Microsoft backs out of Family Guy / Windows 7 sponsorship
Geoff Spick03 October 2009, 7:00 AM
Jokes about on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest were “not a fit with the Windows brand.”
Microsoft has decided that one of its more adventurous marketing ideas -- sponsoring a whole episode of the charming, down-home Griffin family -- isn't going to work out after all. Variety Magazine reported that the episode would contain riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest, and that Microsoft decided the show was “
not a fit with the Windows brand.”
Apparently the episode will still go ahead, without Microsoft's blessing or sponsorship money, so keep an eye out on the web on November the 9th for the show (which broadcasts in the US on the 8th, and will no doubt find its way to any number of YouTube-like sites immediately afterwards).
The show has occasionally lampooned Microsoft in the past, so it was a brave move on the part of the company to actually sponsor it. Tagged as a comedy special, Microsoft was promising the show would "feature unique Windows 7-branded programming that blends seamlessly with show content." Could a boxed copy of Windows 7 come exploding out of one of Stewie's nappies/diapers? Will Lois get chatted up by Steve Ballmer in a Windows store? The possibilities are endless and there's a sneak peak on YouTube you can enjoy here with a new Web link at the end of the clip: