While waiting for the 9 to become a 5, the Internet can be a good companion. Surfing countless Web sites can be as engaging as doing actual work. YouTube, a free site that allows users to upload and share video clips, is a fun diversion. Popular clips include a video of a guy who took a picture of himself every day for six years.
But YouTube is also a place where major companies are putting their own distractions online. Microsoft engineers created a video about how their company would have packaged the iPod had they invented it. This clip is clever, and an insightful satire on product packaging.
And most interesting of all, Microsoft produced it. Tom Pilla, a spokesman for Microsoft, told iPod Observer, "It was an internal-only video clip commissioned by our packaging [team] to humorously highlight the challenges we have faced RE: packaging and to educate marketers here about the pitfalls of packaging/branding."
The video wasn’t intended to refute the company’s stodgy image, but for me, Microsoft earned some Web cred for sponsoring it. And I’m sure the people who produced the video were happy that their company encouraged them to think creatively. Although the video is about a problem at Microsoft, the company’s public image is better off for it. Plus, those who watch it are a few minutes closer to five o’clock.
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