Raunchy Dance Routine a PR Nightmare For Microsoft 322
theodp writes "GeekWire reports on the techno-dance routine that preceded Microsoft's Windows Azure presentation at the Norwegian Developers Conference this week, which featured a group of women jumping around on stage to a song that included several drug references and the line: 'The words MICRO and SOFT don't apply to my penis.' In a strange effort to be inclusive, a monitor displaying the lyrics added, 'or vagina.' The official Windows Azure YouTube channel has posted an apology for 'a skit that involved inappropriate and offensive elements and vulgar language,' and said it's actively looking into the matter. Hey, could've been worse — at least @ASUS wasn't live-tweeting the event!"
Re:What happened to the good old days? (Score:1, Insightful)
Which do you think said developers would prefer to look at - a group of women jumping around on stage or an extremely over-emotional man shouting DEVELOPERS repeatedly while jumping around on stage?
Childish (Score:5, Insightful)
And the word "maturity" and "adulthood" don't seem to apply to your brain either.
Re:Or Vagina? (Score:4, Insightful)
PS: I think I was more offended by the vertical iPhone recording than the content.
Re:OH MY GAWD !!! HE SAID PENIS (Score:5, Insightful)
As an American I am only offended that the girls weren't hotter and the dance wasn't more sexy.
The words to the "song.." well, I can only say this: "Non Native Speaker."
The harder they try (Score:5, Insightful)
The harder Microsoft tries to look cool, the more they look like awkward social retards staring at their feet in the corner of the highschool dance. I'm hard pressed to think of a company with a worse public image -- aside from Haliburton and PG&E, who actually kill people to achieve profit.
I think that I speak for everyone when I say, (Score:5, Insightful)
Meh....
Lame lyrics and where's the raunchy dance? :D
Geekwire needs to check up on the state of music videos these days(the uncensored versions). Or maybe not, it will give them a heartattack.
I click on a link for a "raunchy dance routine"... (Score:4, Insightful)
And I get this? Come on, that looked like routine from my junior high talent show, but not as raunchy. This is more blatant headline sensationlism by Slashdot!
But I do so love the ESL lyrics.
Blue Jeans on Fire!
Chevrolet, Elvis!
Blue jeans on fire!
New York, let's go!
Tired of this (Score:5, Insightful)
You know what's immature? The fact that we as a culture seem ok with glorifying violence against people, killing and maiming them, but when you use the word "penis" then OMG! horrible! It's not natural Bullshit.
The world would be a happier, healthier place if we just stood up against this nonsense and admit that sex is fine, fun, and healthy. Seriously, who made that headline? Other than a stupid song with some dumb lyrics, who cares? Sure, it doesn't really get across what MS wants, but a "PR Nightmare"? Give me a break.
It's headlines like these that keep perpetuating the controlling and immature notion that sexuality is a sin, punishable by censure or banishment from society. If MS had used a video of the paperclip smacking around then crushing an apple that oozes blood it wouldn't be appropriate but would it be a "PR Nightmare"?
Re:What happened to the good old days? (Score:2, Insightful)
No, not at all. There's nothing wrong with gratuitous raunchiness in general, but if it's used for marketing, then it's sleazy.
Re:Non-Native Insight (Score:0, Insightful)
Actually, we speak English just fine here [in Norway],
Actually, you don't. I don't mean that in a pejorative way. You merely do a fine job of imitating native speakers. As a native speaker of English, along with those of every other native speaker my utterances define English. Of course, the reverse is true for me of Norwegian and all the many many other languages of which I'm not a native speaker.
Re:Childish (Score:3, Insightful)
If growing up means I can't laugh at a bad/dirty joke then count me out.
poophead!
Terrible! (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm only offended by how bad the song was. If you watch the video you can hear the crowd's indifference to the whole thing, except for one person sort of laughing at the "joke". The whole thing was pretty lame and ham-handed, which just made the use of vulgarity more notable, like when your dad tells a "dirty" joke to your friends and it's just a bad joke. It makes it way more uncomfortable.
Prudes, Puritans, and the American Taliban (Score:2, Insightful)
So the local Microsoft subsidiary or its PR firm didn't understand the parent company is based in the veritable Saudi Arabia of the western world, where even though the prudes, Puritans, and American Taliban have lost the culture war for the most part, they're still staunchly camped out in the business world, under the guise of "political correctness." Instead of invoking Bible verses its "insensitivity" or "sexual harassment" nowadays. New lipstick, same ol' pig.
Now if only they had shown a video of American fighter jets and bombers carpet-bombing civilians, squirting red, white, and blue smoke behind them, all set to "America, Fuck Yeah!", I'm sure it would've been met with raucous cheers and squeals of unmitigated glee from people on this side of the pond.
Re:Tired of this (Score:4, Insightful)
Sex IS fine, fun and healthy but I don't want to hear about sex organs in a damn song and/or at a business conference.
Mostly because its a poor low-brow excuse for real entertainment because its based only on cheap shock value, which doesn't actually work because I'm not even slightly shocked anyway.
Re:Non-Native Insight (Score:4, Insightful)
You merely do a fine job of imitating native speakers. As a native speaker of English, along with those of every other native speaker my utterances define English. Of course, the reverse is true for me of Norwegian and all the many many other languages of which I'm not a native speaker.
Language is actually a lot more malleable and dynamic than you suggest.
As a native, your utterance of words define English only to the extent that you're influential enough that your peers pick up and parrot these words. I can utter the word "toaurznuok", but if only a handful of relatives understand what it means and we stick to using it between ourselves, it doesn't enter the English language -- it's merely part of our local dialect.
As a non-native, your utterance of words can also define English, whether you're speaking English with an approximative accent, your native language, or an odd mix of the two. Thus, words like tomato or avocado, which originate from Nahuatl (tomatl and huacatl respectively). Or words such as beef (from boeuf, as uttered at the dinner table by the initially French-speaking British royalty) vs cow (as in Kuh, its not-so-distant German cousin). About 30% of English words are of French origin [wikipedia.org].
Adding to this, and you'll excuse my tease, most Americans do not speak a foreign language at all, and those that do (bar first- or second-generation immigrants) generally have the mother-of-all accents.
Re:Or Vagina? (Score:4, Insightful)