5 ms·

Stephen Colbert makes Bing donate $100K for oil spill

94 points by awa 16y ago

MikeCapone 16y ago
I wonder how much it would have cost Microsoft to buy and ad on the show (an ad that would probably have been a lot less effective...). This is probably good business, and everybody wins.
- ugh 16y ago
  And they probably would have donated something either way. Just not so publicly.
- vaksel 16y ago
  yeah here they get to be the feature of the show and i'm sure it got them a ton of other press about the promotion
yurisagalov 16y ago
Brilliant marketing on their part. I'm wondering though, why he avoided saying Microsoft?
- joegaudet 16y ago
  I suspect MS is trying to keep Bing as a separate entity. Perhaps to avoid feeling like the big monolith threatening to over compete. Alternatively it might be just trying to make Bing feel like a new brand... who knows. If you look at bing.com the only overly obvious reference to MS is the MSN link at the top left, and the microsoft copyright.
  - ellism 16y ago
    At the end of every Bing TV add (at least on US Television), the spoken tag line is "Bing, the decision engine from Microsoft" (combined with the Microsoft logo in the corner), so I don't think the advertisers are shying away from the affiliation.
    - sliverstorm 16y ago
      They aren't trying to hide it, but it does seem they want the name to sort of stand on it's own. For starters, they probably realize that vernacular allows for you to 'google it' or 'bing it' or 'yahoo that', but not to 'microsoft that'. If anything, 'microsofting' something probably involves putting it out of business with predatory business tactics. Alternatively, it could be a judgement call on MS's part based on their knowledge of the Colbert audience.
- tb 16y ago
  The Bing marketing people may not be interested in promoting the fact that it's a Microsoft product - their aim is only to get more people using Bing.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    In their shoes, if I had to chose between promoting the fact it's a Microsoft product and promoting it's a search engine, I would go with #2. The fact it's microsofts is irrelevant to the consumer.
- pigbucket 16y ago
  One reason might be that he was trying to wring another 2500 out of them by saying Bing instead.
- axod 16y ago
  People hate Microsoft. They associate it with a necessary evil which breaks a lot. Maybe that has something to do with it?
Legion 16y ago
Maybe I'm missing something (very possible!), but I don't understand donations for the oil cleanup. Every single donated penny that goes to fixing the spill or its effects should come from BP's wallet instead. I don't mean BP should be crucified, but they have the responsibility and they certainly have the means.
- joegaudet 16y ago
  All I can think is... if ifs and buts were candy and nuts.... It'd be great IF bp were going to be held fully liable. From my understanding there is a limited liability clause that is going to hold BP to some unimaginably low number. And of course, there will be a question of what cleanup means. Cleaning up the coasts, cleaning up the animals, cleaning up the sub sea plumes? I am sure some big oil lobbyists have already tempered the language of what ever legislation is in place to hold BP accountable. So charity is going to clearly have to step in a close the gap. Bing, Bing, Bing!
  - Legion 16y ago
    How can you tell if donations are going to help "close the gap", instead of paying for things BP should be covering? Is it clearly defined what BP is covering? If not, how do charities know that the money they're putting into action is filling the gaps instead of just reducing BP's checks?
    - joegaudet 16y ago
      Yeah man you got me there, I am from Canada, I have no idea what is going on legally with regards to this situation. As I said, I understood it that BP is liable up to some amount (in dollars). How that amount is assessed and so forth, I have no idea.
      - electromagnetic 16y ago
        BP might not even be held liable (ultimately) as they weren't personally operating the rig (as far as I've been able to tell). As far as I can tell BP only leased the rig to drill it new wells, I believe (although I could be wrong) that their staff weren't operating the rigs. So I really have no clue where the liability will ultimately land.
brc 16y ago
Call me old fashioned, I think it's brilliant marketing by Bing and Colbert, but I'm not keen on running over effigys of people as entertainment. This guy has a family, and while he may yet be found completely responsible for the disaster, baying for his blood is not the response of an educated society. Ask yourself, if he was your son, father or brother, would you be happy with this treatment? Leave the retributions for the courtroom. We are all partially responsible for the oil spill with our demand for petroleum based products at the lowest price possible.
- invisible 16y ago
  None of us are responsible for the oil spill. We did not choose or make choices that caused the oil spill. We are accountable for the demand that spurred BP's attempts with drilling, but not the spill itself. I always find it fascinating that people uninvolved in the going-ons for random markets are blamed for unwanted side effects. BP could have just raised their prices, but they chose not to (therefore taking responsibility) and failed. Shame on them.
  - Tichy 16y ago
    I'd say we are all (or most of us) responsible in some way, for not bothering to even question the practices of the oil companies (a ka "conveniently looking away"). Granted, we can not personally solve all problems of the world - that's why there are governments to do that job. But we elect those governments. It's not as if there was never any indication that oil drilling could threaten the environment. Who will give the permission to drill for oil in the artic, and why will the permission be given?
    - CWuestefeld 16y ago
      Agreed. Not only have we created the demand for the product, but in our "government of the people, by the people, and for the people", we are all (collectively at least) responsible for what our government does. Moreover, as has been noted elsewhere in this thread, the buck does not stop at BP. If you're going to be consistent in the way you assign blame, you've got to follow the trail to the independent company that was actually operating the drilling rig. If you're going to pass the responsibility away from the consumer, through the gas station operator, and on to the refiner, it only makes sense to take the next step to the driller.
nader 16y ago
Awesome episode :)
leif 16y ago
Does anyone else feel like this is a painfully low amount of money?
Mc_Big_G 16y ago
By the way, Bing is a great website for doing Internet searches. I know that because I Googled it. That's a great line.
montooner 16y ago
Does anyone else find it amusing that Bing's approached Colbert, whereas Google seems to support Stewart pretty hard?
anguslong 16y ago
Ok, Colbert (and smart MSFT product-placers) - I'll bite. Today is officially "Bing for a Day" here. I just set my Chrome default engine to Bing for the first time. Should be fun -- wondering if I'll miss the Goog in the next 24 hours.
strawberryshake 16y ago
Only Colbert could get away with this! Genius.
strawberryshake 16y ago
Only Colbert could get away with this! Genius.

