By Malay Desai
From: Column Five, USA
To launch the newest version of its web browser, Microsoft undertook a campaign which revisited several elements of the 90s, evoking nostalgia among those who grew up in the decade.The focus is a colourful, studioshot 90-second plus film with a continuous voiceover, corresponding to visuals of pop culture, fashion and habits of the time. These comprise yoyos, waist pouches, the walkman, ‘mushroom’ haircuts, shoes withlights and computer-related stuff such as dial-up modems and DOS games. ‘You grew up, so did we’, the V/O summarises, with a product window and copy which says ‘Reconnect with the new Internet Explorer’.
This may be the second column on a Microsoft campaign in two months (after the ‘child demonstrator’ we spoke of) but what the heck, they’re both outstanding in their own right, this one more for being among the most thoughtful integrated approaches in tech advertising. Yes, this is the biased child of the 90s writing, but charming him was the core idea, right?
‘Let’s face it, we’re hated all over’, would’ve been the opening lines of the pitch meets for this, and for good reason. From the monopolistic standpoint of the 90s, Bill Gates’ iconic software company, its web browser being among the forefront, has withstood the extreme harsh weather of better competitors, a dynamic industry and well, antivirus systems. Like many of its brands today, Explorer too carries the burden of seeming ‘ancient’ and ‘annoyingly dysfunctional’. Its rivals (only in relative terms now), Google’s Chrome and the not-for-profit Firefox have captured the industry, and Explorer only has a ‘legacy’ to talk about.
And so it does, charmingly, with utter dexterity. While not talking of the product itself (the internet world has raved about its performance), it taps on the legacy and displays it with a touching flourish; and backed with a 360-degree global campaign, this spot assumes very special importance.
The spot per se doesn’t spare any of the most nostalgic memories of any 90s child – be it DOS games, those blinking shoes we went crazy about, the Walkman and fashion trends which seem plain tacky now. We love the digs at modern internet – ‘lunch was a puzzle, not a picture, a ‘troll’ was still a friend’ and more. We also liked the puns in the copy, ‘desktop folders’, storage space and so on. But every one from that phenomenal decade would smile at ‘tazos’, those circular freebies that made Lays chips what they are now. Well-defined nostalgia is an ace up any advertiser’s sleeve.
Microsoft has tied up this spot around much self-deprecation, embracing the hatred with heart and showing off a new zeal to reconnect. Its microsite, ‘browseryoulovedtohate.com’ is a gem. Watching this spot repeatedly is like highfiving an old friend while catching up, and the best part? It makes this writer go right ahead and re-install IE, for old times’ sake.
Feed the link- Goo. gl/0qArhin preferably Internet Explorer
