If you’ve ever witnessed the birth of a really really bad marketing concept – one which somehow evades every attempt to kill it – then you’ll experience a familiar sensation while watching this “viral” video for an “ultra-thin” laptop (small children and sensitive copywriters may want to turn away):
It’s like a slow motion train wreck (with a PC enema added to make things that much more uncomfortable). I find myself too horrified to watch, but too fascinated to turn away.
Whether this nightmare – found via MSNBC’s “The Ten Most Uncool Moments In Tech” – actually helped MSI, ahem … crack their target market isn’t clear (though you can be sure I’d wash my hands after demoing on of their laptops).
The article also highlights nine other truly ugly moments in high-tech marketing, including the infamous Microsoft Songsmith video (which remains a powerful argument in support of government censorship).
Keep writing (but only stuff you’d show your mother), Tom Chandler
i’m not sure what’s worse, the outfits or the butt clenching. bleh. seems like a good stunt for mtv’s jackass.
You gotta feel sorry for the actors, who had to believe this was going to be their big break.
I’d love to have been in the “creative” meetings where a group of people somehow decided that the outfits – and the idea – represented inspiration (not desperation).