MSN anti-dumb effort is itself a little dumb

MSN has a new ad campaign out which claims, "No one wants to look dumb." To avoid saying stupid things at the watercooler, wearing ice-washed jeans on a first date, or being generally unaware of pop-culture minutiae, the ads urge you to visit MSN.com, which is some sort of repository of face-saving knowledge. As punishment for their ignorance, the characters in the ads end up getting serenaded by a hipster dude, whose guitar features the taped-on slogan, “This machine kills dumb”—a kind-of dumb reference to Woody Guthrie’s “This machine kills fascists.” The guitar dude also has his own Web site, where you can craft a little ditty for your stupidest friend or family member.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

March 24, 2008 | Permalink