MSFT: Feedback for the Vomit Ad Was Quite Good

Because Dean Cain was in the commerical too.

Earlier in the week we wrote about Microsoft’s latest Internet Explorer 8 TV commercial, which we believed was in bad taste and should never have made it past the drawing board of Microsoft’s marketing department. It involved a woman throwing up three times in under a minute -- once on the floor and twice on her husband (who had fallen in the original pool of puke and wasn’t standing up for who knows what reason). Originally meant to highlight the advantages of private browsing, most people just thought it was gross, prompting Microsoft to pull the ad.

However, instead of just removing the video and leaving at that, a Microsoft spokesman has said that much of the feedback about the ad was positive. The Redmond company told CNET that the reason they removed the video from the IE8 YouTube channel was because a few people found it disturbing but mostly, people liked it.

"We make a point of listening to our customers," said a Microsoft representative. "We created the OMGIGP video as a tongue-in-cheek look at the InPrivate Browsing feature of Internet Explorer 8, using the same irreverent humor that our customers told us they liked about other components of the Internet Explorer 8 marketing campaign. While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creative was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it."

Do you think Microsoft was right to remove the ad? Let us know in the comments below! For any curious commenters who have no idea what we’re talking about, the commercial is still available here. If you’re not into seeing women throw up multiple times in under a minute don’t watch it.

  • igot1forya
    Using IE8 makes my computer Vomit... What a memory hog!
    Reply
  • Pei-chen
    Only people that don’t watch The Simpsons, Family Guy or South Park would think this commercial is indecent. You know who you are; American Idol viewers.
    Reply
  • sylvez
    Futurama!
    Reply
  • dingumf
    Its pretty obvious the woman saw two girls one cup. That's the only thing that can make someone barf THREE times.
    Reply
  • dirtykid
    I agree, it had to be 2 girls 1 cup - made me puke 3 times in 15 seconds... On my router...
    Reply
  • zodiacfml
    glad they removed it since puking more than once is only funny to kids, yet, they made an effective ad for private browsing feature.
    Reply
  • 'Humor' like that might indeed fall into the category of 8 year old kids, not adults.
    Most likely she puked after seeing that her 'computer nerdy' husband used IE8!
    Seeing him lay there she probably vomited over him again as a repellent to that awful browser!

    You got to know most people go to the kitchen to eat something or to a bathroom break when ads and commercial is on. No sane person loves watching ads. But I stand amazed MS didn't get sued yet, for nearly choking someone to death after they got shocked seeing the commercial and their brownie got stuck in their throat!
    Reply
  • maximus559
    I agree that it was a pretty disgusting add, but, I have to admit, it was effective in getting my attention (not so much in making me use IE8, but that's another story). That is what advertising is about, right? Getting people's attention? Maybe they went a little overboard with the puking, but sometimes these days you have to hit people over the head to wake them up from their TV-watching trance. The whole thing reminds me a little of the Volkswagen commercials a while ago where they filmed their cars getting in real accidents with real people in them. Questionable subject matter, but hey, it works...
    Reply
  • gnesterenko
    OK here is the thing about asking us, the IT crowd, what we think of marketing campaigns. We, for the most part, don't know dick about it. I mean think about it. How many of us were the popular kids in school. THe jocks etc etc. I'm betting few to none. I sure as hell wasn't. Many of us were the outcasts of society and thus the world of IT was perfect for us - least amount of human interaction.

    Not all of us stayed that way after school, with most of us becoming productive memebers of society and good, accepting people. However, we can't ignore the fact that we don't understand the common man - we are nothing like him. In MY opinion, we are better, but of course I would think that. Point is, when a marketing ad like this comes along that is designed to speak to the common man, we find it base, stupid, gross and immediatl predict that it will be ineffective and fail. But, since we don't really know what we are talking about, we cannot at all speak for the common man. Hence, you get an ad like this, that we flame and yet is actually effective at communicating a feature set in ways that even joe average can understand. Perhaps it is time we recognize that we represent, at best, a fringe of society and our views will often differ greatly from the market as a whole and thus any judgements we make have relevancy only to our own community.
    Reply
  • gorehound
    at least it wasn't the cupgirls upchucking and eating it.
    Reply