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Microsoft Media Television

Microsoft Wants to Project "Cool" Image 568

Posted by michael from the it's-cool-to-get-viruses dept.
rocketjam writes "C-Net is reporting that Microsoft is working to get their products placed in popular TV shows like Fox's "24" and HBO's "The Wire" as part of a push from executive Jim Allchin called 'cool form factor'. Like MacDonald's recent hip-makeover marketing efforts, Allchin wants to engender a hip, consumer brand image for the company which is largely perceived as an enterprise software company. Microsoft would like to capture some of the cachet that Apple Computer has among the fashionable and Hollywood tech elite."
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Microsoft Wants to Project "Cool" Image More

Microsoft Wants to Project "Cool" Image

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  • Newest 24 (Score:5, Funny)

    by FannyMinstrel ( 656700 ) <windminstrel@@@mainecoon...net> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:35AM (#7131735)
    The newest 24 preview has Jack sitting infront of a 17" PowerBook, with a G5 in the background. They both look amazing. What would microsoft do? Have a WindowsXP box sitting on the desk, with him holding it up, looking at the camera and saying "For all you security needs, use windows" and promptly proceeds to blast a cap in it's ass.

    • MI-5 too (spoiler-beware!) (Score:5, Interesting)

      by microcars ( 708223 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @10:43AM (#7132246) Homepage
      If anyone watches MI-5 (similar to "24", but involves the British Secret Service), ALL the computers in the entire MI-5 complex are ALL Apple!

      Wintel laptops are used as Trojan Horses filled with C4. (no really!)

      I've seen a treatment of the final episode of the show, funding is cut and a new manager is brought in who attempts to "modernize" and "standardize" the MI-5 by "upgrading" to Windows boxes.

      I will not reveal the ending, but let's just say its not pretty.

    • see what OS they are using. All the good guys in episode 1 and 2 used Macs. All the bad guys (including Nina, it was a giveaway) used PCs.

  • Yet.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by the uNF cola ( 657200 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:36AM (#7131738)
    Yet all we see it in is TechTV and the 7o'clock news due to the latest virus issue. :\

  • Cool can't be manufactured (Score:3, Insightful)

    by maffstephens ( 515623 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:37AM (#7131741) Homepage
    If they try, they'll just end up like an embarrassing dad - hip and trendy, age 45. Thinks he's the coolest dancer on the dancer floor...

    • Re:Cool can't be manufactured (Score:4, Insightful)

      by lateralus ( 582425 ) <yoni-r@nospaM.actcom.com> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:44AM (#7131775) Journal
      I almost spilled coffee on the floor via my nose when I read the title. "Cool" is manufactured, mass produced and marketed every day. Did you think that the kids decieded that "Nike" is cool all by themselves? Who told them that "British Knights" is in/out? Get real, "Cool" is what's on the self with the biggest glossy poster.
      • Well that is partially true. But Cool is often set by who has the most lookup to. If these select few get this idea from seeing the adds then yes. But sometimes what is cool happens just because they liked it. Nike is cool because all the sports people ware them, the advertisements just show that they do. So the kids who look up to the sports people see that Nike is cool. Now this works as well for computers. Lets say you looked up Google and you see them as the king of system administration and runn

        • Re:Cool can't be manufactured (Score:4, Insightful)

          by DarkSarin ( 651985 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:51AM (#7132026) Homepage Journal
          hmmm....
          I think I agree with the grandparent in this case--cool is manufactured. If you think all the sports people wear Nike because they are a better or cooler shoe, then you are mistaken. Nike is worn by them because Nike gives them shoes, or pays them to wear them. Why else then do entire teams commonly wear the same exact brand of shoe?

          Your example with Porsche and Cadillac (BTW, mine is the correct spelling), is even more spurious--Cadillac doesn't TRY to be cool: they aren't in that market. Caddies are meant to be elegant, classy, and sophisticated, not cool. You will further notice that Porsche and Cadillac don't even market to the same people. Nor should they.

          All that said, I do agree with the idea that if you see XYZ company running Linux or BSD or MACOSX, then you will tend to like that OS more. Unfortunately, it only works for us nerds, geeks and the nerkles. Jane Doe doesn't get it, and this is something even M$ doesn't seem to understand (although they, of all people, should), because Jane Doe doesn't even realize that the people on the show or in the movie are using a particular type of computer. To her, its just a computer.

