Windows 7 launch parties: Are we all mad?

Network World - "But I don't want to go among mad people," said Alice. "Oh, you can't help that," said the cat. "We're all mad here."– Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

10 people who will not be invited to the Windows 7 launch party

The scene; a big marketing meeting at a very large software company:

"OK Larry, what have we got?"

"Well Bob, the word from the top brass is they want the launch of Windows 7 to really engage people. They want it to have a grass roots feel, you know, like Obama's campaign, and they want to see the launch be both national and, at the same time, intimate and personal, a real community experience that engages people in all walks of life."

"Wow Larry, that's a tall order. So, team, what are we feelin' here … ideas, people, ideas! [Looooong silence as everyone doodles and looks nervous.] Yes, Ted?"

"Well Bob, I was just thinking what if we encouraged people to have parties? You know, launch parties where they get together and explore how incredibly cool the system is. We give them some product, a load of marketing bump dressed up to look helpful, and a few tchotchkes. They have some food, maybe a few drinks, and, as a group, explore the magic of the new system."

[Stunned silence for a few long seconds. Ted fidgets nervously. Larry and Bob gaze off lost in thought.]

"Hmmm … you know what, Ted … that's brilliant!" [Ted is hoisted onto shoulders and paraded around the office to the accompaniment of cheering. Weeks later, a marketing campaign is launched on an unsuspecting public.]

Sound unbelievable? If only I were making this up (well, the meeting dialogue I obviously made up, but launch party idea … nope).

Microsoft is doing exactly this through an outfit called House Party Inc., a marketing company that specializes in (as you probably guessed) promoting house parties on behalf of clients. Microsoft's launch site can be found here but beware, the site is shockingly slow.

Until the House Party site stopped accepting applications, you could ask to become an "official party host". That pretty much meant, if the promo video on YouTube is to be believed, you were signing up for an excruciatingly lame evening with a random collection of annoyingly bright, shiny people who will be age, gender and racially diverse and who will have been brainwashed into a state consisting of equal parts bliss and barely suppressed excitement over Win 7.

This has to be one of the all-time greats of bad advertising – I defy you to watch it to the end without skipping anything. If you can, then you are a tougher man than I.