Microsoft: IE sucks… less

The latest marketing ad for Internet Explorer is refreshingly honest. Rather than making big, bold claims about the browser it lists the marginal bits of progress it’s made.

In the ad, the company takes a gentle dig at it fiercest critics as well as itself. The subject of the ad is an extreme IE hating troll. He’s got “that cartoon” up in his room, you know the one that shows Firefox and Chrome slugging it out while Internet Explorer sits around eating glue. He’s even got an “I ‘recycle bin’ coffee cup”.

The ad sees him engage in a nuanced argument about IE’s various flaws (“IT SUCKS”), while IE responds by quoting positive reviews and listing all of its new features. It eventually wins him over with its open karaoke platform, because, um… geeks have surprising hobbies.

Microsoft is even owning up to IE’s bad rep and trying to sway public opinion with its website, The Browser You Loved To Hate.

The message of this ad may be a bit lost, but going after trolls isn’t a bad idea. No one wants to use the browser all the trolls do.