          Take my wife, as an example. The ONLY reason she knows ANYTHING about linux is because I use it at home--at some of her software doesn't run under linux. If it did, she wouldn't even care as much as she does. To her, as long as the sorry computer is working, it doesn't matter what it looks like.

          Most people don't know that they aren't looking at a windows box. Why not? Because to them, it's not about the OS, its about what they can do with the machine. Will their favorite software work? No? Then they take it back. Can they surf the net and drool over pr0n? yes? Then they keep it.

          The sad truth is that this won't work for M$ for the same reason that most people don't know much about linux and digital freedom--Americans don't CARE! The irony of it all is that M$ will be able to point to the stable marked and claim that its a result of their advertising, and unless they do some real market research they won't ever know.

          ("Hi, this is Cindy, and I would like to ask you a few questions about technology on television. Do you have a minute to spare? [this is where most people hang up] Yes? Good. In the most recent episode of Seinfeld what type of computer was he using?" At this point the person starts to break out in a sweat, having forgotten if they watched the show. After a minute they decide they did, but they really can't remember anyone using a computer, so they say the first thing that comes to mind, "I think it was a Dell." This is of course, wrong, as it was probably a Sony Vaio or something similar, but 'Cindy' doesn't care, she marks the little box that says 'windows boxen', and thanks them for their time, but only after asking about 300 other questions that take "only a minute" of their time.)

          I imagine that the real strength of linux is that eventually it will allow Dell to put out "Dell Linux", and then you will have "Sony Linux" and "AOLinux" and maybe even "Barbie Linux" (with unrealistic images of women portrayed prominently so that another generation of young females can be ruined by the unrealistic ideal), which would be closely related to "Playboy Linux", and "Hustler Linux", but wouldn't sell quite as well.

          See those things will be what wins the OS wars, because M$ will never allow enough control of windows to slip away for that type of branding, but Linux invites it.

          No, M$ is doomed to believe they won this "cool campaign", without ever knowing that 90% of the population doesn't CARE!

          (Okay, now that I'm done with my soapbox, does any one else want to borrow it?)

    • Re:Cool can't be manufactured (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Nodatadj ( 28279 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:51AM (#7131800) Journal
      Cool can be manufactured. Witness things like Nike Air trainers, smoking, Levis 501 jeans. The difference is that these things are aimed at the younger market, people who are desperately trying to find their place, so don't want to do or say anything that would alienate them from their peers.

      Computers on the other hand are not exactly the sort of thing that people get worried about. You don't have kids going home and crying to his dad because some of the kids in school laughed at him because he didn't have some cool make of computer. (Well, geeks might, but we already know they're not the exact epitomy of coolness).

      So, yeah, I'll agree with your outcome, even if I don't necessarily agree with your original statement. Still, we'll get to laugh at the dad thinking he's cool. Like we can do with McDonalds - No really, its more fun to go and dance outside a McDonalds than it is to go to a nightclub, no it is...

      • It could also be that MS is moving out of the business of pleasing the geek market and now aiming for lower pickings .... for example in parts of Europe Baywatch was the "coolest" show for the longest time ... burnt out bands end up touring Japan ... Madonna and Michael Jackson still dominate headlines in many parts of the world .... and so does Britney ...

        Those are probably the parts that MS is trying to influence in its business of world domination. That is what they do every night - try to take over t

      • Re:Cool can't be manufactured (Score:5, Insightful)

        by j0e_average ( 611151 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:46AM (#7132002)
        Some things are "cool" for no other reason that they run counter to the mainstream. Apple has a throng of devotees partially because they aren't Microsoft.

        Add to this the fact that Apple produces kick-ass products and you can see why they remain cool. They've demonstrated that they aren't a passing phase.

        Microsoft can pay all of the money in the world and still not (and won't) buy that kind of following.

        Plus, you don't see Apple pushing the issue with DRM and all of that other bullshit. Once again they are counter (cool) to the mainstream (dud).

        • Microsoft can pay all of the money in the world and still not (and won't) buy that kind of following.

          I dunno about a "cool" following, but their money can sure buy a following none the less. How else do you explain their legion of MCSEs?

