Remember the Scroogled campaign? This controversial campaign kicked off in late 2012 and was on fire in 2013 when Microsoft blatantly trolled Google in various ads. In 2014, the campaign slowly faded into the background like an old toy you didn’t care about anymore, and now the domain name scroogled.com points to whymicrosoft.com, seemingly fading away like it never even existed.
It all started in late-2012 when Microsoft declared that all Google shopping results are basically paid ads and wanted consumers to be aware of that. When the Scroogled campaign was in full force, we were introduced to a video from Microsoft that blatantly bashes the Google Chromebook. In essence, the video touted the Chromebook as being a brick and not a real laptop. Another video featured “Ben the PC Guy” (@BenThePCGuy) walking the streets of Venice, California, with a Google Chromebook. The campaign also attacked Gmail, stating that Google scans emails in order to target and tailor advertising. We’ve embedded some old Scroogled videos below in case you missed them.
Google has always been scrutinized for using targeted ads in its mail services since launching their Gmail service in 2004. In fact, Google has been subject to unsuccessful lawsuits which claimed that the practice violated illegal eavesdropping laws.
“Scroogled will go on as long as Google keeps Scroogling people. We know Google doesn’t like it when the facts come out,” a Microsoft spokesperson stated back in 2013. Oh how times have changed. Mark Penn was the man behind the campaign, which targeted newspapers, television, and social media. On March 2nd of 2014, we learned he was being promoted and the campaign slowly began fading away.
The Scroogled website, which is located at scroogled.com, is no longer active and now redirects to a new website at whymicrosoft.com. This new effort seems to be aimed at businesses and appears to be less aggressive that the Scroogled campaign, which admittedly, was quite harsh. Then again, Microsoft was just fighting back in a business where the gloves are typically off.
On Microsoft’s new and friendlier “Scroogled” website, now known as Why Microsoft, the Redmond giant is looking to appeal to businesses. “We combine decades of innovation to deliver high performance, low costs, and a competitive edge for your business. Explore how enterprise-proven solutions from Microsoft stack up against our competitors,” the Why Microsoft website states.
The website lets you compare Google Apps, as well as Amazon’s web services and more against Microsoft’s solutions. Head over to www.whymicrosoft.com to check it out. You can also relive some of the old Scroogled campaigns below.
