microsoft iphone ad
Microsoft pulled its Apple iPhone attack ads just hours after posting them to YouTube. CNET

The Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has pulled a series of videos designed to poke fun at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) amid the recent announcement of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, after widespread negative backlash from viewers. The series, titled “A Fly on the Wall in Cupertino,” was posted on Microsoft’s YouTube page for Windows Phone on Friday morning, and removed within hours.

According to The Next Web, the main video depicts a meeting at Apple headquarters, as two employees clumsily pitch their ideas for the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C to two separate people seen only from behind.

“Sorry we’re late, my iWatch had to go back to R&D,” one of the employees says, a clear jab at Apple’s highly anticipated new smartwatch.

The two employees then talk about the various colors of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, as well as the fingerprint sensor and the plastic casing of the iPhone 5C.

“And the beauty part is we can charge whatever we want,” one employee says. The hashtag #timetoswitch then flashes on the screen, a reference to Microsoft’s Windows Phone.

The whole thing was designed to mock the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, but it backfired spectacularly. Many criticized the jokes themselves as flat and unfunny.

The ads also received a heavy amount of flak for the two figures seen from behind. As The Next Web pointed out, the first person bears a strong resemblance to Steve Jobs, Apple’s late co-founder, while the second seems to be Jonathan Ive, the company’s senior vice president of design. However, around one minute into the video, the first person is referred to as “T,” which means it could very well be Apple CEO Timothy D. Cook.

Amid the backlash, Microsoft released a statement. “The video was intended to be a light-hearted poke at our friends from Cupertino,” Microsoft said. “But it was off the mark, and we’ve decided to pull it down.”

Fortunately, Microsoft’s anti-iPhone ad was reposted to YouTube by another user. Watch it below: