Microsoft Denies Mac Users Hijacked Window Display

Microsoft says that a filter and human buffer are stopping inappropriate tweets from being displayed in monitors in Saks Fifth Avenue windows in New York.

The Twitter stream which broadcasts on one of the world’s busiest shopping streets had been flooded with “Get a Mac!” messages, but Redmond spokespeople say they are not going live.

Microsoft sent seattlepi.com this statement (emphasis ours):

This holiday, Saks Fifth Avenue and Windows 7 are working together to bring the magic of the season to life. For the first time, the legendary Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday windows are powered by Windows 7. As part of this campaign, there are three Microsoft Windows on 50th Ave that feature video monitors displaying a live feed of people’s holiday wishes for the season shared via Twitter and from kiosks in store.
The windows are the private property of Saks Fifth Avenue. As such, there are filters in place to make sure that in opening them up to Twitter feeds we had content that was appropriate for the general public to view and was within the holiday theme. This filter includes any attempt to spam the windows with negative commentary that is not in the spirit of the holidays. The windows have not been hijacked.

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Apple Fans Flood Microsoft Window Display With “Get A Mac” Tweets

Here’s the thing: if you look at the #holidaywindows, if they filter out “Mac” messages as inappropriate, there’s almost nothing left.

So we need your help, CoM readers: if you’re in New York and happen by the Saks window display on 50th Ave, send us pics.

5 comments »

About the author

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

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Posted in News | Tagged: get a mac, mac vs. pc |

Charli
okay hate me but I say what’s the deal with them filtering the ‘get a mac’ messages. it’s a private display on private property. it is their right to only show what they wish to show.
in the end, it’s not likely to change anything cause most folks will see it for what it is. gloss and pretty packaging. I’d lay down pretty good money that a fair bit of the folks shopping in that neck of the woods do research before laying down money on something like a computer. and enough will pick Mac to keep the company going.
http://www.zoomata.com Nicole Martinelli
There’s no problem, per se, with them filtering the Mac messages, they have every right to.
I’d like to see what they’re *not* filtering at this point, or if any of them are getting through — if you look at the tweets, they’re almost all Mac-related…
Jodi
Interesting choice (Saks). I wonder if it was picked because it’s only a few blocks from the Apple Store!
bjorntech@squee.org
Meh, who cares? NYC is an Apple town anyways. One Microsoft ad isn’t going to change that. Anyone with half-a-brain that has ever taken the NYC subway knows that bazillion quadrillion subway riders are all wearing Apple iPod earphones during their commute. Jeez, you’d have to be really blind not to have noticed that about the NY subways.
As for going rogue and waging ‘guerilla warfare’ against Microsoft consumer fortresses…. jeez, Mac commandos need to get more creative. Like hit them hard IN THEIR OWN HOME TERRITORY…. like during a CES, or during some major Windows Developer conference or something. Preferably, try doing it during a massive Microsoft show where Ballmer is making a speech/appearance, and maybe some “journalist” grills Ballmer and embarrasses the hell out of him, like maybe questioning “Mr. Ballmer, didn’t you predict 2 years ago that the Apple iPhone would be a total flop?? It seems to be soundly trashing anything Windows Mobile has at the moment, can you please clarify this position??”
And try using more subliminal messages. A blatant and provocative message like Get A Mac targeted at Windows consumers is not going to score many points.
Pete
“This filter includes any attempt to spam the windows with negative commentary that is not in the spirit of the holidays.”
But these were not negative commentaries. They were positive commentaries about Macintosh computers very much in keeping the spirit of the holidays. They were encouraging people to buy Macs as gifts!