Just when I thought HP couldn’t stoop any lower

David Lee

8.12.2023

Translation: Eva Francis

HP’s advertising its printers with the slogan «Made to be less hated». The self-deprecating humour seems fun at first, but in view of the sneaky business methods applied in the printer business, the slogan leaves a bitter aftertaste.

I don’t like printers. That’s no secret. I’ve made it public in several articles. Turns out hating printers is quite common. HP has used this widespread frustration to create their latest adverts, claiming their printers are «made to be less hated». I’m sure plenty of people still hate HP printers – but maybe not as much now as before.

Problem pinpointed

Disarming honesty paired with a pinch of humour and some self-deprecation. At first glance, the TV adverts seem fun. HP admits there’s a problem and promises to – well, not solve it, but make it better. As the adverts only last twenty seconds, this first impression might stick and the adverts might work. But as soon as I think about it a little longer, my feelings start to change.

Sneaky business methods

On the one hand, saying «our printers are less hated» implies «printers made by other manufacturers are even worse» – not the nicest way to treat your competition. Or does the «less» refer to previous HP printers? If so, I wonder what’s so much better and different now than in the past.

In fact, there has been one important improvement: some inkjet printers now feature refillable ink tanks instead of printer cartridges.
These cartridges have been a nuisance for over 20 years. A disposable product with built-in electronics, they harm the environment. Above all, however, they’re disproportionately expensive. And printer manufacturers have been doing everything they can to force customers to buy as many of these cartridges as possible. They tried to make refilling impossible, fought against cheaper cartridges from third-party manufacturers and produced printers that would refuse to continue printing, even if there was still ink in the cartridge. To tie customers down for as long as possible, they came up with printer subscriptions that kept the money coming.

The pioneer of refillable ink tanks wasn’t HP, but Epson (link in German). HP and the other manufacturers were forced to follow suit. And ironically, printer manufacturers still haven’t said goodbye to the cartridge business. In fact, the majority of printers in our shop still work with cartridges. In addition, ink tank models are more expensive than their cartridge equivalents. Looks like manufacturers are trying to compensate for the money they lose on cartridges by introducing higher margins on the printers themselves.

And now HP is begging for brownie points? Well, it’s getting none from me. That would take more than a few self-deprecating adverts.

David Lee

Senior Editor

David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.ch

My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.

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