Microsoft PDC video showcases boy band, worst judgment ever
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Oct 7th 2008 1:28PM
posted Oct 7th 2008 1:28PM
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Seriously?
Even as a joke that's not funny...
Well, so what?
It's goofy and campy. Like all of the other videos MS puts on for their confabs. You would think by now that people would get that they do it on purpose, yet it seems that the same group of yahoos still loose their $hit whenever it's posted somewhere.
Gates and Seinfeld were funny even if they had no point. This was painful to watch.
Oh come on, nobody's ever heard of tongue-in-cheek?
In the last few months we have:
- Ballmer's "I'm a PC"
- Canning Bill & Jerry (which worked for me..... Gimme a little robot Bill!)
- This Boyband garbage
Are Microsoft *trying* to lose the plot?
Even as a joke, fail. Once again Microsoft proves they are absolutely clueless when it comes to advertising. The only commercial I've seen recently by them that I liked was the "I'm a PC" commercial and I even question the effectiveness of that one.
I don't know how the proliferation of Vista is going, and I do believe those who use it and say it's good. But XP is damn good too and I don't have to spend any extra money to keep using it. Upgrading to Vista is going to cost me at least $500 if not a grand because I have to build an entirely new computer. If Microsoft wants us XP users to upgrade this isn't going to do it. But, I still plan to upgrade to Windows 7 when it comes out.
I guess when you control 90+ percent of the market you don't have to worry about what kind of advertising you do.
What...the hell.....was that?
This was marginally worse than the Seinfeld/Gates garbage.
I think they’ve seen the popularity of the CERN rap and tried to do something similar. I think Microsoft are concentrating a bit too much on improving their image and not enough on improving their products.
That said, I thought it was quite entertaining and while it’s not going to make me by Windows Vista SP2 (aka Windows 7) it did make me like Microsoft a bit more.
Like others said, that is just terrible. OBVIOUSLY, it is tongue-in-cheek, I think everyone gets that. But it doesn't improve it at all.
To @Charles who said
"That said, I thought it was quite entertaining and while it’s not going to make me by Windows Vista SP2 (aka Windows 7) it did make me like Microsoft a bit more."
You like Microsoft more because of that video? Are you kidding?
Wow Fred, your Microsoft apologetics know no bounds.
You probably thought the sweaty Ballmer dance video was insignificant too.
Where is your shame?
@ fred, wouldn't it be in the interest of fairness to add your job title in the Microsoft PR department to every one of your comments?
No one but a PR person could possibly spin this video atrocity to the positive.
Face. Palm. Cry.
Plz Microsoft, just fire your entire marketing department. Even the die-hard supporters are being put off now...
And it is all edited on a MacBook Pro.
That would explain a lot.
Here is the counter-part/reply and will help clear it out of your head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_moia-oVI
I do think it's funny that Microsoft needs to use Apple laptops and Mac OS X for their own commercials...
Hey, Microsoft! If you love Apple so much why don't you mergy them?!?!
Oh Engadget, why must you put a negative spin on everything Microsoft?
um, did you see the video?
Did you see the ending?
Yes, I saw the ending and its still the worst thing I've ever seen. Even as a play on being the worst thing I've ever seen.
If it was all for the ending, why would we need to sit through three minutes of that?
Also, they should try hiring ACTORS next time.
"I'll see myself out."
Please do, Microsoft. Please do.
Yes.
Maybe.
That was absolutely hideous.
"leave the coffee brian"
the cup was empty........ beeeeootch
How have we come to this?
"Leave the coffee Brian" LOL
It's funny because the cup was empty.
Maybe that's why she wanted the cup?
1 girl, 1 cup?
Why ?
its the 90's all over again. failed again just like bill and jerry ads
I liked the Bill and Jerry ads :(
We all did Toxic. Thats why Jeff will be sporting a brand new, shiny- low ranked tag.
I liked them. They were pointless (kinda like a Seinfeld episode), but I liked them.
This is ten times worse than being rickrolled!
Shame on you Engadget.
This is the new rickrolled, what would be even worse was if someone made a mashup of a rickrolled microsoft boy band video !!!
This has been added to my list of links to use :p
That was a WTF?!
Microsoft told me they intended for it to be FTW!! I guess the video choreographer must have gotten the sequence of the letters wrong :S
I just threw up a little.
i just threw up A LOT.
Too long. But I can see where the funny is. Seems like it'd be more geared towards the middle-aged.
