Face? Meet palm. Microsoft's decided to pull out of its co-sponsoring of "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" after execs attending the taping came to the sudden conclusion that Family Guy-caliber jokes were to be told, tackling such topics as "deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest." We're not sure how 10 years and over 120 episodes of offensive precedence bypassed Redmond's radars, but man, that's gotta be some strong personal bubble. A Microsoft representative said of the taping, "it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand." The show will still air November 8th, pre-recorded Microsoft references in tow, but with a new as-of-yet unnamed sponsor. All we have of the now-doomed partnership is this brief video from the Windows "741" student site -- it's after the break.
Brian: Stewie, what are you doing with my laptop? Stewie: I just put the new version of Open SuSe on it. Briah: Oh... you customizing your desktop with widgets on KDE 4.0? Brian: Using Cedega and Open Office to use your windows applications? Stewie: Actually, I'm using GIMP to make a giant burning windows 7 Logo.
Brian: Michael, what are you doing with my laptop? Michael: I am making a completely irrelevant comment in reponse to the first comment because I have an unrealistic sense of worth and think everybody wants to see what I have to write. Brian: Douche!
Microsoft pulling a scam? without having to actually pay?
Hmm, no news here... except that its not consumers, Apple, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Caldera, Novell, Symantec, Sybase, Burst, RealNetworks, Netscape, Opera, TomTom, Cygnus, Free Open Source Software?
@Unix, it only says MS backed out of co-sponsoring the episode. The sponsorship was paying to run the show "commercial" free, meaning every 10 minutes they don't have the 3 minute commercial block. It does not say anything about them skipping out of paying for commercials like the video shown here.
Likely they entered some type of contract to sponsor the program which I'd expect to include a termination fee in the cancellation clause... But I guess it's still a good deal for them if they got the Win7 references in without having to pay the full bill.
I dont think it's that so much as MS was maybe expecting FG to take some of their more crude humor down a notch.
And to be honest, if MS was sponsoring this show to the extent that I understand, the FG people should have been working more closely with them to ensure the final product wasn't something that MS had to ultimately walk away from.
Microsoft is so stupid. How did they not know the show was going to make fun of ethnicity's and everything else. That's what they do, make fun of everything and anything. The world is going too politically correct, its sickening. If I want to stereotype blacks, jews, nazis, muslims, asians, old people, women, mexcians, and so on. IT IS MY RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN TO DO SO. Freedom of Speech anyone? Its Freedom of speech, not freedom of speech unless it offends someone.
Yes, MS should have known a bit more of the shtick that Family Guy is known for, but the FG people should know that they were in fact producing an episode that was a sudo-infomercial, and thus cant just fly off like it's just any other stock FG episode.
If the FG writers wanted to just do their own thing, then they should have never agreed to a episode partnership.
Whomever was the guy from Microsoft that was the head man for this, should have been keeping the company more informed about how this thing was turning out. You cant just have an episode written in the dark just to have the suits walk out on the screening.
Simple logic. If you are going to sponsor a cult TV show with a very well established type of adult humour, at least watch the damn thing BEFORE you start bragging about it.
The whole idea of sponsoring a show is to get your company name linked with the show. Not to make an advert with the show's characters.
If Microsoft's advertising team is so uninformed that they wanted 7 to be associated with what some see as childish offensive comedy, that is their look out. I'm guessing that they got as list of ratings for the time slot, and picked the one they thought might be willing to accept sponsorship for show placement within the advert.
Personally, I can see the possibilities for lots of Windows 7 gags mixed in with the usual plot.
Perhaps they will do an OS show where Brian becomes an Apple Genius, and uncovers child labour workshops in the basement of each store, while Cragmire gets an incredibly aggressive virus from a porn site, and gets pulled into a porn Tron world. And Meg becomes a kernel hacker to make friends.
This reminds me of the time I got into a fight with a Macintosh guest account. I'll spare you the details, but it suffices to say that it left a scar...
I ain't no fanboy - you have no idea how hard it was to make an obvious joke without sounding like a fanboy, but as you and I know, it's effing impossible...
If the jokes and advertisements for Windows 7 include any more of the exchanges included in the 30 second Youtube clip linked in the article I hope they scrub the whole F'n thing. I'm pretty sure that clip is something you couldn't make better with a bag of weed.
"Microsoft ditches Family Guy special... for being Family Guy"
For not being funny? For tirelessly using out-of-left field humor with no relevance to plot? For devolving characters to caricatures? Hear, hear, Microsoft.
