Microsoft's biggest failure for years... | The Coffeehouse

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

Could this be the new ME?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8221896.stm

Tongue Out

stevo_
Human after all

Poland hates blacks, you saw it!

spivonious

So MS is racist but they're okay with Asians? I think this was just a (sloppy) attempt to cater to the Polish market.

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

Adverts work best when you can place yourself into them (e.g. Teens in adverts for teenage stuff, women in adverts for women, etc). Poland's demographic looks like this (CIA Guidebook - 2002 Census)):
Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 2.7% (2002 census)

You'll note that 96.7% of Polish visits to Microsoft's polish website will be white western looking individuals. If they visit Microsoft websites and see 2/3rds of the advert directed at someone who isn't then they might feel it doesn't apply or worse that Microsoft cared so little that they just re-used an American Advert in Poland (*which of course they did).

brian.shapiro
things go on as always

In reply to ManipUni

#Aug 26th @ 2:31 PM

manip,

Yes, the funnier thing is you'd guess at least about half of the people visiting Microsoft's US site will be white men... yet you see a woman, a black man, and an asian. Diversity, yay!

littleguru
<3 Seattle

I would hardly call Microsoft racist... especially after having a short look down the hall. So many cultures, so many people from various parts of the world. In the last two months I had meetings with people who came from so many different countries. This might sound like marketing but it is the truth...

Someone must have had a bad day when changing the picture. Seriously!

But, do me a favor, don't put that on all Microsoft because this is not how it is. Smiley

Minh
WOOH! WOOH!

In reply to littleguru

#Aug 26th @ 3:48 PM

MS Fixes Photoshop Mistake

but OMG, this is NOT helping, MS

Why, MS? O Why?

kettch

I doubt anybody would go to that much trouble to change a stock image anyway. It probably came that way from the stock photography vendor.

Harlequin
http://twitter.com/TrueHarlequin

In reply to kettch

#Aug 26th @ 5:36 PM

Microsoft has it's own stock photography that vendors get imagery like this from.

This image was changed either by:

1) A Microsoft manager in charge of the site that wanted it done. (Needs to be fired)

2) The vendor itself had mgmt that wanted it changed. (Needs to lose Microsoft vendorship)

3) The vendor had a graphics person that did the change himself/herself, and nobody up the ladder noticed the poor PhotoShop work. (Needs to be fired. Mgmt might be able to save face and save vendor status)

Heywood_J
Trust me, I'm from the Internets

In reply to littleguru

#Aug 26th @ 3:48 PM

I don't believe that Microsoft is racist. What I've seen is they have a pretty diverse workforce. However, there are very few black people in Poland and showing them is problematic. Here in the U.S. we say "African-American" but I suspect that people would be offended by "African-Pollock".

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

For what it's worth, that original image looks extremely American to me, specifically because of the racial diversity thing. It would've been better if they had just chosen a less American image, but I can at least think of reasons other than racism for that change.

exoteric
I : Next<I>

In related news, people on channel 9 are obsessed with provocative thread titles.

TommyCarlier
I want my scalps!

In reply to brian.shapiro

#Aug 26th @ 3:34 PM

yet you see a woman, a black man, and an asian. Diversity, yay!

Well, they couldn't put a man's head on the body of the woman, right?

intelman

In reply to Minh

#Aug 26th @ 4:54 PM

Sadly the cleveland indians were forced to move to a new mascott because native americans "got angry".

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

In reply to TommyCarlier

#Aug 27th @ 9:31 AM

Well, they put a white man's head on a body with a black man's hand, so anything is possible.

Duanerrr

In reply to intelman

#Aug 27th @ 9:36 AM

When did they change the mascot?

Minh
WOOH! WOOH!

In reply to intelman

#Aug 27th @ 9:36 AM

No professional teams changed their mascot... not the Washington Red Skins, nor the Cleveland Indians, nor the Atlanta Braves...

Although our local college changed their nickname from Miami Redskin to Red Hawks and their mascot too.... You figure it's an easy decision, but there was a lot of fighting over it

brian.shapiro
things go on as always

In reply to Minh

#Aug 27th @ 11:44 AM

The fighting is opposition to political correctness. I don't think a redskin mascot is really inherently racist, its insensitive to native americans given the history with them and whites, but not anymore racist than the Fighting Irish.

Minh
WOOH! WOOH!

In reply to brian.shapiro

#Aug 27th @ 12:40 PM

No, it's not PC... People don't like other people telling them what to do...

They went to a school that's endearing to them, then some folks want to to erase all that...

"The Miami Redskins" means something else for those folks... and they couldn understand why that's offensive...

Plus "Fighting Irish" isn't so offensive because it's true... because they're always drunk...

HAHA! That's a joke of course!

brian.shapiro
things go on as always

In reply to Minh

#Aug 27th @ 12:49 PM

Its the same issue. If they really thought it was racist they'd understand why it was offensive. They don't think it is, and even though nobody today would name a new baseball team 'Redskins', they don't think its necessary to whitewash things and remove everything from traditions that might offend people.

And "Braves" even is more neutral, because it refers to a type of native american warrior rather than all red skinned people. Its like naming a team the "Minutemen"