They were going the "Saturday Night Live" route- funny idea, too long.
I'm 40 and had to skip straight to the ending to survive.
You mean middle-ages? That's where I wish to be right now so I can crucify everyone responsible for this. That hurt, physically hurt.
It just started my midlife crisis
Engadget, you do know that this is supposed to be a joke right?
Key words "supposed to be". It's painfully unfunny. Kind of like the awkward cousin who always manages to embarrass himself in spectacular fashion every year at the family BBQ. Although you feel bad for him there is nothing you can really do to help him.
Oh please.
All this is is a pathetic excuse for the self-righteous, MS bashers to start in with their windbag rants about how "terrible" and "stupid" Microsoft is for having the nerve to release a video for their conference that doesn't live up to the apparently agreed on and ratified standards of the National Conference Video Makers of America.
@Fred: I am a pragmatic computer user. I believe in using the right tool for the job. None of the current OS options are perfect IMO but they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Now with that out of the way, if you can't see that this vid is a crime against humanity then you need to have your glasses prescription checked. Who made the video doesn't matter. It is awful.
The "Via Wired" link includes some amusing, balanced commentary, not just a snarky headline.
To everyone saying "Heeey it's a jokeee"..
We know this.
Point is, it's a terrible and cringe worthy execution and shows how out of touch Microsoft can be.
That was SO not safe for work. Loud laughter not appropriate for office environment. ROTFLMAO.
I just watched the Hadron rap to get this out of my head. Thanks, Engadget.
Wow ! What a rush !
The problem with Microsoft is that they have a corporate culture closer to IBM,
yet they are trying to be hip and cool like Apple and Google!
Marvel at the results!
WRONG!! See a wired article entitled Apple is evil, and you will see that actually Microsoft's corporate culture is closer to that of Google's in ways of transparency and how they deal with workers/customers. In contrast since when has apple ever listened to anything a customer has asked, and when have they ever EVER released anything about what they are doing? They behave like a button-down old style corporation, which isnt a bad thing. They difference that you are talking about is in advertising, in which apple can create this hip, cool, almost lust about its product that no company has ever been able to match, especially not Microsoft. But the way the companies actually behave is different from their advertising. Apple's culture is not "hip" its old and outdated, but it works for them. I realize a low rank is impending for this comment
Okay, then:
MS has a culture like IBM and Apple. They're trying to be hip and cool like Google, and like NeXT before Google.
It's still a can of sweetened condensed fail.
Hint to Microsoft: if you wanted to do this idea, you should have either cut Brian's fail a _lot_ shorter, or made his dispatch (a _lot_)^2 more dramatic. Walls splattered with blood and guts is an absolute must. "Leave the coffee" just doesn't cut it.
Apple is like an elite group, that is why they hire very few people. They don't listen to what people want, they create new product needs, much like fashion designers do. They do everything under one roof, so they have to be efficient to be profitable.
Google has the culture of an internet company. Relaxed and light hearted, similar to yahoo!
Microsoft earns its living from productivity software and services like IBM. They have as much history in consumer electronics as does Apple in the enterprise. none! They just happened to branch off to other sectors(internet search, pmps) because they don't know what to do with all their money!
How can a company as huge as Microsoft be so out of touch with today's culture? It's pretty embarrassing.
I think you answered your own question there...
freedom of speech gone out of hand...
They really have no idea do they? This was abysmal xD
Did you think they set out to do a really "awesome" music video that could get them a VMA, or did they just put together something goofy for their conference.
Here's a hint: It's not the first choice.
@fred
You don't expect a masterpiece for something like this, of course not! LOL
But FFS anyone with an ounce of creativity could do better than this!
It's N'ActiveSync.... or the Backup Boys... or Windows 98 Degrees. I could go on forever...
No, I think you've covered them all.
well done sir!
Pretty silly and funny..
Would have been better if Monkeyboy Ballmer led the "boy band"..
I'd like to see him do some crunk rap about developers honestly...
i think the humor of this video has been lost on alot of you..
No, I'm pretty sure this video is entirely devoid of humor.. Unless you really enjoy the painfully-obvious, slapstick "worlds funniest videos" type of crap...
FAI-
It's not even worthy of that!
Thank you Engadget for bringing this very informative video (without any description or context at all) to my attention. I have now been enlightent.... .
