Microsoft hijacks Double Rainbow viral
Forget the Double Rainbow video. That’s old hat now. Instead, meet the redux version, currently being used by Microsoft to promote a feature in Windows Live.
Microsoft never misses an opportunity to latch on to a popular trend. And it’s done just that by persuading the man who became famous by having an intense reaction to a double rainbow to help advertise Windows Live Photo Gallery.
If you haven’t yet heard of the man or seen the video, then I suggest you click play so that you know where this all started.
Yes, it is a video of a man overreacting after seeing a double rainbow. And that’s all it is. But since being uploaded to YouTube in January more than 13 million people have watched it. What’s more, the man behind the camera (real name Paul Vasquez but goes by the nickname Bear) has become something of a celebrity, even appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
This led to Microsoft contacting Bear and asking him to star in a commercial mocking the original video while promoting Windows Live Photo Gallery. And he agreed, probably after being handed a check with several zeros on it. The result is cheesy, badly acted but actually rather fun.
This will, unfortunately, kill the Double Rainbow meme stone dead. Because that’s what happens as soon as a big company attaches itself to one. It’s as though the Web immediately loses interest in something viral when it becomes so viral that companies such as Microsoft take note and turn the original into something new and, well, worse.
I just hope Vasquez made some decent money from this. It’s not as though Microsoft is strapped for cash, and I very much doubt whether his fame will last longer than the five minutes (OK, so five months) he’s enjoyed already.
Related Posts:
September 6th, 2010
Be the first to de-bunk the double rainbow. In true double rainbows one will have reversed color bands. The two rainbows shown have been electronically created.