Internet Explorer 9 ads shows what celebrities love (and pin to their taskbar)

Over the weekend, Microsoft launched a series of light-hearted 30-second TV commercials for Internet Explorer 9 titled “The web you love, one click away”. It features a number of celebrities explaining “why they love” a particular websites which are shortcuts on the Windows 7 taskbar using the new pinning functionality.

The celebrities, who are largely US-centric TV names, include Allison Haislip (Attack of the Show), Reed Timmer (Storm Chasers), Kari Byron (Mythbusters), Tory Belleci (Mythbusters), Bert Kreischer, Naomi Natale and Marina Sousa and Jo Frost (Supernanny). Some of the sites featured include the World’s Biggest Pac-man, CNN, Bing, Kayak, Twitter, Break, Hotmail, eBay and WordPress.

Even though it’s not clear whether these testimonials are genuine or scripted, I think celebrity endorsements work really well in this case because of the fact the websites show a strong association with their professional expertise whether that is gaming, chasing storms or even making cakes.

The full set is embedded below for your viewing pleasure. Out of all of them, the cattle prod and bacon Lincoln as my favorites.

11 insightful thoughts

  1. I’ve been watching some of these ads as pre-roll ads on the AP’s YouTube channel. I don’t know who these celebs are, though one did looked familiar. A guy with a beard. I think he’s on the Discovery channel.

    I thought it was nice that Microsoft was advertising IE9, but then I was all “Oh, here comes that IE9 ad that I can’t skip!”.

    BTW, is there a reason why both Chrome and IE9 are loading this post in HTTPS?

  2. as with most microsoft (or so many other) commercials I dont really get the point why I (or any consumer) should specifically use their product.
    its just too replacable and totally not-convincing. “I love … ” ” I love …. ” oh my…..

  3. Holy crap those were painful to watch. Microsoft has come a long way in the last decade, but they’re still woefully behind with these kinds of ads. C-list basic cable stars? Really? (Also yes Long, it’s all scripted).

  4. I haven’t seen any MS adverts on Australian TV… all there ever seems to be is iPad-this and iPhone-that. :/

  5. Oi leave thoise celebrities alone! (Just kidding! :P)

    Its just proves that Microsoft’s awesome innovations are loved by everyone and anyone.

    BTW, whats the deal with the commenting system changing so drastically? Please, someone here ennlighten me! =/

    1. Just testing something new. Anonymous comments aren’t available yet but it’s coming soon.

  6. I love the second video where the lady is using a Mamiya 7II … I wish I had one. I don’t know who she is though.

  7. aaaaaand they are taking out jump lists in Windows 8 now that all the celebrities got used to them.

  8. I hate my smart phone because it does’t keboard well, the whole App approach is dumb, and the browsers stink. I fix PCs and Macs for a living. Macs basically use saps (stand alone programs) and while the average mac user is completely in the dark that this was Windows old design, and their macs are not nearly as sophisticated as they think, there are iphone and droid users secretly hating their devices. The ie9 commercials are for them. They are roll out ads and by this time next year windows phones will take 20% of the market, and eventually 80%.

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