Thursday 24 September 2009

Windows 7 Barf

Windows 7 + MacBookImage by Esparta via Flickr

I almost managed a week without posting, thanks to Phillipa, but now I'm blowing it.

Twitter has been a-tweet with disgusted tweets linking to a very odd thing on YouTube - Microsoft's 'Host a Windows 7 Party' video.

It's linked here. Watch it before you read on, I would. Get it over with. Content warning - it's very, very, very crap - so don't say I Rickrolled you or anything.

Done? Fine, get your breath back, there's no rush.

Now it might just be that this is a really smart, post-ironic teaser that's going to lead to a really hip Madison Avenue type 'We woz just leading you on' follow-up. If it does that, Microsoft has lost my custom, because I'm really not in the mood to be messed around with by smartarses using social media to prove they're cleverer than I am. Right now, I want brands to start behaving better because I've had enough of being fed bullshit by corporations and just want honesty, integrity and straightforward communication. You jerk me around, I'll invest time punishing you. That's the new deal, guys.

Alternatively, this could just be an unbelievably turgid dollop of woeful, mind-numbingly asinine and utterly inane idiocy of appalling proportions. It could be the most ill-conceived, zeitgeist-missing 'campaign' of all time. Comments have been disabled on YouTube, which is not a good thing as Microsoft would quickly have seen that this was the daftest idea since someone decided to design a car called 'Edsel' - whether it's a 'smart' teaser or a genuine, epically misguided, attempt to get Middle America to hold spontaneous 'fun' Tupperware party style events across the nation.

Hey! Coool! Softerware! Like Tupperware! Why didn't we think of that before? Awesome! Good jooob!

End result? I truly think Microsoft has lost the plot. Marketing was the only thing it did superlatively well.

Where do you want to go today, Google? It's your world, now...

PS: I hated Vista. I wanted to believe in Win7.0...
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9 comments:

Sara said...

ewwww.... proper barf. Even worse than the fake laughs and the ABC type instruction giving is the heavy handed 'look how inclusive we are' demographical representation which could not be more patronising.

In fact, the whole thing was nauseating and I could actually feel my IQ plummeting as the minutes ticked by.

Naima said...

How did someone actually let this one get past QA? Beyond lame. Sad. Embarassing.

Dubai Jazz said...

One of the most awkward ads I've ever seen.

nzm said...

You guys have obviously never been to an awkward Tupperware party.

At least they had most of the demographics covered - nerd, grandma, trendy mom, black guy - the asian and the handicapped person were missing.

The software is better than this and deserves a better launch.

Bush Mechanic said...

I couldn't hack it and bailed out before the end.

In 20 seconds I figured the Grandma didn't really like the Black guy and everyone wanted to take the Nerd out the back and give him a kicking.

Anonymous said...

you mean that wasn't a parody ?
wow

Grumpy Goat said...

Check out the clock on the cooker hood. There are some pesky temporal alomalies going on that are common in Star Trek; rather less so at parties.

Although I was once abducted by aliens at a party. I drank far too much and woke up two days later, having had my memory mysteriously erased. (Cue Twilight Zone music...)

KJ said...

I managed watching two minutes of this crap

Keef said...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/28/charlie-brooker-microsoft-mac-windows

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