Intel Launches Ad Campaign

Intel Corp., the top maker of the microprocessor “brains” of personal computers, has launched an unprecedented $250-million advertising campaign to bolster its name recognition and competitive brawn.

Intel wants to be the Nutrasweet of sweeteners, the Dolby of sound and the Teflon of frying pans--key components of quality products. But analysts called the costly high-tech campaign a gamble.

“I think it’s money down the drain because (computer) manufacturers don’t think Intel gives them a greater selling advantage,” said Michael Murphy, editor of the California Technology Newsletter, based in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

“The public, unfortunately, is either too unsophisticated to listen, or it listens to what trade journals say, not ads,” he said.

The campaign is the first by a U.S. semiconductor company to target a mass audience.