A new ad campaign from HP is tacitly admitting its printers can be infuriating to use—just not as much as those from other brands.
As The Register reports, the company is running a TV ad campaign in several European countries using the slogan “Made to be less hated” while promoting HP’s printing solutions.
The spots don’t take a direct dig at HP's printers. Instead, they show consumers struggling to deal with unnamed rival products while mentioning how HP’s printers address various pain points. For example, in one video, a distraught woman throws her printer out the window after it fails to work. "No more installation fails with the HP Smart app," a voiceover says.
Still, the “Made to be less hated” tagline seems to also quietly concede that all printers can be maddening—including those from HP, which has the largest share of the printing market.
In another ad, we watch as a man quietly seethes while thinking the words “I hate you,” as his printer stops due to low ink. He then proceeds to kick the printer off his desk, something all users have probably dreamed of doing at one point.
Although the ads claim HP can solve the major troubles with today's printers, the campaign ignores pointing out all the problems consumers have had with HP printers, from buggy firmware bricking the hardware to HP blocking some users from installing third-party ink cartridges.
In PCMag's most recent Readers' Choice survey on printers and scanners, Brother took the crown as most favored brand. As in past years, HP brought up the rear in most aspects of satisfaction, with its lowest rating being satisfaction with the cost of inks and toners.
Nevertheless, the ads appear to be a hit in Europe. HP told More About Advertising that the campaign is its most successful ever.
HP didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, making it unclear if the ad campaign will ever expand to the US. In the meantime, it looks like HP has been showing the ads in Europe for sometime now, although not everyone has been a fan.