a reference number of xxxx. He also tells me he can not cancel my Zune account which wasn't canceled and has no answer as to why Zune can cancel my XBox Account which I at no time gave them permission to access.

In this day and age I find it completely unacceptable that it would take 2 weeks to turn my XBox Account back on.

Please get back to me as to how to fix this situation.

William

(Photo:ejk)

The reader, Gizmo Sprocket (we'll call him GS), noticed the price difference on the PS3 bundle.

The implication is that Toys R Us is discounting the console further from the list price, but GS knew that the list price is now $499 no matter where you buy the console—hence, this was no discount at all. He decided to ask Toys R Us what was going on:

There was no option for simple pre-order questions or to report problems with the website.... So I navigate phone-tree hell and finally get somebody on the phone. They insisted that the list price was $599. I explained that the initial launch PS3 bundles were indeed listed at this price, but the item they mentioned was not $599. There was some discussion surrounding that the launch PS3 was an entirely different model and SKU- including a 60gb model (not 80) and didn't include Motorstorm as indicated in this online listing. In fact, this sku was always $499. [see image at left. -Consumerist] They went to the Sony store online and told me they searched on SonyStyle for "PS3" and again insisted that the list price was $599. I repeated the search on my end of the phone call and saw what they saw.

They then conceded there was a problem (finally) and said it would be looked into. I asked if they would honor selling me this PS3 for $100 off the list price as Toys R Us Dot Com showed they were selling it (the list price actually being $499 not $599 as listed) and they said they would not.

I am not sure this is illegal or unethical- as a consumer I was prepared to buy it for $399 if they would honor that price. I am still prepared to buy the 80gb motorstorm bundle for $399 if they would honor that price, but that is besides the point.

So- it is definitely illegal to indicate an inflated list-price in NY State and probably other areas. As I live in NY State and this product would be shipped to NY State. Toys R Us Dot Com markets in NY State and it would seem that this consumer protection applies. This could be an innocent mistake, but part of me thinks it would be reasonable for them to honor their posted discounted price in either proportion ($100 off of $599 is a discount of 16.66667 percent) or as a drop of $100 off off the $499 actual list. Either way I'd buy it..

What are your thoughts?

I check Techbargains.com occasionally. At lunch i noticed a clearance sale over at Toys R Us dot com. I wondered if the list price issue was fixed on the PS3 so I clicked through techbargains and then clicked for items over $100 and found the 30gb Zune listed.. the list price is noted as $249.99 and then, below it- Our price: 199.99... I just checked on http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/compare.htm and found the 30gb is listed at $199.00. The price was dropped when the new Zune models were announced. Now what is really troubling is that this page is supposed to show things on a clearance sale! It says so at the top of the page.
 

As to the legality of it (we're getting there, we just had to get through a lot of backstory first), here's the actual law in New York City:

Rules of the City of New York -
Title 6
Department of Consumer Affairs

§5-91 Reductions Based on Advertiser's Own Price; "Formerly," "Regularly," "Reduced," "Percent Off," "Save," and Similar Terms.

(a) Immediately preceding price. If an advertiser uses the words:

          "percent off"
          "formerly .., now ..."
          "reduced"
          "reduced to"
          "regularly..., now ..."
          "now only"
          "save $ ..."
          "was ..., now ...,
          "item now $ ..."

or any similar term implying a reduction from a prior price charged by the advertiser, the price to which the reduced offering price is being compared must be the advertiser's bona fide selling price for that item or service unless the advertiser clearly discloses another basis of comparison or qualification.

(b) Intermediate reductions. If the term "originally," or any similar term, is used in any advertisement, the price stated as the "original" price must be the advertiser's bona fide selling price for the same article or service prior to intermediate reductions, and the price immediately prior to the current reduction must be disclosed, unless intermediate reductions are clearly indicated by the language used.

Example: "Originally $75; then $68; now $65"; "Earlier this year $75; now $65"; "Further reduced to $50."

(c) Comparison not recent. If a claim is based on a past bona fide selling price of the advertiser prior to the recent, regular course of business, the advertiser must clearly disclose that fact.
Example: "Last year $40, now $20."

RELATED
"You Can't Discount The Past, Apple"
(Photo: Getty)

Ars Tech reprinted Microsoft's letter:

We wanted to provide you with an update on your order status. Due to some issues in our fulfillment center there remains a chance we will miss getting your Zune to you by February 14th. We are working hard to get your order to you as quickly as possible and we currently plan to ship your Zune within the next 3-4 days. Once your order is in transit, we will send you a shipping confirmation with a link for tracking.

Our goal is to provide a smooth customer experience for ordering, customization, and delivery. We sincerely apologize for not meeting that goal in this specific case. We will be refunding the entire amount of your order, which you should be able to see on your credit/debit card within 7-10 days. We hope you love your Zune and that you will accept our sincere apology.

If you have additional questions, please call 1.877.GET.ZUNE. For fastest service, press 5 then press 1 and have your order information ready.