  • Makes sense (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sielwolf ( 246764 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:37AM (#7131742) Homepage Journal
    and isn't uncommon for any sort of brand to do this (Gateway had (still has) a deal with ER to have their machines prominently used). I really don't care either way. I just want movies to semi-accurately portray computers (although I didn't care for it, Matrix Reloaded did score marks for this) as compared to a lot of previous efforts (too many to mention). So if they do it from cmd.exe or sh, as long as it doesn't shake my ability to enjoy the movie, I'm fine with it.
  • I have it on good authority that Dr. Evil will be using BeOS.

  • Is that illegal??? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Mod Me God ( 686647 )
    It is illegal to place products in both terrestrial and satellite TV in the UK... although this story revolves around the US, this would have serious legal implications (based around subliminal advertising which the UK has very strong laws about) if these TV shows were ever exported.

  • Microsoft paying for what's free to Apple (Score:5, Insightful)

    by questamor ( 653018 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:38AM (#7131749)
    Apple have appeared, without payment or request, in thousands of productions. From 24 to Seinfeld, to just about any stock photography that has a laptop in it, it's Apple Apple Apple all the way. I think it's curious Microsoft need to -pay- to get their products in this same position.

    And as much as I'm a mac lover, it's amazing how LITTLE benefit it's done Apple. What's our market share now? :P

  • MS in South Park movie (Score:5, Funny)

    by mr.henry ( 618818 ) * on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:40AM (#7131758) Journal
    I remember Gates and Windows had a great product placement in the South Park movie:

    Fucking Windows 98! Get Bill Gates in here! You told us Windows 98 would be faster, and more efficient, with better access to the Internet!

    As Gates tries to defend Windows, the General blows his head off. I thought that was pretty cool.

    • Simpsons (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:04AM (#7131849)
      Bill Gates: Mr. Simpson?
      Homer: You don't look so rich...
      Bill Gates: Don't let the haircut fool you, I am exceedingly wealthy.
      Homer: [quietly] Get a load of the bowl-job, Marge!
      Bill Gates: Your Internet ad was brought to my attention, but I can't figure out what, if
      anything, Compuglobalhypermeganet does, so rather than risk competing with
      you, I've decided simply to buy you out.

      Homer: I reluctantly accept your proposal!
      Bill Gates: Well everyone always does. Buy 'em out, boys!
      [Gates' lackeys trash the room.]
      Homer: Hey, what the hell's going on!
      Bill Gates: Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks! [insane laughter]
  • you know the people who want security fixed on windows and other issues fixed..

  • They're trying to make bald old white guys seem "cool" to the general public?

    Sheesh... Good luck with that! My guess is that they won't even top smoking cigarets.

  • it's more than just publicity (Score:5, Interesting)

    by thermopile ( 571680 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:43AM (#7131770) Homepage
    Microsoft has a lot more to do to present a "cool factor" than just get its hardware shown on popular TV shows in conspicuous places. Although there is probably an Apple rep on the site of "24" making sure that Apple logo is as blatantly obvious as possible, it wouldn't be the same with most of Microsoft's offerings.

    It has to look cool, which, IMHO, Microsoft has not grasped yet. A large part of the appeal -- and probably a good reason why the directors of 24 allow it -- of Apple is the cool factor. The hardware is slick, the buttons are shiny, and it doesn't look like most other computers out there.

    What product would microsoft have in its arsenal that could fill the above description?

  • But Microsoft makes very little hardware.

    Apple's cool comes from its superb hardware lineup. Nobody would choose any other laptop given the choice of an Apple powerbook and an equal PC one. The same holds for every other item they produce. The G5s look stunning and are too quiet to tell if they are on.

    Everybody who sees an iPod wants one, and they work fine with Windows.

    Microsoft con't itself up its credibility by showing Windows, it has to be in a cool computer, they need to team up with a Hardware manu

  • I can see it now... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Viceice ( 462967 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:43AM (#7131772)
    (Place: Matrix Core, Time:Time? There is no time.)

    Neo: "Trinity, you hack in, I'll keep Agent Smith busy. How much time you need?"

    (Wack! Wack! Pow!)

    Trinity: (Looks at Micro$oft Windoze(TM) login prompt) "We're in."

