Microsoft to hire Johnny Knoxville as Vista pitchman?

pcmac Hey there, cool dudes. Looks like Microsoft’s fixing to jazz things up a bit with the hip and fun Johnny Knoxville. What a crazy guy, huh? Isn’t he neat? That oughta show those squares over at Apple who’s got the snazziest commercials around.

An anonymous focus group participant apparently sent an e-mail to a blog called Cajun Boy in the City detailing that “Microsoft was in the midst of preparing an advertising campaign that would make it appear that its software and the PCs that run them are a younger, hipper product” and “it appears as though Johnny Knoxville might be their answer to Justin Long.”

I think it’d be funnier if Microsoft hired John Hodgman (“PC” in the “Get a Mac” ads) for future campaigns and went the self-deprecating route.

More text from the anonymous tipster after the jump.

From the Cajun Boy in the City blog…

A few nights ago, I participated in a focus group. Though the company conducting the focus group wasn’t revealed to us, it was obvious that it was Microsoft because all of the marketing material that we were presented with dealt with, well, MICROSOFT. What became apparent to all 8 of us in the group was that Microsoft was in the midst of preparing an advertising campaign that would make it appear that its software and the PCs that run them are a younger, hipper product. They showed us a number of sample ads that seemed to emphasize global community, peace, love, happiness and environmentalism, etc., and how Microsoft products can bring the world together and make it better place. All of us in the group were struck by how Apple-like the ads were. Some even expressed thoughts that they appeared to be straight rip-offs.

But what struck me as the funniest thing out of all of this was that it appears as though Johnny Knoxville might be their answer to Justin Long. We were shown some marketing material featuring Knoxville, including one commercial in which he falls and drops his PC in Jackass type stunt, but then a “don’t worry about losing your data if your computer becomes destroyed because you’re a jackass because the new Windows automatically backs up to files for you” message was delivered.

Microsoft apparently hopes that a “Jackass” can up its hip quotient and increase market share [Cajun Boy in the City] via Adland