94 points by awa 16y ago

I wonder how much it would have cost Microsoft to buy and ad on the show (an ad that would probably have been a lot less effective...). This is probably good business, and everybody wins.

ugh 16y ago
And they probably would have donated something either way. Just not so publicly.
vaksel 16y ago
yeah here they get to be the feature of the show and i'm sure it got them a ton of other press about the promotion

yurisagalov 16y ago

Brilliant marketing on their part. I'm wondering though, why he avoided saying Microsoft?

joegaudet 16y ago
I suspect MS is trying to keep Bing as a separate entity. Perhaps to avoid feeling like the big monolith threatening to over compete. Alternatively it might be just trying to make Bing feel like a new brand... who knows. If you look at bing.com the only overly obvious reference to MS is the MSN link at the top left, and the microsoft copyright.
- ellism 16y ago
  At the end of every Bing TV add (at least on US Television), the spoken tag line is "Bing, the decision engine from Microsoft" (combined with the Microsoft logo in the corner), so I don't think the advertisers are shying away from the affiliation.
  - sliverstorm 16y ago
    They aren't trying to hide it, but it does seem they want the name to sort of stand on it's own. For starters, they probably realize that vernacular allows for you to 'google it' or 'bing it' or 'yahoo that', but not to 'microsoft that'. If anything, 'microsofting' something probably involves putting it out of business with predatory business tactics. Alternatively, it could be a judgement call on MS's part based on their knowledge of the Colbert audience.
tb 16y ago
The Bing marketing people may not be interested in promoting the fact that it's a Microsoft product - their aim is only to get more people using Bing.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  In their shoes, if I had to chose between promoting the fact it's a Microsoft product and promoting it's a search engine, I would go with #2. The fact it's microsofts is irrelevant to the consumer.
pigbucket 16y ago
One reason might be that he was trying to wring another 2500 out of them by saying Bing instead.
axod 16y ago
People hate Microsoft. They associate it with a necessary evil which breaks a lot. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Legion 16y ago