  • Fab Five to the rescue! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Trolling4Dollars ( 627073 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:46AM (#7131780) Journal
    With style-retarded heads like Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, they've got a good way to go. The reason that Apple has the image it does is STEVE JOBS. Face it, whether you like him or not (personally I do) he is a stylish man. Back in the 80s he always wore those black turtlenecks and trendy glasses. He KNOWS what style is. Unless someone want's to get the guys from Queer Eye to do a makeover on Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, the business image is going to be hard to break. Besides, I can predict what's going to happen anyway. They will try to add coolness to their image and then proclaim success to the investors after six months regardless of the true outcome. Eventually everyone will want to look like Microsoft products because of the buzz surrounding the new look. The buzz that was self-perpetuating. This will work because most business folks don't have the slightest idea what style really is. They think "roughing it" is wearing a pair of khakis and a polo shirt to work on Fridays.

  • Heh. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Kaemaril ( 266849 )
    Hmm. I for one think The Blue Screen Of Death deserves a guest shot on "Dead Like Me" :)
  • What MS needs to do is to get a spot in a movie where a MS product is used to upload a virus to an invading alien spaceship, causing the entire fleet to crash soon afterwards [imdb.com]. That's why I bought a Mac in the first place!!

  • Since when (Score:5, Interesting)

    by snowlick ( 536497 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:48AM (#7131790) Homepage
    Since when was a massive omni-mega corp ever cool? They are currently the bully in the arena. Smaller companies that are more agile and willing to accept major risks will always come out on top as far as "cool factor" goes. That's the nature of the game. MS's reputation is all about ubiquity and uniformity - and image that they've crafted very carefully through the years.

    Sadly, MS will always win out by ripping off a smaller company's ideas and making knock-offs. I don't know why they wouldn't be happy with that. Let the other guy take the risk, and if it works - steal the idea! Let the other guy be cool, then emulate him. It's been working quite well for them, so who cares?

    • Re:Since when (Score:5, Insightful)

      by GoofyBoy ( 44399 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @10:15AM (#7132121) Journal
      >Since when was a massive omni-mega corp ever cool?

      Take a look at anything that was cool in the past 20 years and either it is or it eventually had a big corporation behind it.

      Look at any popular music group/singer. Big corp behind them.
      Look at Nike/Adidas.
      Look at any hip/cool tv show or movie.
      Lots of sports teams or events have big corporations behind it.

      Can M$ buy cool? Yes and its been done many times before.

    • Re:Since when (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Spoing ( 152917 )
      Since when was a massive omni-mega corp ever cool?

      Coke. Pepsi. A multitude of alcohol and tobacco companies. RIAA member companies. In the /. crowd, IBM to some respect.

      I agree with your main point, though the cardinal rule for marketing is "Whatever we aren't make people think we are". This is largely effective -- so much so that I automatically think the opposite when seeing an advertisement just to get some idea of what the facts might be.

      Coke and Pepsi are carbonated beverages with flavoring

  • Oh really? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by alib001 ( 654044 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:53AM (#7131807)

    From the article: After some early success with shows like "24" last season...

    Maybe last season but in the first series: 24's Good Guys Do Use Macs [wired.com]

    While Bauer and most of the other agents in his unit used Macs, the traitor used a laptop made by Dell. The baddies, a group of renegade Serbs, also use Dell machines.

  • Clippy (Score:2, Funny)

    by thinkninja ( 606538 )
    "It looks like you are saving the world", offered Clippy. "Would you like help?"
    "Just open a socket", growled Bauer.
  • Bwahahahahhahahahaa...

    I was half expecting the foot icon on the topic. Microsoft is the anti-cool. Mention "Micro$oft" and the first image I get is a bunch of clueless PHB's bowing down to Bill Gates, and MCSE's looking for the "Start" button on VCR's. Remember how cool it was to watch Trinity hack using a *nix console in Matrix Reloaded? Imagine the same scene with her pushing colorful candyland buttons in Windows XP. Bah.

  • Huh? (Score:2)

    by joel8x ( 324102 )
    So they're gonna spend a lot of money trying to be the cool kid? Didn't they ever see any John Waters movies? Then they would know that the cool kids are really the antagonists and its actually cooler to be the poor underdog who always gets the cute girl in the end. Stupid Microsoft!