I don't really have qualms about the people that don't like this show, in fact I see their point in some cases; However, I'd like to make the case that even stupid comedy is comedy, it's just a brand that requires the watcher to let go a lot of the eloquence and wit of more seriously written humor in order to cherish what is essentially just plain silly. Now in that vein, I think Family Guy does an excellent job (sometimes) giving the stupid humor genre its due. If you're so heavily turned off by the vulgarity and stupidity outlined in Family Guy, I suggest watching a season of Drawn Together. I'm not saying Family Guy as a whole is great by any stretch, but opening our acceptance of different forms of comedy should be more important than shamelessly pinning the show as a corner for the drudges of society.
Well that's just hilarious. Microsoft Marketing does it again. And again. Seriously, Redmond, fire all your clowns and hire me, I'll do a better job. And my dog. My dog would do a better job too, and works for treats.
Me too, I would love to see Apple sponsor a show that makes jokes of Jews, the holocaust, Asians, African Americans, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. That would be hilarious.
..right, but that's not my point, ignoramous. My point is that to tie a product and or company name to that kind of "comedy" is just stupid. PR people could tell you a little bit about that.
@Jordan "..right, but that's not my point, ignoramous. My point is that to tie a product and or company name to that kind of "comedy" is just stupid. PR people could tell you a little bit about that." - You mean like the ones who buy advertising during Family Guy? Those PR guys?
I'm sure it would have had some humor for some people... But smart long term move. (it is one thing to humor a segment of your customer base, it is another to humor a segment of your customer base and possibly offend and/or damage another segment of your customer base.
I used to love Family Guy, and I mean LOVE it. However, I've lost a lot of respect for it. I don't think my sense of humor has changed, as other things I used to find funny still are, but rather I think Family Guy has gone over the top. They make jokes about things that ARE NOT funny. I love the typical Jew joke more than anyone else, but they make fun of topics that just shouldn't be touched. I used to love how only Family Guy could waste so much time on a lame joke, but their style of comedy is just not funny. I hate to say it, but unless Family Guy turns around soon, I hope they kill it before I've lost ALL respect for it.
Remember that time you used to love Family Guy and then the entire cast came to your house and raped you? Yeah, that made perfect sense once upon a time.
I'm sure it would have had some humor for some people... But smart long term move. (it is one thing to humor a segment of your customer base, it is another to humor a segment of your customer base and possibly offend and/or damage another segment of your customer base.
Well they dodged the bullet, if they had actually made and shown a non-sarcastic windows ad show I would have never watched that show or parts of it again.
So Microsoft lets it get produced, then bitches around and now the episode has to air with free Windows advertising? That is one clever move, Microsoft. Hopefully Seth McFarlane repays them in the next season.
OR Microsoft realized that they would by tying their product and name to a show that makes really racist and crude jokes about many different groups of people. Rather than creating a PR nightmare, they pulled out. Good move on Microsoft's part.
"Hopefully Seth McFarlane repays them in the next season."
And what? He zings them, it's talked about endlessly for 2 days on TUAW, Daring Fireball and Roughly Drafted, and the whole meme STILL reaches something WAY less than 1% of the Windows audience.
Or McFarlane took MS's stupid bribe money and then turned around and made an episode that makes fun of Microsoft and Windows 7 (eg. complimenting it, over the top and sarcastically), and MS cautiously stepped away from it like it was a ticking time bomb.
Obviously Seth McFarlane, a smart, funny, totally rich dude, is a Mac user. You think he wants to sellout for some Redmond green?
Congrats Microsoft. Now your advertising is... an interview with Josh from Engadget and a few thousand clams to bribe Paul Thurrott.
"Obviously Seth McFarlane, a smart, funny, totally rich dude, is a Mac user."
Yeah because that completely makes sense. Besides, he used to be funny, he's not anymore. Give it 2 more years and Fox will be dropping all 3 of his shows in no time.
"Obviously Seth McFarlane, a smart, funny, totally rich dude, is a Mac user. You think he wants to sellout for some Redmond green?"
Gee, thanks for reminding me the caliber of morons that come here to post stupid stuff.
