Microsoft Shocked 'Family Guy' Humor Includes Incest, Holocaust Jokes
Company Pulls Out of Seth MacFarlane Deal After Discovering 'Content Not a Fit'
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Turns out Seth MacFarlane isn't PC enough to be a PC. Microsoft was set to sponsor a prime time special by the "Family Guy" creator as part of its Windows 7 media blitz, but was somehow surprised when the typically MacFarlane-esque fare didn't exactly "fit with the Windows brand."
"We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of 'Family Guy,' but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an e-mail statement. "We continue to have a good partnership with Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent."
That's a long walk back from what Microsoft marketing exec (and former branded-entertainment chief) Gayle Troberman said a few days before: "You'll see us deeply integrated into the content," she told Ad Age. "You'll hear how Windows 7 can help you simplify your PC -- it's simple, fast and easy to use."
The show, "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show," was to be the second collaboration between MacFarlane and Microsoft's "I'm a PC" agency Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. The first was the much-ballyhooed deal between MacFarlane and Crispin client Burger King, a custom web series distributed on YouTube and over Google's content network.
Fox is still planning to run the special as part of an "all Seth MacFarlane night" on Nov. 8 with another, as yet unnamed, sponsor. And Microsoft says "Family Guy" remains in its marketing plans for Windows 7 and hopes to work with MacFarlane "in other areas."
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I think this is clearly a case of a company getting excited about creating buzz without matching the buzz to their brand.
Everything a company does should line up with its brand. It is the only way to create a consistent message. Seems someone at Softie needs to go back to Marketing 101.
Scott
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Jeff Greenhouse
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Here's a golden opportunity to swoop in, pick up the show and make PCs (Windows) look even lamer than before!!
Go Apple, go!!
But fear not as all is saved! I just heard that Microsoft has hired Micheal Richards to do some colorful Windows 7 skits.
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I gotta believe there was both qualitative and quantitative research done before they entered into this deal showing that the Family Guy viewer is a good match for their target.
Scary when a company decides that their brand only attracts people with wholesome, innocent humor who only like to watch stuff like Dancing with the Stars.
Keep believing that's who your target customer is, Microsoft. Makes you look a little hokey, but you just keep believing. It's adorable.
Maybe Macs aren't all that bad after all...
Perhaps they were as surprised as they claim.
Or, perhaps, not.
Presumably, somewhere in the fine print of the deal, Microsoft's attorneys will have included a clause to the effect that Microsoft need not pay at all -- or will pay only a modest amount -- for a work product it deems unusable.
Let's look at what actually happened.
Microsoft enjoyed considerable buzz in one of their primary markets -- college students, probably at minimal cost, and certainly without offending their main focus, the business market, which would probably respond with considerably less enthusiasm to yuks about incest and the disabled than the kegophiles at Kappa Kappa Kappa.
Seth MacFarlane comes out of the deal with, one assumes, considerably less money than he'd anticipated this relations ship would produce. Assuming he wants to earn more from his work product, he has a complex editing task ahead of him, excising every mention of Microsoft. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that Mr. MacFarlane might now be adding to all the computers pictured, a the symbol for a different company – say, "Peachy Computing."
The old saying still rings true. The bigger you get, the farther you get from the people who got you there.
What's the difference between Microsoft and Apple? Between a PC and a Mac? Where do you start -- and when do you stop...?
For the record, I'm a PC and a Mac. I use a PC at work as well as home, and have a MacBook for my home recording studio. I like them both for what I use them for. What I don't like is how differently each company approached their advertising over the past two decades. For brevity's sake, I'll site just two examples.
Frank Rose in West of Eden: The End of Innocence at Apple (1989), describes how Apple hired Chiat/Day to introduce Macintosh to the world. Chiat/Day brought in Ridley Scott, the director of Alien and Blade Runner, to create the now infamous 1984 spot. http://bit.ly/1ao0Fe. Apple planned to run it twice during the Super Bowl, but the Apple board was uncomfortable with the spot. Apple tried to dump both time slots, but was only able to get rid of 60 seconds of the 120 they bought, so with trepidation, they decided to run it.
