Microsoft advertise IE8, create new sub-genre of bad advert

By Paul Smith

There’s only so hard you can flog a dead horse, and only so fast it’ll run as a result. And only so far you’ll get by employing out-of-work Superman actor Dean Cain to perform said-flogging. Microsoft are so desperate for you to love Internet Explorer 8 that they’ve created a whole series of spoof infomercials, to hilarious effect.

As you’ll soon discover, an actor like Cain feels right at home in infomercials, so the gag is lost before the ad begins; there’s only so much sending-up a small-time TV actor can do in a small-time TV scenario. Besides which, the ads both suck and blow big time:

There are a couple more where that came from. But then you have this. What the fuck is this?

[IDSGN] thanks to Bitterwallet reader Emma

Tags: dean cain, ie8, microsoft, superman, vomit
Posted in marketing and advertising, tech June 30th, 2009 | 13 Comments

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 11:20 am and is filed under marketing and advertising, tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

13 Responses to “Microsoft advertise IE8, create new sub-genre of bad advert”

Posted by Tom Pickering | June 30th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

yuk yuk yuk we need a sick warning with that second one
Posted by Emma | June 30th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

I think they are so lame they actually cross the line into funny
Posted by Anon | June 30th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

Microsoft already has a douche bag image, and now they come up with this. Targetting old people who probably don’t know how to use a computer, and perverts. wonder if this will be a pyrhic victory for them.
Posted by Chris | June 30th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

I think they’re brilliant myself, had me laughing anyway!
Posted by Lex Luthor | June 30th, 2009 at 12:54 pm

And there isn’t even a real hairyvaginaswhichsweat.com

You lied, Cain. You lied.
Posted by Gus | June 30th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

is that guy the Superman from the TV series?
Posted by Gus | June 30th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

I forgot to say, good ads!
Posted by Nobby | June 30th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

I suffer from BISBISRI.
Posted by Nobby | June 30th, 2009 at 2:01 pm

She should have been sick on a kitten. I would have liked it better then.
Posted by juankerr | June 30th, 2009 at 2:25 pm

Microsoft have tried kookie ad campaigns before and generally have sucked at them , let’s face it, they’re a mega-corp not groovey indie types.

Still. ad 2 did make me LOL twice.
Posted by Paul | July 1st, 2009 at 11:37 am

the sick one is the best
Posted by Microsoft really, really doesn’t want you to download IE8 | BitterWallet | July 1st, 2009 at 4:30 pm

[...] they hire The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story actor Dean Cain to make a ham-fisted stab at taking the piss out of IE8 users, portraying them as vacuous housewives and deviant husbands. Next, Microsoft attempt to lure you [...]
Posted by Pure-Klenz | July 1st, 2009 at 7:26 pm

Those ads rule!

Up yours firefox users! (incidently I’m using FireFox to post this…)