Microsoft's bumpin' Zune SUV disturbs the New York peace

Granted, we've seen some fairly bizarre methods of promoting one's product, and while Microsoft's Zune hasn't exactly been tagged with controversial propaganda or flashy automobile campaigns just yet, all that changed in a New York minute. According to reports from Hell Square residents in lower Manhattan, a California-tagged, Zune-branded SUV rolled through Ludlow Street during the "wee hours of February 25th," but rather than handing out flyers to the night-owls still roaming, the vehicle decided to test out its "competition grade stereo system" in a densely populated neighborhood. Dubbed an "egregious display of noise terrorism," the 3:00AM blasting from a (presumably Microsoft owned) Toyota FJ Cruiser didn't garner the positive attention that the firm was apparently hoping for, and consequently, quite a few residents of the area are now flaming mad and demanding restitution. Honestly, we've no problem with a little viral marketing every now and then, but blowing out the 'hood on a Sunday morning probably takes things a bit too far, and if you're interested in catching a video of the blasting in action, be sure to hit the read link and await an official apology that will probably never surface.

[Sergio @ Feb 26th 2007 10:58AM]

LMAO NICE!

Way to go Microsoft =D

[Mrmean @ Feb 26th 2007 11:05AM]

idiots

[akintz @ Feb 26th 2007 11:06AM]

What kind of "restitution" are they actually looking for? Another hour or two of sleep? Are they going to put a price on that? Do they want $20 or something?

Obviously this was an utterly stupid and pathetic effort at marketing a product... but I'm just confused what they actually want to be done.

[Sergio @ Feb 26th 2007 11:11AM]

Ideally, if following the old adage of "eye for an eye," we would like to (legally) blast music throughout Microsoft's HQ during a week day. Preferably right before a large product release, when employee stress levels are at their highest. Alternatively and/or additionally, lump sum payments to all residents disturbed by this incident would be tolerated.

From the about us section of the site^^

[dylan @ Feb 26th 2007 11:23AM]

Whats the big deal? It's only 3AM on a weekend and in front of a nightclub. There's obviously people still out...you can hear them having a good time.

[Jugomugo @ Feb 26th 2007 11:26AM]

Quick! It's terrorists. Call the Boston Police Department!

[Darth Tony @ Feb 26th 2007 11:31AM]

This is too funny. A major corporation showing such an incredibly desperate bid for attention.
Buy our crap!!! Puhleeeeaase?!
Soo lame.

[Dave95 @ Feb 26th 2007 11:33AM]

Posers, trying so hard to be hip!

Would it not be a better idea to drive down Times Square in the middle of the day?

[Wisconsin @ Feb 26th 2007 11:33AM]

Right... wakeupmicrosoft.com was registered on february 25th as an ANONYMOUS domain (http://www.anondom.com). The site purports to be anti-Microsoft, but manages to link to 6 pro-Zune sites. (the 5 they list as such, plus cliczune). In other words: HOAX.

This is Microsoft's feeble attempt at a viral. Yech.

[Adam @ Feb 27th 2007 9:01AM]

Are you stupid? It has a page about how the zune is a pathetic excuse to be the ipod ect.

[miket @ Feb 26th 2007 11:34AM]

this vehicle lives in williamsburgh, brooklyn if anyone wants to get some payback...

[Peter @ Feb 26th 2007 11:35AM]

I don't think you guys understand how serious this is. This is one of the worst reported cases of NOISE TERRORISM in the past 10 years!

[Jake @ Mar 26th 2008 6:15PM]

I think this is the only case of noise "terrorism". I mean... be honest, this is annoying, sure, but not terrorism.

[Graham @ Feb 26th 2007 11:38AM]

Did anyone even consider the fact that maybe, just maybe it wasn't Microsoft but infact some guy who spent a few grand trickin' out his ride and just decided to show it off that morning?
Now sure, if the big M really did it, it would be really funny, but there is no actual proof it was truly them.

[Wisconsin @ Feb 26th 2007 11:56AM]

The same suspicious domain registration date (february 25th) and the same anonymous registration was used for hellsquare.com.

