Scott Hillis
SEATTLE: Users of Microsoft Corp.'s Office software are familiar with - and
often annoyed by - the animated paper clip ‘helper’ that interrupts tasks
with blazingly obvious comments like, ‘It looks like you're writing a letter.’
Now the software leader is capitalizing on the feature's near-universal loathing
to promote its upcoming version of the software, Office XP, which it claims is
so easy to use that you won't need pesky such as these cartoons to help you
figure it out.
Office includes programs like the Word processor Word, spreadsheet Excel and
presentation software PowerPoint. On Wednesday, Microsoft kicked off an online
campaign that plays up the annoying personality of the paper clip - known as ‘Clippy’
- with things like animated videos showing people cursing him while praising
Office XP.
For months, Microsoft has touted new features in Office, but now it is hoping
people will buy it for what is does not have - namely Clippy, who will still
lurk in the software but is turned off by default. It is a rare public display
of self-denigrating humor for a company that, like many big corporations,
sometimes finds it hard to admit mistakes or poke fun at itself.
"Most people either love Clippy or hate him, so we wanted to have to
some fun with his reputation and show a sense of humor on the part of
Microsoft," Office product manager Lisa Gurry said in an interview. On a
Web site at www.officeclippy.com, visitors can watch the animated videos, in
which comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who made a career out of a grating on-stage
personality, plays the voice of Clippy.
In one video, Clippy butts in on an office worker, who shouts, "Next to
Microsoft Bob you are the most annoying thing in computer history!" - a
reference to another ill-fated attempt by Microsoft to make computers easier to
use. Users can also check out Clippy's resume and a blues song.
Later, Microsoft will introduce an online game in which users can blast
Clippy with rubber bands or staples. "Those people who are Clippy haters
can vent that on the site," Gurry said. Clippy, who made his debut more
than four years ago with the January 1997 launch of Office 97, is actually based
on complex algorithms developed by Microsoft's research arm to analyze natural
language to infer what a user is doing and suggest ways to simplify the task.
But the incarnation of that technology as Clippy fell flat. The character
became so hated that James Fallows, author and national correspondent for the
Atlantic Monthly, said in a February 2000 article on Microsoft culture that the
company made him sign a nondisclosure agreement not to reveal the name of
Clippy's creator.
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.