Microsoft Prepares a Jackass Response to Apple

In terms of marketing moves that have the double standard of both promoting a product as well as taking a jab at the competition, Apple with its Get a Mac video advertisements has actually managed to hurt the Redmond company, squeezing some juice out of the Microsoft brand. Sure enough Apple has Justin Long as Mac guy and John Hodgman as PC guy, both iconic characters, but Microsoft is apparently cooking a new Jackass advertising strategy aimed at matching the tactics of the rival company from Cupertino, featuring none other than Johnny Knoxville.

The Cajun Boy in the City blog is citing an unnamed source which claims to have participated in a focus group for Microsoft. "What became apparent to all 8 of us in the group was that Microsoft was in the midst of preparing an advertising campaign that would make it appear that its software and the PCs that run them are a younger, hipper product. They showed us a number of sample ads that seemed to emphasize global community, peace, love, happiness and environmentalism, etc., and how Microsoft products can bring the world together and make it better place. All of us in the group were struck by how Apple-like the ads were. Some even expressed thoughts that they appeared to be straight rip-offs," reads an excerpt of the email from the anonymous source.

The Crispin Porter & Bogusky advertising firm was approached by Microsoft for a new campaign, with undisclosed details, although the project is estimated to be worth some $300 million. The result of the new Crispin Porter & Bogusky advertising campaign could be fresh spots with Johnny Knoxville as the pitchman.

"But what struck me as the funniest thing out of all of this was that it appears as though Johnny Knoxville might be their answer to Justin Long. We were shown some marketing material featuring Knoxville, including one commercial in which he falls and drops his PC in Jackass type stunt, but then a 'don't worry about losing your data if your computer becomes destroyed because you're a jackass because the new Windows automatically backs up to files for you' message was delivered," the source added.

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