Apple's iPad Doesn't Confuse Holiday Shoppers

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Follow the YouTube trail.

From 2011, a Research in Motion (RIMM) television commercial promoting the BlackBerry Curve smartphone.

I first saw that commercial while watching a hockey game on Canadian television. For as hard as I was hammering RIM at the time, I had to give the company credit. As nothing more than a TV spot, that was a damn good piece of marketing. However, as a TV spot designed to sell BlackBerries, it was nothing short of an embarrassment.

You walked away from that 30 seconds with one of two reactions: Where can I get one of those glow-in-the-dark bikes or those fixed gear-riding urban slicks would be iMessaging on Apple (AAPL) iPhones if that was real.

As it attempts to brand its Surface tablet, Microsoft (MSFT) commits an equally-as-ugly sin.

Both RIM and Microsoft attempt to make the uncool appear cool, not through organic channels such as brisk consumer adoption and viral word of mouth, but via manufactured attempts. The Microsoft commercial feels like a summer hijinks movie starring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. And, the whole schoolgirls thing is just downright creepy.

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