Latest IE8 'Vomit Ad' Pulled from Internet

Microsoft is receiving heavy criticism this morning for one of its recent Internet Explorer 8 TV ads. 

The video shows a woman who cannot stop vomiting after asking her significant other to use his laptop computer, only to stumble upon his hidden adult fetish sites.

The Internet Explorer 8 online ads that Microsoft has been rolling out seem to be getting more popular with each passing day.

Every ad features former Superman actor Dean Cain addressing a new acronym that stands for a function or task performed using the new IE8 browser. For example, the ad "S.H.Y.N.E.S.S." -- Sharing Heavily Yet Not Enough Sharing Still presents a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a woman who just can't share content (in this case, photos of kittens) fast enough.

From Giggle to Gross

Aside from the ads being downright hilarious in their own right, the campaign took a turn for the disgusting with the inclusion of "O.M.G.I.G.P." (Oh My God I'm Gonna Puke), involving the woman who finds her husband's adult entertainment stash.

What's the point of this commercial? As Superman suggests, the situation could have been avoided had the man been using IE8's new private browsing feature.

While it seemed like a clever way to depict a "very real problem," it now appears that a significant portion of the Microsoft viewing audience had "all that they could stomach" concerning the very graphic video.

Microsoft has decided to pull the commercial in response to these protests.

Comedian in the Director's Chair

The ads were developed by the Indiana-based advertising firm Bradley and Montgomery and were directed by, interestingly enough, standup comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. (Source: newruntech.com)

Microsoft has tied their online videos to a larger campaign on the "Browser for the Better" website. This means that Microsoft has promised to donate eight meals to Feeding America, a domestic hunger charity, for every download of IE8 that comes from browserforthebetter.com. (Source: pcworld.com)

In other words, the less number of commercials there are in circulation, the less chance there is for people to be reminded of IE8 and download the new browser. If this happens, less people who need the donated meals will receive them.  That might give the squeamish "O.M.G.I.G.P." opponents something to chew on. Delicious? Perhaps not.

While calling the commercial disgusting is certainly valid, perhaps (considering the nature of the ad campaign) people can simply turn away from their monitor for the greater good.