GE tries to lure tech workers by mocking startups in new Oscars commercial

General Electric really wants you to think of it as a tech company.

The corporation is once again chasing tech talent and mocking faddish startups in a new series of commercials set to air during the Oscars.

The three spots -- two of which will air during the red carpet pre-show and a third during the actual awards -- are a follow-up to a self-deprecating campaign the company ran last summer, in which a GE programmer struggled to explain to his friends and family why his new job was a good thing.  

This time around, however, the roles are reversed and those same friends and family are going to outlandish extremes to beg the programmer for a job at the industrial giant. The conceit being that the last batch of ads were so successful (GE claims they boosted its number of job applications beyond expectations) that job-seekers can't stay away.

Of course, now that the gimmick is reversed and the promotion is more straightforward, the commercials lack the same self-conscious charm on display in the original set.

In a world where tech companies like Apple, Facebook and Google are overtaking the blue-chip status once held by big industrial corporations, the Thomas Edison-founded company is pushing hard to cast itself as an exciting destination for prospective programmers. 

The ad campaign, created by agency BBDO, seeks to cast GE with the new tagline, "a digital company that's also an industrial company." 

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