Windows 8 Live Tiles Show Up on Vanity Fair and Glamour Magazines

Microsoft continues its advertising effort with a very interesting campaign: the Windows 8 live tiles have been included on a cover wrap for December’s Glamour and Vanity Fair magazines.

The “fake” covers resemble the “confusing” Windows 8 Start Screen and display several live tiles, alongside a line of text that reads “a sample of the new Vanity Fair experience on the Windows 8 desktop.”

Surprisingly, Conde Nast, the official publisher of both magazines, but also of Vogue and The New Yorker, told Ad Age that Microsoft didn’t pay for these ads. No, they’re actually free, so it’s just a coincidence that both covers are “clearly coordinated” with Microsoft’s paid ads.

Given the $1.8 billion (€1.3 billion) advertising budget Microsoft has prepared for Windows 8, we really doubt that it’s all just a “free” marketing stunt. Let’s just hope it’ll pay off at some point.