On Tuesday, October 27th, AdAge announced Microsoft is pulling the plug on the Windows 7/Seth MacFarlane Family Guy spot http://bit.ly/XgNlJ. The article states the decision was made given the material "doesn't fit with the Windows brand."
Now it's no secret Microsoft needs a victory, and it did the right thing by hiring Crispin Porter + Bogusky http://bit.ly/1AAlMf usky to rescue itself from the Vista debacle. For those of you not in the ad world, CP+B has a pretty solid batting average (Burger King, Guitar Hero, et al). Bringing the powerhouse creative shop in to be creative and then killing the creativity is like, bringing functional software to market that doesn't well, function... Changing your mind isn't a crime, but being fearful is paralyzing and childish. Confidence, certitude, courage...those are the traits of the fully grown and mature.
Again, the difference between a PC and a Mac? How about PCjr and BigMac for starters...?
On the other hand... honestly, who cares? To Dominick's point: do you really think that "a lot of key IT Department decision-makers... may think twice"? Really? You overestimate what a single solitary piece may do or not do.
What will probably sell Windows 7 is all the positive reviews being posted in the blogosphere. Many IT Decision Makers do read these.
On the other hand... honestly, who cares? To Dominick's point: do you really think that "a lot of key IT Department decision-makers... may think twice"? Really? You overestimate what a single solitary piece may do or not do.
What will probably sell Windows 7 is all the positive reviews being posted in the blogosphere. Many IT Decision Makers do read these.
Get off thy high horse and sell some damn software.
unintended subtext = apple is so much cooler.
side not = can't wait to see how seth uses this to include microsoft in the show
adina caron
http://adinacaron.blogspot.com/
They need to get out more...
And this debacle with Microsoft illustrates the danger with borrowed-interest advertising. Hanging you hat on another's hook is a weak substitute for investing in one's own identity. I prefer Apple to either kind of PC, but I recall rolling my eyes at their (ungrammatical) Think Different campaign. Comparing a corporation to Gandhi. Really?
So simple the first thing you have to do BEFORE you even buy it is CHOOSE which system is right for you – Home, Professional or Ultimate. Ridiculous.
Who needs marketing when your competition is so good at shooting themselves in the foot?
This is just another reason Apple is dominating the ad market. Apple's consistency in marketing speaks for its brand stability. Microsoft's "try this and see if it works" strategy shows that they are clearly struggling to fight off their competitors, but simply don't know how. Remember those Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ads? Come up with something good and stick with it Microsoft!
Ryan Cormier
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David
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zephyr78 - So in your world, "blaspheming Jesus" and "making fun of Christians" rises to the same level of offensiveness as Holocaust & incest jokes? Neat. Too bad those Crusades had to end, huh?
well just when microsoft was starting to be young again. not that big of a deal windows 7 will sell better than vista, it's a way better product.
I'm somewhat surprised that a company like Microsoft which has a prosperous gaming business and should understand generating content for young males (Grand Theft Auto plays on the Xbox...) would blanche at content as ubiquitous as 'Family Guy'. That show is likely on multiple hours a day in every market between Fox, Adult Swim, TBS, and local market syndication.
it will be interesting to see if there is any blowback from the show creators towards Redmond.
Now it's Bill Gates pulling the same kind of last second "gotcha!" zinger on Seth MacFarlane.
Will Family Guy now up the ante? Stay tuned...
Do you actually imagine that Apple's advertising is selling product? Word-of-mouth about their product is what is selling products. Every time someone uses Windows it sells another Mac.
Advertising Windows will have little to do with sales. It really doesn't matter what Microsoft does. Microsoft could have the worst advertising in the world, it wouldn't impact their sales, up or down.
You really think people are paying attention to advertising to make their buying decisions on operating systems? Don't be so self absorbed.
Carl Hartman | brandgineering.org | Denver