Somebody at Microsoft (MSFT) must have taken to heart the zinger in the first Laptop Hunter ad: the PC shopper’s fear that she might not be “cool enough to be a Mac person.”
How else to explain the deliberate, extravagant uncoolness of the Windows 7 Launch Party campaign?
These house parties, in case you haven’t yet received your invitation, are intimate gatherings of 9 guests and a host to be held in thousands of homes in 12 countries around the world between Oct. 22 and Oct. 29 — launch week for Microsoft’s newest operating system.
Would-be hosts have been submitting their online registration forms for weeks, and on Monday finalists began receiving confirmation e-mails with requests for head-shot photos and other proofs of bona fides.
The whole thing has an unspontaneous, Tupperware party feel to it, from the pre-packaged themes (PhotoPalooza, Media Mania, Setting up with Ease, and Family Friendly Fun) to the Party Packs of Microsoft swag (Windows 7-theme playing cards, posters, puzzles, napkins, balloons, streamers and tote bags).
It may sound lame, but the idea has one thing going for it: No one would ever accuse Microsoft of stealing it from Apple (AAPL).
Below the fold: The Launch Party introductory video. For more “host help” videos, click here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cX4t5-YpHQ]