Hate IE10? You're a troll, Microsoft says
Microsoft's latest ad is taking on the trolls, but is it sidestepping the real issues?
Microsoft has aired an advert that takes aim at the haters of its latest browser, Internet Explorer 10 (aka IE10), our sister site CNET News reports.
If you're not a fan, you're a trolling loner who spends all your time posting hateful comments online. That's according to the ad, anyway. It's not exactly subtle, but does it hit the nail on the head? Check out the video below.
The ad goes on to suggest that the kind of person who isn't enamoured with Microsoft's browser drinks from an I-hate-IE mug, is surrounded by lava lamps and plasma balls, and gets angry at the mere mention of Microsoft doing well. (Microsoft says he's a young man, too, but seeing as trolling seems a very male pastime, I'm not going to argue with that.) And, this being the Internet, he of course wants to leave a comment.
Unfortunately, this particular troll can't muster much more than "IE SUCKS". Again, this corresponds with the level of eloquence displayed by the average troll in expressing their opinion.
But what's this? IE10 is available on the Xbox 360? It implements HTML6? It "adopts an island of kittens and donates them to children everywhere!!! #Kids+KittiesRULE"? How was our troll not won over by a hashtag like that?
In the end, it's karaoke that melts his heart, as IE10 "introduces a new Karaoke web standard", the ad says. At this point, our keyboard hero is forced to admit that "IE sucks... less". He's even taken his elbow off the caps lock, which is the first step to recovery in my eyes.
All in all, it's quite a tongue-in-cheek effort from Microsoft. The URL given at the end is even www.TheBrowserYouLovedToHate.com.
It seems as though Microsoft is taking a potshot at a stereotype (though one which isn't completely inaccurate). Some may well hate Internet Explorer just because they are angry young men, but many others fell out with the browser a long time ago because Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox left it for dead. Maybe Microsoft would be better off facing up to that, rather than laying the blame squarely at the feet of the haters.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.