  • Win ME Video (Score:5, Insightful)

    by KillerHamster ( 645942 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:55AM (#7131818) Homepage

    This reminds me of the "Windows ME Introduction Video" that showed several extremely happy people using "digital media" technology, "recovering from problems easily" (kid with hammer attacks keyboard), and experiencing the power of "home networking." I really love the part where Dad shoots a video of the wife and kid and sends it spinning around an animated globe to Grandma's computer. And despite all the marketing hype, all the non-geeks I know who have used WinME universally agree that it sucks.

    Besides, most of the people I know who are clueless about computers hate computers, and nothing will ever change that. Not marketing, and not attempts at making software easier to use. And such people wouldn't even notice the latest toy from HP on their favorite TV show.

    • ...what was the problem (aside from the obvious) with Windows ME anyway? I'm certainly not a Windows person, but from what I've seen of it, it didn't appear any worse than 95 or 98 (being worse than either of those would have been quite an achievement). Yet it seems to receive more than its fair share of complaints...

    • And despite all the marketing hype, all the non-geeks I know who have used WinME universally agree that it sucks.

      Not to mention the opinion of any geek who was unfortunate enough to use one... but I don't think I can write the full and uncensored opinion of that in a public forum.

      Kjella

  • M$ on TV. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by code_echelon ( 709189 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:55AM (#7131819)
    They may want to make there OS as stable as Apple or Linux before they try to advertise it all over the place in television shows. On numerous occassions I have seen M$ computers on TV at there trademark blue screen. This has happened on several shows including Howard Stern and CNN. I have also seen this on electronic billboards. M$ obviously needs to take a break from there marketing tactics and get back to programming, this is obvious as there is a constant threat of new vulnerabilities in there software due to the poorly laid out architecture.

  • The solution is oh so simple... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Linker3000 ( 626634 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @08:56AM (#7131822) Journal
    All MS has to do is rewite some basic error messages and we go from...

    This program has performed an illegal operation and has been shut down. Do you wish to generate an error report and send it to Microsoft?

    to

    Hey dude, Bill reckons you've been working so hard in Word that you deserve a break so we've closed it down for you. Go grab a diet soda (we've gotta watch that sugar rush!) or chill out by the water cooler for a while and then return refreshed to start all over again. We're so glad you've chosen to take a break we've even emailed Bill and told him you're not skipping on your personal time.
  • The worst computer usage in a series I've ever(well, recently) seen has been in The Sopranos.

    First, the monitor in Toni's office has only one cable (the VGA one) but no power cable attached.

    In season 3, I think, Toni's sister is chatting using a Powerbook (I think. It was black with a glowing apple logo). But when the screen is shown she is using ICQ or MSN on a windows box.. the widgets are just too different... I nearly screamed. (Oh wait, I did.)

    Yet, The Sopranos is one of the best TV series I've ever
  • Meet Joe Chemo, [joechemo.org]

    a camel who wishes he'd never smoked cigarettes. Joe is having trouble feeling COOL these days, now that he's lost most of his hair. Worst of all, Joe just realized that he's been MaNiPuLaTeD all his life by tobacco companies. Poor guy -- his tobacco IQ never was very high.

    Hmmm,

    Meet Joe WinTroll, a user who wished he'd never upgraded to WindowsXP. Joe is having trouble feeling COOL these days, now that he's lost most of his digital rights. Worst of all, Joe just realized that he's been M

  • HOW??? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dpbsmith ( 263124 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:00AM (#7131838) Homepage
    Apple makes physical objects with a distinctive look. The product just has to appear for a second. Nobody has to interrupt the flow of dialogue to say anything about it.

    What's Microsoft going to do? Ask them to show people booting up their PC so that the Windows logo takes over the screen and that musical sound plays?

    Have cool twenty-somethings joke about how to get rid of that obnoxious Clippy?

    This is just a dumb upper-management idea. Microsoft doesn't make the kind of products for which product placement works.

    Furthermore, Apple's appeal to a certain group is directly connected to their willingness to make strong, emphatic design statements. You may hate the way a Mac looks or you may love it, but you can't be indifferent to it. Other PC makers may take tentative steps in making their boxes charcoal instead of beige, or making the front plastic bulge a bit instead of being perfectly flat, but they're not willing to be emphatic--and neither is Microsoft.

    Contrast the Apple "switcher" ads--which I personally hated--with the bland, characterless attempt Microsoft made to do the same thing. You knew the Apple switchers were real people. And it came as no surprise to find that the Microsoft "switchers" were stock photographs.

