Viral video: Microsoft says Internet Explorer sucks...less

Let’s admit it. Internet Explorer is the browser that everyone just loves to hate. There are entire communities out there dedicated to reminding us just how much it sucks… lest we forget. And the simple act of changing your browser from the default IE to either Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or even Opera is seen as a sign that you have evolved from complete ’noob’ to socially acceptable Internet user.

And instead of avoiding all that negative publicity (like most big companies prefer to do), Microsoft’s new aggressive ad campaign addresses the haters straight up.

The ad which is titled ‘Do you know this guy?’ features a clearly ‘veteran’ net user (please note how he has two monitors instead of the requisite one) who is trolling Microsoft with the usual insults like ‘IE is only good for downloading other browsers’ and ‘IE sucks’ on various social media platforms, only to be continuously surprised by a series of perky replies like “IE10 is now on Xbox 360? or “IE10 supports HTML 6 as well as 7,8 and 9 #Booyeah”

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[caption id=“attachment_541123” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screengrab from the Internet Explorer ad[/caption]

Although taken by surprise, the troll continues to insist that IE10 sucks, until he finds out that it also implements a new karaoke standard for the web, when he grudgingly admits that “Microsoft sucks.. less”

The campaign is titled ‘The browser you loved to hate’ and ends with the tagline, “Progress. Comebacks come in many shapes and sizes”. There is also an accompanying website.

PC world says that the ad paints IE trolls as “mean spirited pathetic hate mongers clinging to an old stereotype of IE”, while The Verge says, “The campaign shows that Microsoft “gets it” and is clearly aware of the feedback around Internet Explorer.

In a post on the Microsoft Surface world site the company also makes a hat tip to India saying, “Winning over a bitter online troll isn’t easy, unless you are in India, where they can arrest you for your Facebook posts. However, Microsoft makes it sure to tap all its audience. even the bitter trolls - ““We are for everyone, even though everyone is different.”

Thoughts on the ad campaign?