If you think Seth or whoever makes a living would care about a freaking computer brand company that doesn't fill his pockets directly... I like these morons better when Intel was crap and your enemy.
family guy is very funny..but after a while it's hard to understand the jokes b'cos too many pop culture references of US..it's hard for non-US to understand
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posted Oct 26th 2009 6:46PM
Aww... I was actually looking forward to this. :|
If you actually read it, you'll see that it says it will still be airing, just with a different sponsor.
Brian: Stewie, what are you doing with my laptop?
Stewie: I just put the new version of Open SuSe on it.
Briah: Oh... you customizing your desktop with widgets on KDE 4.0?
Brian: Using Cedega and Open Office to use your windows applications?
Stewie: Actually, I'm using GIMP to make a giant burning windows 7 Logo.
Brian: Michael, what are you doing with my laptop?
Michael: I am making a completely irrelevant comment in reponse to the first comment because I have an unrealistic sense of worth and think everybody wants to see what I have to write.
Brian: Douche!
I hope Google sponsors it!!!!!
Microsoft just pulled off an incredibly clever scam -- got the Windows 7 references without having to actually pay to sponsor the program!
of course, this being Family Guy, the references are probably not exactly glowing reviews.
Microsoft pulling a scam? without having to actually pay?
Hmm, no news here... except that its not consumers, Apple, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Caldera, Novell, Symantec, Sybase, Burst, RealNetworks, Netscape, Opera, TomTom, Cygnus, Free Open Source Software?
@Unix, it only says MS backed out of co-sponsoring the episode. The sponsorship was paying to run the show "commercial" free, meaning every 10 minutes they don't have the 3 minute commercial block. It does not say anything about them skipping out of paying for commercials like the video shown here.
Likely they entered some type of contract to sponsor the program which I'd expect to include a termination fee in the cancellation clause... But I guess it's still a good deal for them if they got the Win7 references in without having to pay the full bill.
It would be funny if Apple decided to sponsor it. Not a fan of Apple, I just think it would be funny.
Political correctness strikes again!
I dont think it's that so much as MS was maybe expecting FG to take some of their more crude humor down a notch.
And to be honest, if MS was sponsoring this show to the extent that I understand, the FG people should have been working more closely with them to ensure the final product wasn't something that MS had to ultimately walk away from.
@ Look_around_you
Why would the artists and writers alter their program to suit a sponsor? If Microsoft thought that they clearly aren't tuned into popular culture
Microsoft is so stupid. How did they not know the show was going to make fun of ethnicity's and everything else. That's what they do, make fun of everything and anything. The world is going too politically correct, its sickening. If I want to stereotype blacks, jews, nazis, muslims, asians, old people, women, mexcians, and so on. IT IS MY RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN TO DO SO. Freedom of Speech anyone? Its Freedom of speech, not freedom of speech unless it offends someone.
Uh, because they paid for the episode?
Yes, MS should have known a bit more of the shtick that Family Guy is known for, but the FG people should know that they were in fact producing an episode that was a sudo-infomercial, and thus cant just fly off like it's just any other stock FG episode.
If the FG writers wanted to just do their own thing, then they should have never agreed to a episode partnership.
Whomever was the guy from Microsoft that was the head man for this, should have been keeping the company more informed about how this thing was turning out. You cant just have an episode written in the dark just to have the suits walk out on the screening.
But then it wouldn't be family guy.
Simple logic. If you are going to sponsor a cult TV show with a very well established type of adult humour, at least watch the damn thing BEFORE you start bragging about it.
The whole idea of sponsoring a show is to get your company name linked with the show. Not to make an advert with the show's characters.
If Microsoft's advertising team is so uninformed that they wanted 7 to be associated with what some see as childish offensive comedy, that is their look out.
I'm guessing that they got as list of ratings for the time slot, and picked the one they thought might be willing to accept sponsorship for show placement within the advert.
Personally, I can see the possibilities for lots of Windows 7 gags mixed in with the usual plot.
Perhaps they will do an OS show where Brian becomes an Apple Genius, and uncovers child labour workshops in the basement of each store, while Cragmire gets an incredibly aggressive virus from a porn site, and gets pulled into a porn Tron world. And Meg becomes a kernel hacker to make friends.
Cragmire?
Psst, Derrik; jumping to conclusions based on appearance, religion, their political affiliates, etc., is generally offensive.
Derrik-
Hate speech is not covered, dingus.
Apple will be the new sponsor!
probably, because apple doesn't care about what anyone thinks or wants
Oh I hope so!!!!
This reminds me of the time I got into a fight with a Macintosh guest account. I'll spare you the details, but it suffices to say that it left a scar...
@sacapuntas
Ouch, that one must have stung the Mac crowd hard!
Imagine a cartoon Paul A. Chapel in family guy...
Yea like they did when they sponsored that Simpsons episode. Oh, wait...
Crisis averted. Next?
What, it plays crysis?!
Lovely setup, perfect finish.
You get to share a giant birthday cookie, courtesy of the mall.
Seriously? There's no Fox up in Redmond? I mean, Fox is useless in every other respect, but really now.
Family Guy? Yeah, Fox is useless in that respect.
And they say Microsoft is out of touch...
I dont understand how very crude jokes that would be tied to MS, if they stayed on, is somehow being in touch.
idk, I thought those Seinfeld/Gates commercials showed how in tune they were with the common folk
Are you telling me that the Win7 crowd and the Holocaust crowd aren't one circle on the Venn diagram?
Dumb marketing is dumb.
Funny you should say that.. I've noticed a LOT of apple fanbois rocking VW's..... Venn diagram: you're doing it wrong.
? What I do wrong?
I ain't no fanboy - you have no idea how hard it was to make an obvious joke without sounding like a fanboy, but as you and I know, it's effing impossible...
Oh man, Microsoft. I hope you're ready for the wrath of Seth McFarlane.
yeah, because he really tore South Park a new one.
YES! Please Seth take it out on them!!!
Seth FTW
Family guy is for idiots.
Also, I predict, because of the same idiots, this comment will be invisible in a few hours.
the world is full of surprises aint it? you've got a highest rank.
"Paparazzis Thanks Twitter For Making Their Jobs Easier"
Engadget and Family Guy aren't for the same kind of people, that's why your comment got the highest rank.
The last time I said the same thing I was lowest ranked twice. :/
Wait, if they are leaving the jokes in, then don't they still get the advertising?
If the jokes and advertisements for Windows 7 include any more of the exchanges included in the 30 second Youtube clip linked in the article I hope they scrub the whole F'n thing. I'm pretty sure that clip is something you couldn't make better with a bag of weed.
Well, they should of not done this. Family Guy for sure make a joke about this now...
I wouldn't be too sure about that. Steve Ballmer will just take an idea ball out of the manatee tank
"Microsoft ditches Family Guy special... for being Family Guy"
For not being funny? For tirelessly using out-of-left field humor with no relevance to plot? For devolving characters to caricatures? Hear, hear, Microsoft.
Inconceivable!!
No sense of humor guy has no sense of humor
you watch family guy for the plot?
uncreative meme zombie has no creativity.
Nope, FMC, I don't watch Family Guy at all. I could elaborate, but the easiest review will only require two words from me.
Shit sandwich.
I have most seasons of Shit Sandwich on DVD. I pay good money for it too. Best thing since the sliced Shit Bread it's made with.
Family guy has helped reduce the average iq of the country.
I don't really have qualms about the people that don't like this show, in fact I see their point in some cases; However, I'd like to make the case that even stupid comedy is comedy, it's just a brand that requires the watcher to let go a lot of the eloquence and wit of more seriously written humor in order to cherish what is essentially just plain silly. Now in that vein, I think Family Guy does an excellent job (sometimes) giving the stupid humor genre its due. If you're so heavily turned off by the vulgarity and stupidity outlined in Family Guy, I suggest watching a season of Drawn Together. I'm not saying Family Guy as a whole is great by any stretch, but opening our acceptance of different forms of comedy should be more important than shamelessly pinning the show as a corner for the drudges of society.
Well that's just hilarious. Microsoft Marketing does it again. And again. Seriously, Redmond, fire all your clowns and hire me, I'll do a better job. And my dog. My dog would do a better job too, and works for treats.
I think treats cost more than cocaine in bulk. Which is probably all they are feeding the marketing team.
Any company that pulls out of advertising on Fox is OK in my book. Murdoch should pay a REAL price for his propaganda division.
You mean Faux News?
OMG I hope Apple Sponsors it!!!! Talk about Hilarious!
Me too, I would love to see Apple sponsor a show that makes jokes of Jews, the holocaust, Asians, African Americans, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. That would be hilarious.
...pfft whatever dude. Minorites make fun of the majority as well.
..right, but that's not my point, ignoramous. My point is that to tie a product and or company name to that kind of "comedy" is just stupid. PR people could tell you a little bit about that.
