Charles E Smith

While watching This Week in Tech today, I couldn’t help but notice Leo and the gang talking again about the Windows 7 launch parties. As you’ve probably already heard, Microsoft is sponsoring house parties for selected volunteers. There was a video released from Microsoft which suggested different things you could do at your Windows party – and it was terrible. The whole thing was awkward, and seemed a bit too much like an instruction video your mom might give you for your first party.

So of course, no one signed up and this is a total marketing flop. Except it isn’t. Actually, Microsoft had to cut off some volunteers and it would seem that everyone is talking about it. As I said, I’ve heard more stuff about it on TWiT this week, as well as some of Leo’s other shows. Buzz Out Loud has covered this a few times as well, and basically the entire tech blog sector has done at least one story on it.

Microsoft is no stranger to awkward and confusing marketing. Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld left people scratching their heads wondering what Seinfeld, or that ad campaign for that matter, had to do with windows, or even Microsoft. Another recent commercial suggests that Windows 7 is the choice of 7 year olds everywhere in a gag reflex inducing attempt to be cute and point out Windows 7’s simplicity.

And as I recalled these events I realized something. Microsoft is an advertising troll. Apple takes the hipster route and gets people talking about their commercials by taking shots at windows and being a little smarmy. HP or Dell are generally very conservative, and seem to take a rather traditional approach to advertising.

And then there is Microsoft. One of the richest tech companies in world, whose name is nearly synonymous with desktop computing, releasing these poor ads. On the surface, they are horrid. But when was the last time the tech news industry covered a bland Intel ad for two weeks? Free publicity. If you read any kind of tech news or listen to tech podcasts, you’d be hard pressed not to know that Windows 7 is soon to be released.

They are either doing this on purpose, or Microsoft desperately needs to fire their ad department.