Microsoft and Kate Middleton. Yeah, right
Microsoft is a strong contender for the lamest attempt to link the brand to the Royal wedding with this beauty from its PR agency Howorth:
Microsoft offers to marry Prince William and Kate Middleton*
One man, one PC, one week to organise a wedding – Microsoft Australia launches social experiment in Sydney, Marry Me Microsoft.
Sydney, Australia – 19 November 2010: Warning Prince William, you could land the job of organising a Royal Wedding by yourself if Microsoft Australia has its way. The company’s Australian subsidiary today said it was embarking on a social experiment to give away a $25,000 wedding and honeymoon package in early December, but there is just one rather large catch. The groom – who will be selected from an application process launched yesterday – will have just five days (Dec 6-10) to organise the entire wedding using only an internet-connected PC loaded Windows 7, Office 2010 and Windows Live Essentials while living in a ‘bachelor bubble’ in Sydney’s CBD.
Meanwhile, his bride, who will not be allowed to participate in the planning process or aid her fiancé, will be pampered like a true princess during a five day luxury holiday on the Gold Coast.
Over the course of the five day challenge, the groom will complete a series of tasks to ensure he gets every detail of the wedding planned. He will have to rely on his own resourcefulness and Microsoft’s technology tools to source necessities like a wedding dress, a venue and the flowers. The groom will eat, sleep and dream the wedding while the general public will be able to follow his progress and interact with him in person at the ‘bachelor bubble’ as well as online through the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/windowsau). Microsoft said it would reveal the location of the ‘bachelor bubble’ in the lead-up to December 6.
It is expected the couple will then be married between the 10-27 December.
Microsoft is inviting engaged couples to apply through its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/windowsau) by explaining in 100 words or less why they think this would be the perfect way to plan their wedding. Applicants need to “Like” the page and click on the “Register” tab to enter.
Interested applicants need to act fast as the application process closes at 5pm AEDST on Saturday November 20th, 2010.
*The company confirmed it had not yet received an application from Prince William or Kate Middleton but it was sure Australians were ready and willing to host a Royal Wedding.
It’s also less than entirely original.
In about 1999 or so, a stunt in London saw folks put in a shop window, IIRC, and challenged to supply all their needs using only products acquired online.
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Lame
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Organising a wedding on a PC. What a nightmare
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Oh, Howorth. Poor, poor howorth. Maybe they should remember that their a corporate PR agency.
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Reminds me of the joke about the woman had been married three times and was still a virgin.
Somebody asked her how that could be possible. “Well,” she said. “The first time I married an octogenarian and he died before we could consummate the marriage.”
“The second time I married a naval officer and war broke out on our wedding day.”
“The third time I married a Microsoft Windows programmer and he just sat on the edge of the bed and kept telling me how good it was going to be.”
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Not only is it lame, but $25K for a wedding AND honeymoon is peanuts. Sad to say, but that’s the truth.
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I think the connection to Kate/ William wedding is lame, but the concept is not a bad one. Most concepts have been ‘inspired’ (granted some more than others) by other campaigns.
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Come on peeps, show some enthusiasm instead of jumping on the negator bandwagon. I think it’s a creative idea, good on them for thinking outside the square and with such a tight turnaround.
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haters! just because its MS you guys hate on it. I LOVE MY KINECT.
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i think its creative and the use of a topical (pathogen!) issue to gain cut through was a clever way to gain cut through when going to market. i think it is a cool, if not too late, move to consumers away from the typical enterprise and corporate stuff we see coming from msft. the campiagn has my attention and I’m not getting married.
Mumbrella, whats the deal with the spelling mistake in the site addy.
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Micro-soft ! Mega-nuthin !
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