network:
Windows 7 Parties and the Giant Burger from Japan
If marketing is just about getting talked about, regardless of context, you have to hand it to Microsoft and the Windows 7 team.
First, we had the bizarre and much parodied Windows 7 party idea, where people were encouraged to throw well.... a party to celebrate the launch of Windows 7 in their own home. Microsoft would even send a goodie bag consisting of schwag, as our American cousins call it, like playing cards, puzzles and Windows 7 napkins.
Probably my favourite parody of this is Hosting Your Own Windows 7 Torrenting Party by Funny or Die, which tells people how to download their own free pirate copy.By the way, just in case you think the party idea was a cultural thing that might appeal in the US, Microsoft ran the same idea in the UK and anyway, I haven't read one positive review of the concept from either side of the Atlantic - it's obviously possible that I missed one though.
In Japan, they have an even more odd promotion - they've teamed up with Burger King to launch a limited edition giant burger with 7 beef patties, weighing in at a giant 2000+ calories and just under a kilo of meat.
Again, it's attracting media attention, but you'd have to be a very firm believer in the idea that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" to run this kind of activity. I'm not sure that creating a giant bloating burger, that's really hard to consume and is obviously bad for you, sends out the right brand associations, but then maybe it's just me.
Posted by: |