5 ms·

But she's playing a role in a script that someone else wrote. There are many people here interested in entrepreneurship, and part of entrepreneurship is creati

But she's playing a role in a script that someone else wrote. There are many people here interested in entrepreneurship, and part of entrepreneurship is creating a certain image about yourself. The way I read your comment, is that you are criticizing the fact that she is playing a role. How many people here who have started a company are very careful about the image you're creating for your company? Microsoft is no different.

LogicHoleFlaw 17y ago
We all play roles. It's a fundamental part of human interaction. I think the gripe here is that the role is externally and structurally imposed rather than internally motivated.
- BrentRitterbeck 17y ago
  That's the same as griping over advertising. While I don't know the true motivation of the post, it certainly can be viewed as a form of advertising, advertising for employment within Microsoft. "Hey! Look how great it is to work here. People can achieve things no matter where they come from."
gruseom 17y ago
I don't think people are really criticizing Microsoft for image-mongering as such. I think they're getting nailed for the clumsiness of their recent attempts (like the puke ad) to outsource the development of a happening-new-image that has no connection to who or what they really are, and just sort of plaster it on and hope that anyone will be fooled by it. Sure, corporate images are idealized and sanitized and in that sense false, but the better ones still stem from the underlying reality. Is Google purely benign? Hardly, yet "don't be evil" does express something real in their culture. Are Apple and their users members of a superior race? Hardly, yet they have produced superior designs. Microsoft's problem is that their truly distinctive quality over the years -- their competitive ruthlessness -- doesn't lend itself to positive marketing. A campaign based on something like "We screw people. Hey, it's just business." isn't likely to win favor. Maybe it says something about Microsoft that they have trouble finding a positive image that isn't an obvious marketing concoction.
- endtime 17y ago
  >a happening-new-image that has no connection to who or what they really are Oh? And what is your justification for that statement? Have you worked there? I have, and I am actually surprised at how cool and fresh some of the stuff MSFT is doing is.
  - gruseom 17y ago
    what is your justification for that statement Longstanding observation of their products, behavior, and culture. But really, all you need to look at is the painful artificiality of the ads themselves, including the OP.
neilk 17y ago
Is this your argument? Entrepreneurship is good. PR is necessary for entrepreneurship. Astroturfing is a PR tactic. Therefore this tactic is good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_the_undistributed_middle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_the_undistributed_mi...
- BrentRitterbeck 17y ago
  No. If anything, the comment was more along the lines of how ironic I find it that people bash Microsoft for doing many of the same things they themselves do.

LogicHoleFlaw 17y ago

We all play roles. It's a fundamental part of human interaction. I think the gripe here is that the role is externally and structurally imposed rather than internally motivated.

BrentRitterbeck 17y ago
That's the same as griping over advertising. While I don't know the true motivation of the post, it certainly can be viewed as a form of advertising, advertising for employment within Microsoft. "Hey! Look how great it is to work here. People can achieve things no matter where they come from."

gruseom 17y ago

I don't think people are really criticizing Microsoft for image-mongering as such. I think they're getting nailed for the clumsiness of their recent attempts (like the puke ad) to outsource the development of a happening-new-image that has no connection to who or what they really are, and just sort of plaster it on and hope that anyone will be fooled by it. Sure, corporate images are idealized and sanitized and in that sense false, but the better ones still stem from the underlying reality. Is Google purely benign? Hardly, yet "don't be evil" does express something real in their culture. Are Apple and their users members of a superior race? Hardly, yet they have produced superior designs. Microsoft's problem is that their truly distinctive quality over the years -- their competitive ruthlessness -- doesn't lend itself to positive marketing. A campaign based on something like "We screw people. Hey, it's just business." isn't likely to win favor. Maybe it says something about Microsoft that they have trouble finding a positive image that isn't an obvious marketing concoction.

endtime 17y ago
>a happening-new-image that has no connection to who or what they really are Oh? And what is your justification for that statement? Have you worked there? I have, and I am actually surprised at how cool and fresh some of the stuff MSFT is doing is.
- gruseom 17y ago
  what is your justification for that statement Longstanding observation of their products, behavior, and culture. But really, all you need to look at is the painful artificiality of the ads themselves, including the OP.

neilk 17y ago

Is this your argument? Entrepreneurship is good. PR is necessary for entrepreneurship. Astroturfing is a PR tactic. Therefore this tactic is good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_the_undistributed_middle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_the_undistributed_mi...

BrentRitterbeck 17y ago
No. If anything, the comment was more along the lines of how ironic I find it that people bash Microsoft for doing many of the same things they themselves do.