    • Re:HOW??? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by cnkeller ( 181482 )
      What's Microsoft going to do? Ask them to show people booting up their PC so that the Windows logo takes over the screen and that musical sound plays?

      It's easy to forget that MS makes hardware. Keyboards, mice, *cough* *cough* tablet PC's. It wouldn't surprise me to see this is the route they go down.

      I've owned MS products for a few years now and am proud to say that my mouse and keyboard haven't crashed once or been hacked. More than I can say for their software though....

  • What the fsck is wrong with you people? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ohreally_factor ( 593551 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:07AM (#7131860) Journal
    The butterfly isn't cool enough for you? Flying around without a jetpack isn't cool? Right. It's way freaking cool. They even use songs by Madonna and the Rolling Stones.

  • sigh... (Score:5, Funny)

    by lxs ( 131946 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:11AM (#7131869)
    We all know what's going to happen now:

    Yes, Longhorn will be renamed "Windows Extreme"

  • to Microsoft on this. Their problem is that, in 99% of the times, a windows box looks like ass, and TV/Movies are all about visuals. Apple has got them beat, beat, beat. It would need shots of the desktop, and, unless somebody in the movie is USING the computer, that won't be easy...

    Sorry Billy-boy, but you must get a cool box first before somebody thinks MS is cool.

  • I pity da foo'. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by rikun ( 704741 )
    Man, the subject line says it all. They're going to waste massive amounts of money trying to be the cool kids. It's not gunna happen... 40 year old logic in advertising and whatnot seem to think just make it "xtreme" and it's good to go. I'm waiting to see Microsoft team up with some hardware manufacturer and come out with computers with skateboards plastered all over them or something. Their new slogan: Microsoft; KICKING YOU RIGHT IN THE FACE SINCE 1988 Meh. This is bad as Dell trying to make "cool" gam

  • BSOD improvement (Score:4, Funny)

    by arcanumas ( 646807 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:21AM (#7131901) Homepage
    If they want to be more "hip" then they should improve the part of Windows that users see the most. The BSOD. They should make it animated with sound and some cool phrase , preferably from the list of Windows Haiku.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I think people have seen way too many pictures of Bill Gates to ever, and I mean ever, associate Microsoft with "Cool."

    With Apple, Jobs has always tried to be cool. From the early stages, Jobs wanted his products to look cool. Jobs actually likes making things look cool for the sake of looking cool, how can Microsoft compete with that?

  • Case in point: Microsoft is currently advertising Windows Server 2003 on our local TV (the ad is American, though).

    The setup is that a besuited guy wanders in on a what is presumably the IT department. The IT department looks like the commercial director has taken the most boring people on the talent agency's books and told the costume and make up people "think bland". They are all dancing extremely awkwardly and drinking some unidentified liquid (the way these people are acting, it sure ain't alcohol) out of blue plastic cups.

    The guy asks what's the party, at which point the head IT guy explains how they had magically consolidated the Active Directory groups from 70 to 4 thus allowing them to roll out new apps to the sales force in minutes (or some such hooey). The suit looks nonplussed, until Head IT Guy explains that this will save the company millions of dollars. The ad closes with the suit leading the IT department in a line dance, which they manage to make look just as awkward and dorky.

    I realise the ad probably has to be designed to it can be shown everywhere from Salt Lake City to Singapore, but, jeez, if you want to make your brand cool try not to associate it with complete dorks... :)

    • Bingo (Score:5, Insightful)

      by thatguywhoiam ( 524290 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @11:23AM (#7132435)
      I realise the ad probably has to be designed to it can be shown everywhere from Salt Lake City to Singapore, but, jeez, if you want to make your brand cool try not to associate it with complete dorks... :)

      You've hit the nail on the head. MS wants to be every image at some point or another. Big Reliable Bank Partner. No wait... SupaDope Xbox playa. No wait... Your Friendly Neighbourhood PC weenie. No wait....

      They can't have it all ways. As someone pointed out above, while Microsoft can rent cool, they can never, ever be cool. Its just not the way it works.

      Like trying to pick your own nickname. Apple became cool years ago and that's what they are still. MS, much more powerful financially, cannot claim underdog status, and no one in their right mind can associate themselves with a global behemoth like that.

  • Well, according to Microsoft its software is secure, stable, and cost effective. If all of those can be true, then sure, it can be cool too!

