Extreme Marketing Makeover

The video spoofs ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"—and hilariously well, too.

The Extreme Makeover video isn't new; it appeared on YouTube in March 2007. I'm blogging it for two reasons: It's very good marketing, and news about the video raises questions about how blogs and the social Web spread information and even hearsay.

It's strange how one marketing concept works, while another flops. The Vista SP1 music video was appalling, while Extreme Makeover and "Rabbit Rescue" (promoting Office 2007) are viral marketing done right.

Casting Orlando Ayala, Microsoft's vice president of the Unlimited Potential Group, as the foreman was pure genius. "We're going to fix them up!" he exclaims early on in the video. Overall, the video is a good case study for how Microsoft products can transform a small business.

Now, regarding the other topic, people should remember that the Web is a great vehicle for spreading misinformation or urban legends. I saw the Extreme Makeover item this morning on InsideMicrosoft, which pulled it from Digg. It's not uncommon for old stories or videos to come back via Digg or some other social networking product or service.

Last week, someone sent me a link about a Microsoft-related event that popped up on Newsvine. He had seen a link on Twitter to the item: "Microsoft server crash nearly causes 800-plane pile-up." The item had a "seeded" date of April 30, same day it was sent to me.

But the incident, affecting air traffic in the Los Angeles area, wasn't new at all. The server crash occurred four years ago. But from the Twittersphere to a Newsvine item dated April 30, 2008, the incident became new again. The negative PR impact on Microsoft wouldn't come from a major news story, but from people chatting around the Twitter coffee pot—all about something that happened long ago.

My point: The socialization of news through blogs, feeds and Twitters increases the amount of hearsay, folklore and misinformation that people receive everyday. The coffee pot isn't just two or three people talking but potentially thousands. Companies such as Microsoft can use the social news and Web channel to distribute information and gain valuable, immediate response. But the same social news channel can spread sensational folklore or resurface old stuff, too. Just because 200 people Digg something or your buddy Twitters x,y or z doesn't make it new or even true.