Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunter”ads are under the microscope this week. Microsoft’s chief operating officer, Kevin Turner, reportedly said Apple’s legal department called to complain about the commercials. Apple, Turner’s quoted as saying, claimed the spots were based on outdated pricing informationand were therefore inaccurate.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the “Laptop Hunter” ads have certainly gotten their share of attention. Still, we think Microsoft’s done better in the past. We dug up five old ads — some real, some internal company jokes — that we find far more amusing. See if you agree.

It looks like the image of a woman throwing up after inadvertently viewing pornography was too controversial for Microsoft. As of this morning, the online-only ad forInternet Explorer 8 called O.M.G.I.G.P. — oh my God! I’m gonna puke–has been pulled from all Microsoft and third-party video Web sites–including the dedicated IE8 site, Browser for the Better.

A few days ago Microsoft’s IE8 ad campaign started making headlines with its four online only ads featuring former Superman Dean Cain. Two of the ads–F.O.M.S. and S.H.Y.N.E.S.S.–had been up since June 10, but the ad campaign only caught media attention earlier this week. The most outrageous spot was O.M.G.I.G.P., which depicted a woman who couldn’t stop vomiting after inadvertently viewing hardcore pornography on her husband’s computer. Dean Cain then walked into the scene and suggested this situation could have been avoided by using IE8′s private browsing feature.

So why did Microsoft pull the video spot? True, O.M.G.I.G.P. was a little on the disgusting side, but it was hardly controversial or subversive for the online world of 2009.

Here’s what a Microsoft spokesperson said via e-mail: “We make a point of listening to our customers. We created the OMGIGP video as a tongue-in-cheek look at the InPrivate Browsing feature of Internet Explorer 8, using the same irreverent humor that our customers told us they liked about other components of the Internet Explorer 8 marketing campaign. While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creative was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it.”

Behind the Ad
The ads were developed by the Indiana-based advertising firm Bradley and Montgomery, and were directed by former Police Academy star and standup comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. Since his acting days, Goldthwait has turned to directing including stints on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Man Show, and several of his own movie projects. The Internet Explorer ads were his first shot at commercials, and were created in consultation with the creative team at BAM, according to a Brandweek interview with Goldthwait.

When I first discovered that Goldthwait directed the IE8 ads, I was amused but not particularly surprised. O.M.G.I.G.P. feels like the type of humor that would appeal to Goldthwait. Not necessarily because of the puking scene, but because of the honesty behind the suggestion that the private browsing feature found on many Web browsers is ideal for keeping your online porn habits a secret from other people who might share your computer. Private browsing temporarily stops your Web browser from recording your online history and erases any tracking cookies from your online session.

User Outrage? Really?
I’m surprised that Microsoft pulled the ad due to user outrage. Microsoft itself admitted that user reaction to the ad was fairly lighthearted, although some people said it was mildly disgusting. So where could the outrage over O.M.G.I.G.P. be coming from? Well, the online spots were also tied to a larger campaign on the ‘Browser for the Better’ Web site. Microsoft promised to donate eight meals to Feeding America–a domestic hunger charity–for every user download of IE8 that came frombrowserforthebetter.com. Is it possible the plug was pulled because there was negative reaction to associating a puking scene with a hunger charity? I asked Microsoft for further clarification, but they declined to comment on my theory. That doesn’t mean I’m right mind you, but it’s possible. Why do you think it was pulled?

Microsoft has done it again: the company has released another set of baffling and mystifying ads, but this time they’re actually funny. The software giant released four new ads to promote Internet Explorer 8 starring Lois and Clark’s Dean Cain as a 1960′s style ad man–no doubt inspired by AMC’s Mad Men. So far the new ad campaign is an online-only affair, and uses the tagline ‘Browse Better.’

The ads highlight IE8 features using mock situations and cutesy acronyms like F.O.M.S.–fear of missing something–for IE8s web slices, and S.H.Y.N.E.S.S.–sharing heavily, yet not enough sharing still–for the browser’s accelerator feature. But the king of all four ads is O.M.G.I.G.P.–oh my God! I’m gonna puke–for IE8sprivate browsing feature; private browsing temporarily stops your browser from recording your online activities including your Web history and tracking cookies.

O.M.G.I.G.P. is the most honest ad we’ve seen from Redmond in a long time. Microsoft openly acknowledges in the spot the most common reason to use private browsing: hiding your online porn tracks. I’m not going to go into detail about what happens in the ad, but let’s just say the title O.M.G.I.G.P. is taken very literally.

The new campaign is also tied to Microsoft’s dedicated IE8 Web site called, Browser for the Better. For every copy of Internet Explorer 8 downloaded from the new site between now and August 8, Microsoft will donate eight meals to Feeding America, a domestic hunger-relief charity.

Since the launch of Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft’s browser has struggled with dwindling popularity, as users turn to other Web browsing alternatives like Mozilla’s Firefox and Opera. Will this new campaign help turn IE8′s fortunes around? Check out the ads below and judge for yourself.

F.O.M.S.

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