So let me get this straight; the same day these people were kept awake by Microsoft they whipped up two websites and registered two (anonymous) domains?! Yeah, right! It's as if Microsoft is not even trying to cover their tracks. OTOH, I guess they would be happy to see the whole thing turn into a 'are these sites real or not' argument, keeping the 'story' alive a little longer. In fact, I may be doing them a favor by posting. Yech again.

http://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d=hellsquare&tld=com

and

http://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d=wakeupmicrosoft&tld=com

[Seth @ Feb 26th 2007 12:19PM]

Wisconsin:

Thanks for all the research, but:
Why is that date "suspicious"? If the incident happened on Feb 25th (yesterday, Sunday) at 3AM, and the domain(s) was registered later that same day, doesn't that tell you it was probably someone who got really pissed and did the only thing they could think of to get back at MS?

Plus, the fact that they plant the MS Marketing and Legal people's phone number and location tells me that this is not a MS "viral" website. It has none of the telltales of one: wannabe's pretending to be "hip", cool graphics and drawings that just happened to appear, positive nonsense about how cool the product is. Instead, it's just what you'd expect from a fairly web-savvy person or people who want to get back at MS for their inconsideration, or at least tell them it was NOT okay and maybe stop them from doing it again.

And as someone who used to live next to a club/bar -- while you eventually get used to the sound of laughter and shouting, thimping bass and loud music is still NOT ACCEPTABLE. There are strict regulations over how much noise a club can make from the outside, and they tend to be very well insulated. You'd have to be a total jerk to think you can just drive up and start blasting annoying music in the middle of the street.

Oh wait. Maybe that's the segment MS is trying to appeal to...

[Jeff @ Feb 26th 2007 12:22PM]

Too much coincidence for it not to be a viral marketing ploy. The "competition grade stereo" reference is on both websites and to be honest, if some ass was blasting his music in the middle of the night, I think the last thing I would consider would be how professionally installed his system was.

[Andy S. @ Feb 26th 2007 11:57AM]

It had to be MS behind this, because no single person could be enough of a tool to own both a Zune *and* an FJ Cruiser.

[Wake Up Microsoft @ Feb 26th 2007 12:26PM]

Wisconsin - au contraire. I registered the sites using AnonDom to keep any of the blogosphere from harassing my personal life. Feel free to drop me a line at my email address, [e-mail]. I'd happily give you a ring and chat about the incident.

[Blair @ Feb 26th 2007 1:18PM]

Oh give me a break. Sure it was annoying and probably woke some people up, but there is NO WAY that they should give you retribution. That's just asinine. Get a life.

[FIR3BRDRACR @ Feb 26th 2007 1:45PM]

"Restitution" huh? How about everyone disturbed gets a free Zune..
Done, case closed.

[John Doe @ Feb 26th 2007 2:59PM]

They want some restitution, not a punishment. :-P

[eliasgreydrummer @ Feb 26th 2007 2:00PM]

I believe this is the grandest irony I've seen this week. First off, it is three ugly as sin products: Zune, JBL(they sound nice but come on, can car audio get more plain?) and the toyota FJ Cruiser. They are all trying to look cool driving in front of a NY club at 3 in the morning with music blaring. The song that was playing was "I'm Bringing Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake. Three very unsexy products being very unsexily loud. It's like those three creepy geeky dudes that were always friends with all your girlfriends because they are "sweet" getting in a car and blaring horrible and ironic music just to piss you off. If I lived there, I'd be out for legal blood.

Talk about Microsoft being desparate. You make Operating Systems(poorly) and XBOX 360's(wonderfully), stick to those. Leave MP3 players to Sansa, Apple, Samsung, Sennheiser, iRiver or hell, anyone but you.

[John Doe @ Feb 26th 2007 2:55PM]

That kinda shit will get you shot in NYC depending on where you are. Nice.

[Rick Lyon @ Feb 26th 2007 3:11PM]

I hope the mp3s are encoded at 320kb at least or they will be blasting crap over that system.

[Pop @ Feb 26th 2007 3:34PM]

New York peace?

You've never been there, have you? :-)

[JML @ Feb 26th 2007 3:53PM]

Come on, like this is really a big deal? Must be a slow news day.

