Microsoft Offends at NDC: 'The Words Micro and Soft Don't Apply To My Penis'
Someone, somewhere, is probably getting fired for the odd song and dance Microsoft delivered at this year's Norwegian Developers Conference.
There are presentations, and then there are presentations. It's hard to say what the team over at Microsoft Norway was thinking when they came up with the song and dance routine they debuted at the Norwegian Developers Conference earlier this week, but it's a far cry from videos like CEO Steve Ballmer's "Developers, developers, developers" routine.
Intended to get the crowd psyched up for the company's presentation on Windows Azure – Microsoft's cloud computing platform – the dance presentation and "Azure girls" start off with a fairly silly and (typically) lame routine that looks like the cross between LMFAO and Dance Moms.
And then the lyrics come in.
"I'm a software developer. I'm developin', and I'm here to party. I'm a software developer. I'm developin' for the rest of my life," screams the GLaDOS-like chorus.
That's not so bad, right? Dumb, but hardly offensive. But that's just the chorus; verse two's next.
"I've got the skills to impress, I'm a computer genius," it starts off. "The words 'Micro' and 'Soft' don't apply to my penis."
To Microsoft's credit, the presentation tries to promote gender inclusivity by throwing the phrase "(or vagina)" underneath the aforementioned lyrics when they pop up on a big TV monitor in front of the dance show. That's really the only saving grace that can come from this one, a fact Microsoft might slowly be starting to realize based on the comments that the official "windowsazure" YouTube account is now leaving on various videos of the NDC dance.
"This week's Norwegian Developer's Conference included a skit that involved inappropriate and offensive elements and vulgar language. We apologize to our customers and our partners and are actively looking into the matter," read two comments posted yesterday by official Microsoft handlers.
As one might expect, this kind of a situation is the digital equivalent of gasoline for the Web's various social channels. For example:
"not that I would buy any Microsoft or azure product, but advertising it with girls in tight silver dresses is really awkward," said Twitter user "fs111."
"Microsoft and NDC 2012 have produced one of the most horrendously sexist conference events ever," tweeted Brian Nisbet.
Of course, some users have been (oddly?) supportive of Microsoft's no-holds-barred approach to cloud promotion.
"I think this is hilarious and awesome. conferences are usually so dull and boring. they were obviously having a laugh. love it," said YouTube user "basslin3r."
Judge for yourself, below:
For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).