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Siobhan Chapman
Windows 7 Whopper and other bizarre Microsoft marketing stunts
Published 16:51, 22 October 09
The global launch of Windows 7, Microsoft's latest operating system release, has dominated the headlines of most IT media today. Love or hate Microsoft, you have to admit that it has excelled itself in marketing campaigns around the world to mark the event.
In Japan, Burger King has launched the Windows 7 Whopper. The burger stacks an eye-popping seven patties in an otherwise normal Whopper, measures 5.1 inches tall and costs an appropriate 777 yen (£5.12).
Microsoft has continued the '7' theme in other publicity events, including giving away 777 copies of the new operating system to residents of the Dutch village of Zevenhuizen ("Seven Houses") and decorating parts of the Spanish village Sietes ("Sevens") in Windows-themed colours.
Another bold marketing move is the yet-to-launch 30-minute infomercial featuring the Griffin family from the Family Guy cartoon series. Microsoft hopes that the episode, written by the TV show's creator Seth Macfarlane, will broaden Windows 7 appeal with younger consumers when it is broadcast in the US in November.
And on Twitter, Microsoft's marketing gurus had seven weeks of promotion in the lead up to the Windows 7 launch.
According to their blog, the Twitter (check #WinWin7) promotion giving away:
- 7 piping hot pizzas delivered right to followers’ doors
- 7 pounds of candy to satisfy followers’ penchants for sugar
- $7.77 in shiny Andrew Jackson dollars and pennies
- 7 Microsoft keyboards and mice (PC mice, not live mice, that’d get messy)
- @WindowsGamer gave away some signed Warhammer art books
- 2 gaming keyboards from @WindowsGamer
- 7 sodas from the stash on Microsoft’s Redmond campus
And here's a photo of the Windows 7 Whopper, which could kill Elvis all over again.
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