Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system -- featuring "live" tiles instead of the folders we're all used to -- is supposed to be simple enough that after a brief period of experimental tapping, clicking and swiping users should be able to figure out how it works.
Staples, however, is assuming the opposite: that many, many customers will be baffled by the new system.
In a set of new commercials from McCann, Staples is offering free Windows 8 Training to anyone who buys a new machine there. The commercial features a doofus dad -- that's you, computer buyer! -- who gets the cold shoulder from his sulky teenage son when he asks for some help with Windows 8. The dad is forced to go to Staples for training.
Staples' commercial is unusual because it basically features one big brand (Staples) asserting that another brand it's in business with (Microsoft) has made a product that's too complicated for customers to understand on their own. That kind of backhanded slam almost never happens in the marketing business.
Here's the spot:
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