Come on engadget, do your research and give us a decent description of where this video is from and what it tries to do. Is it a commercial? An internal video? A mockumentary?
Engadget, you guys should be above stuff like this.
"Microsoft PDC video showcases boy band, worst judgment ever"
I see where the funny is *supposed* to be, but I just don't see the funny...
90's boy band clone with poor choreography and outdated dance step (cabbage patch WTF?) = fail w/ sucksauce
sitting through ENTIRE (10 to 15 secs would have done the trick) crappy music video to watch some dudes first day on the job fail = FAIL
Note to M$ Advert. Dept.: 2 FAILS don't = Funny; the stats stack to create EPIC FAIL.
"Note to M$ Advert. Dept.: 2 FAILS don't = Funny; the stats stack to create EPIC FAIL. "
This is suppose to be a tech site, where it is assumed that the people here actually have some ability to use logic.
So can you tell me why some people here are so beyond idiotic to not know that this isnt a flipping advertisement for TV.
Why would MS advertise PDC on TV?
THINK!
It's a public message (commercial) sponsored by the company. It does not matter what media it shows up on, or even if it is for public consumption. All company sponsored messages, whether they be speeches for a company meeting or commercials for web/tv/print, have to go through a companies public relations/advertising department. This is so the company can be assured of a consistent message that they have set approval guidelines in place for.
So, since I can assume you didn't stop to think about how a company actually creates something like this, I THINK it is time you took your own advice fred.
@kali4
Are you serious?
So MS has to make sure their videos are of a certain level so that a bunch of idiots on tech messageboards dont get "offended" when it gets posted?
Do you really think that MS gives a flying f@$k about the faux outrage that people here express over everything they do?
fred,
Yes I am serious. Most, if not, all (M$ included) medium to lagre companies pass anything "official" through a public relations/advertising department where they have a staff of people that make sure that ALL outgoing messages portray the company the way the Board members want it to be portrayed. This is a standard business practice. You see companies are really run by a bunch of people. They all have slightly different views on how to get things done; run an ad campaign, how to treat the press, etc. In order to present a unified front/vision to employees, stockholders, and the public; they start an Advertising or Public Relations Department.
No, I don't think M$ puts a lot of weight behind comments on blogs. If I REALLY wanted to make sure they saw my message I would have spammed every M$ email address I could have found. I just woke up this morning wnating to use the phrase "fail w/ sucksauce." My daily goal has not only been met, it now has been exceeded. I got to use it twice on the same topic!!! Thank you fred!
Fred... Stop embarrassing yourself by defending this video! Multiple posts in this thread? Let this one go. It wasn't funny, it's not excused because it wasn't meant for the general public, it's not a good look for Microsoft.
Holy crap, that's Tina Wood!
Haven't seen that gal in ages.....
Then I wasn't the only one who thought she looks and sounds very familiar..
Windows 7 my love is true, Now lemme use directory D to unlock your GPU!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Who cares! It's not like it's a Microsoft ad that the public at large will see on TV. It's for tech geeks for PDC who don't give fcuk and might get a giggle. All this stuff is usually cringe worthy and MS taking the piss out of themselves. This is on the ridiculously bad scale but still not an ad for Microsoft.
craptacular
I thought it was pretty funny. They did a good job. Tina Wood did good too.
I still prefer the Meaty Cheesy Boys.
"Cheese, meat, cheese, cheese, meat, and that's it!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifUJ5--4tjI
let your eyes and ears burn baby!!!
I mean, seriously... Do they not just ASSUME that this foolish nonsense will end up on youtube and people will mock them.
If they were trying to avoid the image if PC being a big fat loser, they missed. AGAIN.
These kinds of things certainly don't aid consumer perception.
Utter, gargantuan fail.
Utterly and completely pathetic.
OFFICIAL NOMINEE: Best Article of the Year
i have this sudden urge to kill myself
Unwatchable. Didn't make it past a minute. Another one of Microshaft's horrifically awful death throws? They are clueless.
Words fail me.
I have to admit I did *NOT* watch the whole thing.
It's hilarious.
...and I'm certain that was the intention.
Wait - why is Reggie Fils-Aime so excited about PDC and when did he join a boy band? (See: first man shown on screen singing.)
got about halfway through the video before i felt a vurp coming on... had to avert my eyes, and think about something happy
Some how epic fail just doesn't seem enough....
my eyes and ears are bleeding.
However, the engadget post below the link is highlarious.