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Family Guy "not a fit" with Windows brand?
Wednesday, Oct 28 2009 | Author and
categories:Andrew Goss
| business and
tech
Now I'm no expert of FOX's Family Guy show, but I do know
enough to say the program definitely pushes the
limits of prime time TV. So that's why I was so
shocked initially to see Microsoft was going to
exclusively sponsor a special Family Guy
episode. The special was supposed to be
commercial free with Windows 7 and Microsoft
marketing messages built into it.
Here's a short preview clip of what the show was SUPPOSED to look like from YouTube:
But have no fear, Microsoft finally saw the light, pulling out of the show about two weeks before its scheduled November 8 airing. According to Variety's Mike Schneider, who broke the story, everything was humming along just fine until the folks at Microsoft went to the taping of the special last week and were shocked, SHOCKED to find racy humor and tasteless jokes about deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest.
Here's what Microsoft had to say about pulling the 180:
"We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of “Family Guy,” but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand. We continue to have a good partnership with FOX, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent."
Fear not, FOX says the show must go on and they're hoping to line up some new sponsors.
Question... didn't Microsoft know what kind of show it was associating with in the beginning? Maybe the Microsoft marketing/advertising folks should have thought long and hard about agreeing to sponsor the show in the first place. The backlash from this flip-flop might be worse than if Microsoft had followed through with the sponsorship after all. Windows 7 motto is "life without walls"... ironic... don't you think?
-posted by Andrew
Here's a short preview clip of what the show was SUPPOSED to look like from YouTube:
But have no fear, Microsoft finally saw the light, pulling out of the show about two weeks before its scheduled November 8 airing. According to Variety's Mike Schneider, who broke the story, everything was humming along just fine until the folks at Microsoft went to the taping of the special last week and were shocked, SHOCKED to find racy humor and tasteless jokes about deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest.
Here's what Microsoft had to say about pulling the 180:
"We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of “Family Guy,” but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand. We continue to have a good partnership with FOX, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent."
Fear not, FOX says the show must go on and they're hoping to line up some new sponsors.
Question... didn't Microsoft know what kind of show it was associating with in the beginning? Maybe the Microsoft marketing/advertising folks should have thought long and hard about agreeing to sponsor the show in the first place. The backlash from this flip-flop might be worse than if Microsoft had followed through with the sponsorship after all. Windows 7 motto is "life without walls"... ironic... don't you think?
-posted by Andrew