  • Oh, Msft should just go with, caricature and exaggerate their existing tendancies to comic extremes: adopt a slight nazi accent, have an ad set in a scientific 'laboratory' (with spinning tape drive cabinets in the background), Ballmer shuts down a Linux box and inserts a Win 2003 CD while white frocked lab assistants strap Linus onto an operating table, Gates strokes the cat and says, "No Mr Torvalds, I expect you to DIE!".

  • Fighting the symptoms (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gidds ( 56397 ) <[ku.em.sddig] [ta] [todhsals]> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:36AM (#7131955) Homepage
    What's the betting that M$ never even thought to ask themselves why Apple, or other companies, have a cool image? Why people want their products, why their users feel so much more attached to them than any M$ user does?

    No. Brute force and ignorance, every time. "We want a cool image; find out how much that'll cost, and buy it."

    Unfortunately, so far, it's a policy that's mostly worked. And if they spend enough in the right places, I fear it'll work again. What does that say about society?

  • IBM tried to be cool. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Futurepower(R) ( 558542 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:40AM (#7131970) Homepage

    IBM wanted people to think OS/2 was "cool", so the company began calling it "Warp", which to the people at the time who were likely to be old enough and powerful enough to make big purchases meant "bend out of shape in such a way as to possibly render useless".

    Well, I'm here to report that it worked. IBM did in fact succeed in associating the word "cool" with OS/2. IBM lost a "cool" billion dollars on OS/2. In the years immediately following, IBM lost another "cool" billion dollars. That's positively frigid.

    OS/2 is still "cool" in the sense that, because it is dead, it is no longer warm.

    So, that's a story about a big company trying to be cool.
  • Nah, even super-advanced alien life forms [imdb.com] use Apple Macs. MS could never top that!

    Tho if they did, it would make Jeff Goldblum's job a lot easier.
  • I saw on last week's C.S.I. [cbs.com] the new MS side scrolling wheel mouse, and they made reference to the Xbox. I wasn't really paying attention to placements before, but I'll watch more closely next week.

  • Aaaah, grasshoppah, you forget one thing. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by A_Non_Moose ( 413034 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @09:45AM (#7131998) Homepage Journal
    Manufactured products can be cool, but cool can't be manufactured.

    I personally thought back to my first use of OS X, and "cool" was amongst the first thought.
    "Right On" and "Fucking-A" soon followed.

    My first use of Windows XP followed a similar vein, only the complete opposite; "Oh...MY...GOD", "What the FUCK!!", "Make it STOP!!", "For the love of GOD MAKE IT STOP", "What fucking rocket scientist thought this was a good idea?", "Why am I having childhood flashbacks of Romper Room?"

    Here's a clue for Microsoft:
    Make it simple: Turn the crap OFF/un-integrate.
    Make it look good: See above (XP looks HORRIBLE)
    Make it secure: Turn the crap off by default.
    Make it functional: see all of the above.

    Oh, and *LISTEN* to what people want. Not like windows 98 beta when 78% of people said "NO!" to integrating Internet Explorer into the OS.

    (sheesh)

  • Money would be better spent on .... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by WindBourne ( 631190 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @10:17AM (#7132127) Journal
    improving the OS

  • From the horse's mouth (Score:3, Informative)

    by craw ( 6958 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @11:24AM (#7132437) Homepage
    Here is Apple's info [apple.com] about product placement.

    The article is kind of dated, but the fundamentals still hold true today.

  • Why not do something even better? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by KC7GR ( 473279 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @12:45PM (#7132844) Homepage Journal
    Instead of spending loads of $$ to project an image, why not spend it towards FIXING THE BUGS and SECURITY HOLES in their stuff?

    In short: Isn't improving the actual product(s) more important than seeing some cookie-cutter TV star using them?

    They can put all the TV spin they want on their OS's and apps. It won't do them one iota of good if said OS and apps remain in their current state, security-wise (which means they're about as secure as a block of Swiss cheese).

  • hate the new mcd (Score:4, Funny)

    by LuxFX ( 220822 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @01:13PM (#7132984) Homepage Journal
    Like MacDonald's recent hip-makeover marketing efforts

    Yeah, but I really despise the new McDonald's 'hip' commercials! If Microsoft wants to do the same thing, I'll probably wind up hating...

    oh wait, nevermind

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