They are both good, but I prefer the Lion and Gazelle

Personally, I like the use of the song in the iPod commercials more. It seemed to be more in context with what they were showing, and the part about the "touch" at the end couldn't have been any better for Apple's touch iPod.

Zune Arts was definitely more creative (I suppose that's where the "Arts" part comes from).

But like you said, big congrats goes to CSS for their ad placement!

I loved this song, I don't really care who uses it, it is good every time I hear it.

Zune vid is much better, ipod touch vid just seems like a generic ipod ad that anymusic could've been paired with.

At first I thought the Zune one didn't work well, and didn't show off the Zune itself enough. So on a "advertising" view I didn't think it worked.

However, the more and more I watch it the more I like it as a design piece and as a advertising piece.

All in all I think the Zune needs to be in the ad MORE and the Ipod needs to be in it's advertisement LESS. Both go to far in both directions if you ask me.

I'm not too sure. But I think Apple's advertisement is better. It really did seem to be more in context with what was going on in the commercial.

From CSS's perspective, the iPod Touch ad gives them more visibility. It's on a much larger scale. Hopefully, we'll see more of the new Zune ads on TV? I really like the song.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/apple-uses-fan-.html

An 18 year old kid from England made the fan-ad, and Apple liked it so much they instructed their agency to use it.  It could be that fast-tracking the ad meant they cut corners in research...

From what I understand the original concept for the Apple commercial was just a fan video that was on Youtube or the like... Apple dug it and purchased his idea.

So could it have been that fan saw the Zune video and tried to do an iPod version...?

Wow! I didn't even know about the Lion & Gazelle! ( And I thought I was a huge Zune fan).  But I did remember CSS's video "Let's make love..." video being pre-loaded on my Zune.

Although I hate iPod/Apple/Mac etc. I shamefully admit that the iPod touch ad was done better. It was catchier.

HOWEVER, now that I know that the same song was used in a Zune ad a year ago I think the CSS are big sell-outs!

P.S. The best Zune ad ever was the one with

"This is why i'm hot"!!

Me's like the Zune Arts commercial. I can has Zune 80 gb? Bungie.net joke. =)

Personally, I think the Zune ad is way funnier and, in my opinion, much better overall.

I'm guessing one of the only reasons Apple is using the commercial is the fact that it was created by an 18 year old iPod fan.  Here's the article at Gizmodo (contains iPod commercial):

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple/apple-to-run-ipod-touch-admade-by-a-teen-fanboy-315788.php

And while I'm at it, here's the Zune commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-AJrnJNZb4

And totally unrelated, what about the 'Zune Tatoo Guy', now formally known as Mr. Microsoft Zune.  Now that's dedication!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/05/zune-guy-changing-name-to-microsoft-zune/

This is a mixed bag, the Zune definitly wins because the song was actually pre-loaded onto the device while now iPod users are going to have to hunt it down.  

On the other hand iPod scores a point for using it in an actual on-air commerical while the zune-arts stuff tends to get sidelined.  Really it's a wash between the two because the Zune version has more art and style while the iPod goes right for the main-stream consumer.  The hook with the "Touch" at the end is a neat trick but on the downside it turns the great song into nothing more than a gimick.  

Another Zune plus, the Zune version allows the song to still be "that cool song from CSS that Zune used" while the iPod version is "that song from the Touch commerical, what's that band again?  I can't remember."

I agree with what one user said, that the actual Zune needs to be shown more in the ads because that is one of the few things even negative reviewers liked about the Zune, saying it's UI was much better than the iPods.  Now with Cover Flow that edge has been lost somewhat but it might help to let people actually see the device.

Apple's iTouch Ad was actually made my an 18 year old English student not Apple. Apple got a hold of him and decided to air it. So Nick Haley also wins.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/business/media/26apple-web.html?_r=4&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKQUZPqDZb0

I'm pretty sure who ever used it first gets the credit.

I hate it when all the good points are taken ;)

But yeah, I gotta give this one to the iTouch, it fit with the ad better, and was perfect for the 30-second shorter timeframe. The Zune did it proud, but this one goes to Apple.

Plus, the fact that it wasn't an original TBWA Chiat/Day (they only helped spruce it up) shows a lot more on the community stuff.

Apple gets semi-attractive females who plaster its logo in convenient places on their body. We get Mr. Microsoft Zune.

Man, if I got that much exposure, I'd be flippin' hundreds.

The Zune-Arts take on the song was a lot more creative than the iTouch use. Good going Microsoft. When it comes to creativity, you all are top notch.

When it comes to practicality, however, the iTouch ad is the clear winner here. A little off subject, but the zunejourney.net, I feel, could benefit with a little more tech info, but it was awesomely put together.

There goes Apple, copying the Zune again.

Yeah I have to agree that the iPod commercial was better. If the zune commercial would have started with the lyrics then it would have been better.

But I like the new commercial for the zunes, good job.

Good comments Shawn Oster.  Zune definitely needs to be shown more.  And I agree completely that Apple has closed the UI gap with CoverFlow.  However, there is nothing there (with CoverFlow) that Microsoft couldn't implement with SilverLight on Zune.

I find it interesting that when they show CoverFlow, it's Mika's album that appears, not CSS's.

Comparing the two is difficult since they are two different kinds of videos. The Zune one is more of an artistic piece, and the Touch one is simply an ad/demo of the product.

Like others have said, it's CSS who is the big winner here.

Zune used it first and it came pre-loaded. Apple goes down!

I think most people probably wouldn't have even known about CSS if Zune hadn't given them the exposure in the first place. Of course this is me speaking from personal experience, but that's my two-cents. I fell in love with CSS after i heard them on my Zune.

Props to the Zune team for giving indie artists exposure.

ZUUUNNNNEEE. Much more entertaining, but I am totally biased. FYI.

I agree with Woody. The song rocks, so it doesn't matter.

If I HAD to choose a winner, I'd have to give it to Zune mainly because it's a very unique art piece and  the flashes in the Apple ad puts me at near-epileptic seizure mode. On the other hand, major kudos for Apple for putting a user-made ad on television. It looks really professional.

CSS, FTW!

iPod did it better, but Zune helped promote CSS as an artist. in the iPod ad, it's no said that its CSS. So yea, CSS is the real winner.

Will Cansei de Ser Sexy still have preloaded content on the Zune 80?

regardless of which one is better, it's friggin' a little ironic, don't you think?  lol

So isn't it time for a Zune ad that says, "Zune, be into cool music a year before those posers with Ipods."

Can I get on my soapbox here for the Zune community?

As I said earlier - "...I hate iPod/Apple/Mac etc.", but I am judging the two ads as non-biased as I can (although they are two very different marketing ads), but the question is, "who Flipped it Better?" And from a mass-marketing standpoint it is the iPud *oops* I mean iPod. Part of the reason as to why I hate iPod so much is because they always seem to have great marketing, and it’s simple yet effective.

The problem is that current Zune lovers will like any commercial for the Zune. If there was an ad with a singing turd (?mr hanky?) holding a Zune, we would all love it, because we like to see the exposure (actually that is kinda funny).

I'm not dising the Zune marketing team, I just want them to start kicking Apple's behind in the mass-marketing dept.

Think about this - owners of older iPods (suckers) who are ready for a new Audio/Video portable device are more likely to just go buy the new iPod touch instead of a Zune 2.

Why?

Because they don't know that you can wirelessly sync music, or that the Zune Marketplace has a subscription service, or that the Zune now has podcasting, or wireless song sharing, or a dang RADIO!

The Zune kicks it’s butt in every way possible except marketing.

So the interface for the iPod is a touch screen - who cares - after a while they’ll get tired of wiping the oily finger marks off of the screen anyways.

So I say let the non-Zune owners, and those who don't even know what a Zune is or does KNOW exactly what it does with a nice 30 sec, to-the-point ad.

[The flipside to this all is that we are those cool select people who aren’t sheep and don’t need a catchy commercial to persuade us. LOL!]

hey cesar a question.. the song that shows on the Zune 80 is one of the preloaded content, because I remember that the Zune 30 appeared with one of the preloaded songs on the ads

Saludos desde México!

Speaking of preloads...

You gave us a peak at the content on Zune1 as early as August (the full announcement came September 28). I'm dying to know: what are we getting this year?

There's no sense in comparing the two pieces, since one is an ad and the other isn't...

However, the Zune team used CSS' music before they were huge, so Zune wins...

Another thing... if some random student managed to make an ad as good as any Apple ad using stock footage from Apple's site, what does that say about their ads?

I think that the Zune Arts one was so weird, and that's the impression I got.  The zune one was creative.  Apple did a simple one showcasing the player's features, quite basic.  i like that simplicity and the finger-flicking on the touch was fun (plus you can laugh at the chorus).

I think my vote goes to apple.

Can I point out the hilarity in the fact that Patrick Daughters, the director of the Zune ad "The Ballad of Tina Pink", also directed Feist's "1 2 3 4", which was used in the most recent iPod Touch ads?

Talk about a screwed up relationship...

I love the song! I thought the Zune Arts spot was cool and interesting. But since the iPod commercial is an advertisement, I think it works better for what it is...a TV spot as opposed to an online Zune Art.

"Hey, you remember that Apple commercial, the one with the touch screen and that great song...?

"No...they all look the same"

"You see the Zune commercial, the one where the Lion keeps eating a part of the Gazelle...?"

"Yeah I do, what a great commercial."

The Zune one apple has a horible way of slicing the song you can tell they skipped around it gave a good song a bad name