MSN has launched a viral initiative called MSNfound. Oh boy... I don't want to come down too hard on MSN, but this is a pretty awful execution.
1.) Failure to create anything original: "Launched" is the most appropriate word because they haven't really "created" much of anything. They're using already successful viral campaigns created by others.
2.) Insulting the intelligence of young people: MSN has created these people like "Tad", who they say is a "killer surfer." What's bothersome is not that "Tad" and these other people aren't real, but that someone actually thought their concocted personalities would be "cool." This isn't just insulting to young people, it's insulting to culture in general.
This is almost as insulting as the McDonald's commercial that showed people in roller blades playing basketball... I mean, really... who plays basketball in roller blades? With helmets on?
They're also injecting that site into search results for those peoples' names.
http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=Denise&FORM=QBHP
Posted by: david g | February 22, 2005 at 01:24 PM