The Zune Originals Team

Microsoft says "sorry" with free Valentine's Zune 80 players [Ars Technica]

When I clicked "See price in cart" you get this (no where does it say Online Only here): Reg. Price: $149.99 You Save: $7.50 Sale: $142.49 We went to the store (Saginaw, MI) which is about 20 minutes away from our home and ultimately decided on the 4GB Zune based on its size. We told the CSR in the mobile electronics area we wanted three of them and he started ringing up three of them for us. I gave him $15 in Reward Certs and one certificate that needed to be scanned to see it's worth. It was worth $5. I then asked him about the price since it rang up $149.99 and he pulled up the kiosk right next to him, went to the site, showed me this page:

He quickly pointed to the $149.99 and said that was the price then closed the page. It was so quick I couldn't see the "See price in cart" option to point it out to him. We came home and I confirmed the price online was indeed cheaper and finally saw the 'Online Only' note.

Today I called the Saginaw store and asked for a Manager. Of course the Manager was "busy" and the CSR asked if there was something I could help her with. I explained the situation with the cheaper price and she went onto her Kiosk and she saw this which in the middle of the page shows "All on sale" and below that "Online only." - I heard her talking on a radio with her "Manager" about it, she mentioned the word "Online Only" and she told me that it was an online only price.

I asked her why then can I order it online and pick it up in the store? She didn't have an answer, so I asked her if what she is telling me is I have to return the Zunes I purchased go into the parking lot, place the store pickup order on my laptop and pickup the Zunes I just returned to get the price matched? I then heard her manager suggest exactly what I said is what I would have to do, to which she said I could use the Kiosk inside the store.

So tonight we drove the 15 miles back to the Saginaw store and I went to Returns/Exchanges and returned my Zunes. The CSR said I would get the certificates back in about 2 to 4 weeks, this was frustrating since I didn't know what would happen to the $5 certificate and didn't understand the need for this. I then asked her where the Kiosk was so I could order three new Zunes for store pickup, she pointed to the mobile electronics department.

I went over and told the CSR I had to order three Zunes online for a store pickup and he asked why. I explained what the manager said and he said "Oh we price match those all the time". He then asked another lady there who said "But where not supposed to!" however she told him to go for it anyways. He asked if the Zunes I returned where still at R & E and I said yes, he walked me over and told the CSR there to go ahead and price match the Zunes I returned!!!!!!

I was very frustrated at this point, I kept my cool, received my Zunes back less my reward certificates of course and left the store.

I don't understand this process, why do you have an "Online Only" clause that can be ordered and picked up from the store? I understand companies that don't sell items in the store have 'online only' or companies that offer discount since you are not interacting with a brick and mortar store but this is completely ridiculous. In a time when your Geek Squad agents are stealing customers pictures and music, and a time shortly after you scammed customers with a second internal bestbuy.com you would think it's time - especially during the holidays - to be customer friendly. I guess NOT!!

There is nothing customer friendly about having that stupidly light gray 'Online Only' on your site when it serves no real purpose, nor is it customer friendly for a manager to require me to drive to another city only to end up price matching - especially after if I had known that first, I maybe could had gotten use of my reward certificates and the extra $5 certificate.

How do you explain what I should had done in this situation? I couldn't decide between the Zune and the iPod, I guess all I could had done was decided and ordered the Zunes for store pickup! Why is it that if you follow my original path of finding the Zune price, NO WHERE does it say "Online Only"???? What kind of business plan is all this? I don't get it!

Beyond frustrating from a long time Best Buy customer.

—
Michael

Best Buy's policy in this case is purposefully frustrating. They hope that you will either pay the in-store price or go buy the Zunes elsewhere. The in-store pick-up option is there so they will have an opportunity to sell you extended warranty protection in person, rather than just shipping you a Zune for very little (comparatively) profit.

There really isn't anything you can do to convince them that you're a "good" customer, so you might as well take your business elsewhere.

(Photo:Maulleigh)

For example, the revamped SanDisk Sansa View has double the memory and a slightly bigger screen than the new iPod Nano, plus an FM tuner, microphone, and expansion slot, and it costs the same amount. Is it as nice looking? Meh, it's getting hard to tell at this point, if you value functionality over form. Even the Zune—with a capacity and price equal to the iPod—is starting to look decent, with its well-designed interface, strong styling, and broader format support.

The one thing you'll miss out on is the ease-of-use of being locked into the iTunes/iPod symbiotic relationship. Depending on how comfortable you are with figuring out a new syncing set-up, this may or may not be an issue for you.

The article brings up another potential drawback, depending on how you look at it: you won't find anywhere near the same aftermarket support when it comes to accessories and cases. But then again, if the product is made properly, it doesn't really need a case, whereas digital audio players that are designed to wear when working out usually come with straps or attachments.

(Disclaimer: we rely on a screenless Shuffle, which has its own obvious drawbacks, and our Nokia phone, which would be perfect if not for the battery drain.)

"Don't want an iPod? Lots of choices available" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

"The EMI announcement on Monday was not exclusive to Apple," said Katy Asher, a Microsoft spokeswoman on the Zune team, in an e-mail to the IDG News Service today. She said Microsoft has been talking with EMI and other record labels "for some time now" about offering unprotected music on its Zune players in an effort to meet the needs of its customers.

Microsoft changes tune on selling DRM-free songs [ComputerWorld via Boing Boing]

So, I work at the Spokane CompUSA,and every Saturday night, we print out all the new advertisement tags to put up on products that are going to be on sale for the next week and put them out.

The tags come from the corporate computers, we don't make them ourselves. They're SUPPOSED to match what is in the advertised papers.

This last Saturday, one really funny Zune advertisement printed out. It didn't match the advertisement, so our manager laughed took it down and put it in his office (showed it to our Apple rep the next day, he almost fell over laughing).

He let me take the tag and copy it. I took the copy home and scanned it.

CompUSA Knows How To Sell Zunes [Macforums via digg]

CHANELL: "And she asks me what is this? And I'm like, I don't know what that thing does. So she gave it to me, and it was a homosexual orgy... that they had videotaped for an hour and 44 minutes."

REPORTER: "The store manager blamed Microsoft."

FATHER: "The issue is, you didn't check it once it came back into your store."

Definitely Walmart's fault. The Zune box is said to look like it was opened before and it's missing a charger. Someone returned the Zune to Walmart and Wamart just put the box back on the shelf without checking at all. By logical extension, Walmart therefore supports homosexual intercourse. — BEN POPKEN

For their part, Walmart blamed Microsoft and gave the family a full refund and a $25 gift certificate.

At least now we know porn is cross-platform compatible... — BEN POPKEN

VIDEO: Gift Was Not What They Expected [FOX Chicago via Gizmodo]

Or you could use eMusic. —MEGHANN MARCO

Bill Gates on the Future of DRM [Tech Crunch via BoingBoing]

On Device Kickbacks to Music Companies:

"These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it," said Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music Group. "So it's time to get paid for it."

Well, Morris is just a big, clueless idiot, of course. Do you honestly want morons like him to have power over your music player? Then go ahead and buy a Zune. You'll find that the Zune Planet orbits the music industry's Bizarro World, where users aren't allowed to do anything that isn't in the industry's direct interests."

On Moral Issues:

"Throw in the Zune's tail-wagging relationship with music publishers, and it almost becomes important that you encourage people not to buy one."

More inside.

On Compatibility:

"Zune is incompatible with Windows Media Player, the familiar hub of the Windows desktop media experience.
The Zune app doesn't even have as many features as WMP. And why (for the love of God) doesn't it support podcasts? That's pure insanity."

Sun-Times Prediction:

"Result: The Zune will be dead and gone within six months. Good riddance"

Ok, so the Zune is probably not a good buy. Beware, yadda, yadda. First generation devices are a bad buy, regardless. So why are we writing about it? Obviously, we just wanted to run this picture again. Zune, so frustrating, you'll put your eye out. —MEGHANN MARCO (Thanks, jp!)

Avoid the loony Zune [Sun-Times via BoingBoing]

"Ralph Lindsey, the owner of a second-generation iPod who was browsing the Zune display, said he was not planning on making a purchase, but liked the Zune's wider screen. Since he would want to watch videos on the player, however, he was "concerned" about the Zune's available storage space. "I'm not sure 30 gigabytes will be enough," he said."

We personally still have an ancient-ass 10GB iPod, and are potentially in the market for a spiffy new device, but are also not impressed by the Zune. Except for the brown one. The brown one is cool. Damned if it doesn't make us want a brown iPod.—MEGHANN MARCO

Zune moving at slow tempo [ZDNet]

But even the nifty WiFi feature in Zune is pretty insidious, not to mention hypocritical. To pacify the RIAA, Zune wraps up any wifi shared music in a layer of DRM that only allows the recipient to play the song three times, or for three days, whichever comes first.

Okay, that seems like a fair compromise. But the problem is that Microsoft says that Zune can't distinguish between MP3s you've made yourself that you might want to share freely and MP3s with more limited licenses (read: with the RIAA's gaggle of sue-happy attorneys chomping at the bit behind them).

Which is flat-out balderdash: the Creative Commons license is machine-readable. What this all comes down to is Microsoft only cares about honoring the licensing terms of major corporations, not the independent musician without legal clout. Is this surprising? Not really. But that makes Microsoft's failure to acknowledge its own customer's legal rights and copyrights none the less troubling.

Zune's Big Innovation: Viral DRM [Medialoper]

Scenario 1: SoHo Loft
The state school advertising major waiting for her downtown boyfriend to tell her why playing golf inside is enjoyable.
The boyfriend who explains to her that irony is not about having fun.
Scenario 3: Broad St.
The Lithuanian stewardess cum high-class call-girl.
The police detective who's on his last day of the job, and has been for the past five years, because it gets him poontang.

UPDATE: Gizmodo writes: the zune teaser was actually made a few months ago and is for the microsoft alexandria music library-type service. Either way it's a lousy ad.