I live in an apartment complex in the suburbs, and ANYONE that has lived in a dorm or apartment complex knows, this stuff happens all the time. Someone pulls up and parks with their bass cranked to get attention. The pictures shake for a few minutes, they shut the car off or move on, and you roll over and go back to sleep. You people sound like a bunch of old fogeys.

If they were out there long enough to deserve to pay restitution they would have gotten a ticket from the cops.

[David @ Feb 26th 2007 4:17PM]

Uhh.. JBL? Competition grade? You gotta be joking..

[H @ Feb 26th 2007 4:40PM]

Does MS just hire idiots for their marketing department? Seriously. 3AM blasting your music?

[Josh @ Feb 27th 2007 12:03AM]

restitution!? are you joking? that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You live in NYC, across the street from a club. If it bothers you that much, call the police and file a noise complaint. Microsoft should come up with better ways of promoting their products, but that doesn't mean they owe you anything.

Also, I see no mention of how long this went on. Were they just blaring Sexyback for 3 minutes or was it still going 2 hours later?

[I'm Lovin' It! @ Feb 27th 2007 12:46AM]

i know the people that did this and it was done on a whim to drum up business. no conspiracy theories needed. and guess what? the company that makes the device are being old men in suits about it. i'm surprised you didn't know that.

[Geoff @ Feb 27th 2007 1:41PM]

Waaaaa!

I got woken up by loud music. Boo-fuckin-hoo.

I swear to god people are so whiny these days. These people obviously lived right next to a (rather popular from the looks of it) nightclub. Obviously there will be loud music and outrageous promotions by the likes of, huh! get this! a music player corporation! SHOCKING! Seriously these guys need to relax and deal with the fact that they got 1 hour less of sleep than they usually would.

I will cry for them if it helps.

[Tim @ Feb 28th 2007 4:22PM]

The Zune team didn't have anything to do with it at least. And fortunately it wasn't done in Boston, where it would have probably been mistaken for terrorist activity and blown up.

http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/02/28/sorry-new-york.aspx

[mos def @ Feb 28th 2007 4:35PM]

I'll admit I would be pissed if a bass pumping FJ Cruiser woke me up at 3am, but when you live across the street from a club you really can't be surprised at something like this. I mean, come on... Is this really the first time you've heard a guy blast music in his SUV while sitting in front of a club? This is New York friggin city. The only reason Mr. Wakeupmicrosoft made a site and a video about this incident is beacause he thought he could get a payday out of it.

I bet the SUV isn't even owned by Microsoft, but a 3rd party.

[J. Jams @ Feb 28th 2007 9:29PM]

First of all, I know for a FACT that the individuals involved
apologized PERSONALLY. Microsoft never told them to do what they did,
and they weren't even promoting, per se. They were having fun with
friends. Albeit, there was indeed poor judgment involved, doing what
they did at that hour, and they will be the first to admit that.

How do I know? They're very good friends of mine.

And they both got fired.

So I KNOW that you got a PERSONAL apology, and two people lost their
jobs. What more "restitution" do you need?

But I guess I need to attack you personally to get posted in the "Hate
Mail." Umm...get a hobby? Get off your high horse? Move to the
suburbs? Find more dignified ways to get the attention you obviously
so desperately crave? Find an editing job, since you apparently have
an excellent knack for pretentiously pointing out the grammatical
errors of others? (Feel free to correct mine!)

If you have any decency, you will post this somewhere on your site,
and end this absurd "campaign," so that everyone knows that you got
what you wanted "more than anything" -- an apology (and the
comeuppance of knowing that two great people lost great jobs over
this...right?).

And by the way, "Mr. Lower East Side," I doubt you would have set foot
in your neighborhood a decade or so ago, so don't act like you live in
the suburbs just because you can afford an area that has become more
quickly gentrified than any other in the U.S., in recent history.
(Check it out -- FACTS!)

Yours,
The Coalition Against Whiny Douchebags That Should Have Moved To The
Suburbs Five Years Ago (CAWDTSHMTTSFYA)

[idfk @ Mar 1st 2007 3:50AM]

eliasgreydrummer, Your a moron.

But now on topic.
I feel that EVERYONE within a 1 mile raius should be given a few thousand dollars each. No ONE should actually have to listen to Justin Timberlake!!!

Thanks M$ for not preloading that crap on the zune I bought!