@Jordan "..right, but that's not my point, ignoramous. My point is that to tie a product and or company name to that kind of "comedy" is just stupid. PR people could tell you a little bit about that." - You mean like the ones who buy advertising during Family Guy? Those PR guys?
@WmPenn
You do realize that PR and Marketing are different, right?
I hear they got a better deal from South Park
Family Guy has become garbage over the last few years.
"Over the last few years"? It's only been airing "few years"...
@ Archon
Maybe if you started watching in 2005. The first three seasons (99-03) were actually funny.
Yes. And?
I'm sure it would have had some humor for some people... But smart long term move. (it is one thing to humor a segment of your customer base, it is another to humor a segment of your customer base and possibly offend and/or damage another segment of your customer base.
I used to love Family Guy, and I mean LOVE it. However, I've lost a lot of respect for it. I don't think my sense of humor has changed, as other things I used to find funny still are, but rather I think Family Guy has gone over the top. They make jokes about things that ARE NOT funny. I love the typical Jew joke more than anyone else, but they make fun of topics that just shouldn't be touched. I used to love how only Family Guy could waste so much time on a lame joke, but their style of comedy is just not funny. I hate to say it, but unless Family Guy turns around soon, I hope they kill it before I've lost ALL respect for it.
Remember that time you used to love Family Guy and then the entire cast came to your house and raped you? Yeah, that made perfect sense once upon a time.
If only your comment made sense...
LOL @BigD145
burn.
I'm sure it would have had some humor for some people... But smart long term move. (it is one thing to humor a segment of your customer base, it is another to humor a segment of your customer base and possibly offend and/or damage another segment of your customer base.
Well they dodged the bullet, if they had actually made and shown a non-sarcastic windows ad show I would have never watched that show or parts of it again.
So Microsoft lets it get produced, then bitches around and now the episode has to air with free Windows advertising? That is one clever move, Microsoft. Hopefully Seth McFarlane repays them in the next season.
OR Microsoft realized that they would by tying their product and name to a show that makes really racist and crude jokes about many different groups of people. Rather than creating a PR nightmare, they pulled out. Good move on Microsoft's part.
"Hopefully Seth McFarlane repays them in the next season."
And what? He zings them, it's talked about endlessly for 2 days on TUAW, Daring Fireball and Roughly Drafted, and the whole meme STILL reaches something WAY less than 1% of the Windows audience.
Oh snap, Redmond's gonna feel THAT sting.
/s
Or McFarlane took MS's stupid bribe money and then turned around and made an episode that makes fun of Microsoft and Windows 7 (eg. complimenting it, over the top and sarcastically), and MS cautiously stepped away from it like it was a ticking time bomb.
Obviously Seth McFarlane, a smart, funny, totally rich dude, is a Mac user. You think he wants to sellout for some Redmond green?
Congrats Microsoft. Now your advertising is... an interview with Josh from Engadget and a few thousand clams to bribe Paul Thurrott.
Good job.
"Obviously Seth McFarlane, a smart, funny, totally rich dude, is a Mac user."
Yeah because that completely makes sense. Besides, he used to be funny, he's not anymore. Give it 2 more years and Fox will be dropping all 3 of his shows in no time.
"Obviously Seth McFarlane, a smart, funny, totally rich dude, is a Mac user. You think he wants to sellout for some Redmond green?"
Gee, thanks for reminding me the caliber of morons that come here to post stupid stuff.
If you think Seth or whoever makes a living would care about a freaking computer brand company that doesn't fill his pockets directly... I like these morons better when Intel was crap and your enemy.
Didn't family guy ridicule apple several times? Or was that another show.
Family Guy is the shit!
"Family Guy is shit!"
Fixed that for you.
INFIDEL!!!
i kill you
I guess the Manatees didn't care about MS's image.
family guy is very funny..but after a while it's hard to understand the jokes b'cos too many pop culture references of US..it's hard for non-US to understand
Microsoft needs to take the USB Stick out of their butt.
Im gonna go buy an Apple now just for this.
You GO girl!
Oh look, Strawman me!
Must have been the same guys that signed Roseanne Barr to sing the National Anthem.
Good. Family Guy sucks ass anyway.
I"m I the only one that thought stewie was going to say "no, i just dual booted my hackintosh"
Family guy is extremely popular yet it also lacks quality and kind of sucks...just like Microsoft.
I thought it was perfect for them to combine.