Microsoft Songsmith Commercial is Excruciatingly Hilarious

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
0
0
Microsoft Songsmith Commercial is Excruciatingly Hilarious

There are your standard "so-bad-they're-good" commercials, and then there's the commercial [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oGFogwcx-E] for Microsoft's new Songsmith software, which sets a new standard for "unintentionally hilarious and blissfully unaware of it."


At least a commercial that extols the virtues of "losing weight with AYDS" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPYZ3AfCzYU] can use the excuse that the deadly affliction hadn't yet entered public consciousness at the time the advertisement was made. The company responsible for the Songsmith abomination, though? Nuh-uh. You guys ain't getting out of this one that easily.

Okay, let's start off with the not-so-bad. I'm not ashamed to admit that I like musicals, and if the world were literally a stage, I think it would be damn fun (at least for a little while, if Buffy is to be believed). Also, I guess that the underlying tech behind Songsmith - a program that produces Casio-style muzak underneath whatever you warble into your computer microphone - is potentially pretty cool. There, that's what's tolerable.

Everything else, though, is just one disaster after another; I'm honestly not sure where to begin. It isn't so much that the cast just sings its way through some of the blandest and most generic tunes I've heard since the local rock station started playing the new Nickelback album, as much as it is the fact that ... these people are producing a commercial full of so much cheese it would make Green Bay feel insecure, and just seem completely oblivious.

There's so much unintentional hilarity in the four-minute long commercial that it's really something that literally needs to be seen in order to be believed. Our favorite line: "Microsoft, huh? So it's pretty easy to use."

Really, though, that one guy's expression at ~3:15 sums up the entire commercial quite nicely.

Alas, one can't help but wonder what masterpieces the late, great Wesley Willis could have whipped up with Songsmith if he were still around today. The world will never know.

Update: Apparently, Gizmondo has discovered that David Lee Roth and Singsmith is a winning combination [http://i.gizmodo.com/5129613/david-lee-roth-%2B-microsoft-songsmith--pure-horror]. Boy, is it ever.

Permalink
 

Virgil

#virgil { display:none; }
Legacy
Jun 13, 2002
1,507
0
41
With Boku, AutoCollage, and now Songsmith it definitely seems like something is happening at Microsoft to try to get more research projects out into users hands.
 

Baby Tea

Just Ask Frankie
Sep 18, 2008
4,687
0
0
This is really funny.
I don't think it's something I'd use...but I DO think it's something I'd make fun of.
Thus, I love it.
 

Danny Ocean

Master Archivist
Jun 28, 2008
4,148
0
0
Oh dear Lord, her singing is terrible.
It's the cool new thing!

Also, she's not singing with her laptop, she's wailing at it.
 

Jursa

New member
Oct 11, 2008
924
0
0
Gotta... stop... laughing... Christ! Microsoft's researchers must be 12 year old who grew up watching nothing but the teletubies and dora the explorer... My band said my songs have been a little stale lately, maybe THIS is just what I need? I fear to imagine his "Band". Great find, it's another great example of how empty skulled Microsoft is afterall...
 

Charli

New member
Nov 23, 2008
3,445
0
0
Who. Made. This. Ad.

Seriously, this person must have been making ads in the 70's and come out of retirement recently.
 

Virgil

#virgil { display:none; }
Legacy
Jun 13, 2002
1,507
0
41
Jursa said:
Great find, it's another great example of how empty skulled Microsoft is afterall...
I don't know about that. They're catering to the High School Musical market - it's good enough to keep Disney afloat.
 

HobbesMkii

Hold Me Closer Tony Danza
Jun 7, 2008
856
0
0
I'm having a hard time believing that's not a joke. I mean, the product might be real, but I doubt they did that without trying to make it be awful.
 

nathan-dts

New member
Jun 18, 2008
1,538
0
0
Virgil said:
Jursa said:
Great find, it's another great example of how empty skulled Microsoft is afterall...
I don't know about that. They're catering to the High School Musical market - it's good enough to keep Disney afloat.
Agreed, I hate the idea but it's smart. Stupid pre-teen girls will take over the world.
 

dthree

Hey!
Jun 13, 2008
165
0
0
OMG. Who is this product for? If you know anything about music and singing, you wouldn't want this program, and if you don't, you can't possibly get good results from it.
 

countrysteaksauce

New member
Jul 10, 2008
660
0
0
Obviously Microsoft is trying to counteract its image as a work only operating system with macs being the trendy new thing. (They need to just keep peddling games to counteract that reputation!)

This commercial does fail though.
 

MaxFan

New member
Nov 15, 2008
251
0
0
"Microsoft, huh? So it's pretty easy to use?"

Hahahaha

And is it just me or does all the backing music sound exactly the same? I guess it's cutting out the middle man in samey sounding music, how long until the recording industry is all over them?
 

xitel

Assume That I Hate You.
Aug 13, 2008
4,618
0
0
Wait, there's a slider for "Happiness" and "Jazziness" but not one for "Brutalness"?
 

Zallest

New member
Sep 25, 2008
393
0
0
Attack of the show made fun of this on G4 a few nights ago, i would never use this thing. I find the Gieco "The money you can save" commercials to be funny... i don't know why..
 

curlycrouton

New member
Jul 13, 2008
2,456
0
0
This cannot be real. That advert was way too odd.

It's like they're all part of some surreall laptop-yelling cult.

Scary.