

Is this Windows 7 Launch Party ad for real? - fnid
http://gizmodo.com/5366105/this-incredible-windows-7-launch-party-video-is-either-the-best-or-worst-microsoft-ad-this-year

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jsz0
Microsoft has no sense of identity as a company when it comes to marketing.
Every campaign is some new weird angle or a copy of another companies tactics.
If they are trying to make it lame & campy on purpose its a questionable move.
How often does that work? Simple social factors preclude most people from
strongly identifying with something that is marketed as being lame. The only
time it works is if the product/service your selling actually is lame and/or
boring and it's impossible to change that perception. For example, insurance.
It's puzzling because Windows 7 is one of the few Microsoft products that
actually is somewhat fresh and not just a minor version bump.

~~~
ashleytowers
"puzzling because Windows 7 is one of the few Microsoft products that actually
is somewhat fresh and not just a minor version bump"

Interesting... granted I don't particularly follow Windows development, but my
perception was that it is _exactly_ that - a minor version bump over Vista
fixing the problems that shouldn't have been there in the first place...

~~~
jsz0
That is true. I'm thinking more along the lines of all the XP users out there
that decided to skip Vista. For them it's a big upgrade.

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chunkyslink
This is a perfect ad for Windows users. If you took away the Sony laptop and
had them talking about something else, and then had me guess the type of OS
they used ...

they've all got windows written all over them.

Oh a and did I mention, my non-tech savvy parents would probably like this
advert ?

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there
it's funnier if you watch <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyas7BrbUFY> first,
not knowing what it's for, then watch the real one.

~~~
arketyp
This helped me cope with the real thing. Oh God, what have I witnessed...

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forkqueue
It's pretty clear to me what the thought processes are behind this. Microsoft
have seen all the release parties that Free Software projects like Debian and
Ubuntu, FreeBSD et al have, and somewhere there's been a meeting that posed
the question 'How can we have the same for Windows 7?'.

Videos like this are the answer they came up with. Unsurprisingly it looks
plasticy and fake, because they're trying to fake something that has grown
spontaneously elsewhere.

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MrMatt
The whole concept is awful, but somewhere, someone will host a party in
exactly this vein, and that scares me.

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snprbob86
As a Microsoftie, I am genuinely embarrassed.

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byoung2
I think it's brilliant. Campy and controversial to the point that the
blogosphere can't shut up about it. The point of an ad is to create buzz, and
they've succeeded.

~~~
pohl
Yes, it certainly is creating buzz. It's also draining life from the brand,
which was already a bit moribund. Are they just going to give up and try to
deliberately create badly-done campy ads a la Tunesmith from here on out? They
do seem to have "found their voice", I guess.

~~~
antidaily
I'll admit it - I had to look up moribund. And I think draining life from the
brand is a little over the top. They know they're not cool anymore. So,
they're throwing everything they can at the wall to see what sticks.

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vlad
This is real. I was just invited to a Windows 7 Launch Party by the student
Microsoft rep on campus. The officially-worded invite mentions a PhotoPalooza,
a photo tour of Windows 7 on her machine.

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arketyp
Holy shit what are they even talking about This is so embarrassing. I just
want to go hide under a blanket.

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kenver
"you may want to try the bonus activities but you'll need the right devices"

Kinky!

~~~
lurkinggrue
Nudge, Nudge! Say no more!

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sachinag
If you don't understand that it's an epic troll, right down to the race/gender
roles, you probably need a business co-founder/are a redneck/think FoxTrot is
the best thing evar/etc. etc.

EDIT: It would only have been more epic if they followed BADF.

~~~
pyre
> _If you don't understand that it's an epic troll, right down to the
> race/gender roles_

I thought that the 'token black guy' was always supposed to die before the end
of the movie...

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ahlatimer
Am I the only one that's wondering why the camera zooms in and moves around so
much? I guess they were trying to "spice it up" and make it not seem as
boring. It just made me sick.

~~~
ca98am79
I couldn't stop looking at the clock on the stove in the background jump
around to different times

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alanthonyc
Are these going to be playing in the middle of the night, alongside the _green
handkerchiefs of prosperity_ commercials?

