Microsoft's MegaWoosh Video Hoax - do untrue ads help or kill?

A few weeks ago I ran across a video of an incredible stunt - a guy slides down a waterslide and flies about a hundred meters over the ground and ends up in a small water pool for kids. The stunt was really incredible and it became an online hit in a rather small amount of time and the MegaWoosh mania spread across the entire Web with thousands of comments left at the bottom of the video. It is true that at first I was very impressed and considered that such stunt is simply impossible but I would have never thought that it is a hoax until I started surfing the web and reading discussions regarding the video. In the end I discovered that the video represented an ad for Microsoft Germany. I must admit that the video is quite realistic, though a lot of users said they’ve spotted the fake from the first view, mentioning these obvious proofs that the video is a hoax:



1. The splash should\'ve been much bigger after the guy fell into the pool; in fact the pool would\'ve exploded in high showers;



2. The guy slides down really fast, but when he leaves the ramp his speed slows down;



3. The most striking was that nobody would\'ve survived such a stunt, since the speed was high and the garden pool for kids was really shallow and small.



The thing is that the world market is becoming tougher and more competitive, whereas over the last ten years or so the tech market registered significant changes, with lots of new devices entering our every day lives, the main player on this market during this period being Apple with its iPod, iPhone, iMac and more. It is true that the popular \"I\'m a Mac, I\'m a PC\" was a great ad, as far I as see it, and it made me really want to buy one of Apple\'s gadgets. Microsoft tried hard to reach Apple - it even attempted to launch \"I\'m a PC\" ad, which was somewhat lame, I mean Apple had a great idea and the software giant simply altered it and cut the humor part. Besides, Microsoft\'s ad (launched after Apple\'s) was seen as out of fashion.



The software developer seems to have an identity crisis, meaning that the company has a problem with communicating with its customers. Going back to Microsoft Germany - the software giant decided to launch a video that would stay in Germany - and how exactly was that possible? Today everything that appears on the Internet is instantly submitted to YouTube or social networks and million of users have the possibility to access videos, articles etc. Is it possible that initially the idea was not to spread the video across the web? It just isn\'t possible for Microsoft to not be aware of the power of Internet, which means that saying that the video will remain in Germany/Western Europe was just another lie from the company. Everybody knows that online ads are not local anymore. In an age when everything is becoming more and more transparent it is important to tell the truth. If caught in a lie, no matter what you say afterwards would be open to doubt. Now anyone can expose from most remote corners of the world any lies about any products and ads on Truthsquare, and such hoaxes like this MegaWoosh Microsoft ad can backlash as a boomerang, in a matter of a few days either globally killing or adding to a reputation of a product or service.



Another issue is the idea of the ad - there really isn\'t any, or, if there is, it is buried somewhere deep. Some users say that the video aims to promote Microsoft\'s editing software that can rival Apple and other companies in movie editing and the like. Millions of users over the past few days have watched the video and I must say that it\'s a great result for a clip, but a bad result for an ad. If I haven\'t read the comments and discussion over the Internet I would\'ve never thought that MegaWoosh is something that aims to promote Microsoft and its tools. This is a fun video but a really weird ad, which reminds me of another strange Microsoft clip in which the world\'s richest man, Bill Gates, meets one of the most famous comedians, Jerry Seinfeld, in a shoe store. The ad was not funny and was just as strange as the MegaWoosh.



It is rather difficult to make a successful ad without showing the product. The only thing in the video that draws a connection with Microsoft is a logo that appears at the end. So when will Microsoft finally learn how to make ads and why did it make a video that at first glance has nothing to do with the company? Will Microsoft be able to withstand the fast development of Apple with their truly excellent innovative products of great design and quality registering a continuously increasing market share?