Maybe I'm missing something (very possible!), but I don't understand donations for the oil cleanup. Every single donated penny that goes to fixing the spill or its effects should come from BP's wallet instead. I don't mean BP should be crucified, but they have the responsibility and they certainly have the means.

joegaudet 16y ago
All I can think is... if ifs and buts were candy and nuts.... It'd be great IF bp were going to be held fully liable. From my understanding there is a limited liability clause that is going to hold BP to some unimaginably low number. And of course, there will be a question of what cleanup means. Cleaning up the coasts, cleaning up the animals, cleaning up the sub sea plumes? I am sure some big oil lobbyists have already tempered the language of what ever legislation is in place to hold BP accountable. So charity is going to clearly have to step in a close the gap. Bing, Bing, Bing!
- Legion 16y ago
  How can you tell if donations are going to help "close the gap", instead of paying for things BP should be covering? Is it clearly defined what BP is covering? If not, how do charities know that the money they're putting into action is filling the gaps instead of just reducing BP's checks?
  - joegaudet 16y ago
    Yeah man you got me there, I am from Canada, I have no idea what is going on legally with regards to this situation. As I said, I understood it that BP is liable up to some amount (in dollars). How that amount is assessed and so forth, I have no idea.
    - electromagnetic 16y ago
      BP might not even be held liable (ultimately) as they weren't personally operating the rig (as far as I've been able to tell). As far as I can tell BP only leased the rig to drill it new wells, I believe (although I could be wrong) that their staff weren't operating the rigs. So I really have no clue where the liability will ultimately land.

brc 16y ago

Call me old fashioned, I think it's brilliant marketing by Bing and Colbert, but I'm not keen on running over effigys of people as entertainment. This guy has a family, and while he may yet be found completely responsible for the disaster, baying for his blood is not the response of an educated society. Ask yourself, if he was your son, father or brother, would you be happy with this treatment? Leave the retributions for the courtroom. We are all partially responsible for the oil spill with our demand for petroleum based products at the lowest price possible.

invisible 16y ago
None of us are responsible for the oil spill. We did not choose or make choices that caused the oil spill. We are accountable for the demand that spurred BP's attempts with drilling, but not the spill itself. I always find it fascinating that people uninvolved in the going-ons for random markets are blamed for unwanted side effects. BP could have just raised their prices, but they chose not to (therefore taking responsibility) and failed. Shame on them.
- Tichy 16y ago
  I'd say we are all (or most of us) responsible in some way, for not bothering to even question the practices of the oil companies (a ka "conveniently looking away"). Granted, we can not personally solve all problems of the world - that's why there are governments to do that job. But we elect those governments. It's not as if there was never any indication that oil drilling could threaten the environment. Who will give the permission to drill for oil in the artic, and why will the permission be given?
  - CWuestefeld 16y ago
    Agreed. Not only have we created the demand for the product, but in our "government of the people, by the people, and for the people", we are all (collectively at least) responsible for what our government does. Moreover, as has been noted elsewhere in this thread, the buck does not stop at BP. If you're going to be consistent in the way you assign blame, you've got to follow the trail to the independent company that was actually operating the drilling rig. If you're going to pass the responsibility away from the consumer, through the gas station operator, and on to the refiner, it only makes sense to take the next step to the driller.

nader 16y ago

Awesome episode :)

leif 16y ago

Does anyone else feel like this is a painfully low amount of money?

Mc_Big_G 16y ago

By the way, Bing is a great website for doing Internet searches. I know that because I Googled it. That's a great line.

montooner 16y ago

Does anyone else find it amusing that Bing's approached Colbert, whereas Google seems to support Stewart pretty hard?

anguslong 16y ago

Ok, Colbert (and smart MSFT product-placers) - I'll bite. Today is officially "Bing for a Day" here. I just set my Chrome default engine to Bing for the first time. Should be fun -- wondering if I'll miss the Goog in the next 24 hours.

strawberryshake 16y ago

Only Colbert could get away with this! Genius.

strawberryshake 16y ago

Only Colbert could get away with this! Genius.