Whether you like the name Microsoft picked for its shiny new search engine or not, Bing has got tongues rolling and keyboards rambling.
One of the funniest takes on this we’ve seen today comes from Fortune columnist and author Stanley Bing, who is ‘moderately outraged’ over the new name but is not considering legal action at this point.
Sure, Bing’s doing his best to get some free publicity out of the carefully planned preview of the new search engine, but his sense of humor is spot on, so enjoy the read.
Here’s an excerpt:
BING VS. BING
LONG-TIME FORTUNE COLUMNIST AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR STANLEY BING CONDEMNS “BRAND INTRUSION” BY NEW MICROSOFT SEARCH ENGINE, ALSO TO BE NAMED “BING”
OFFERS SERVICES TO NEW ENTITY FOR “ANY REASONABLE OFFER”
NEW YORK, MAY 28, 2009 – Stanley Bing, FORTUNE Magazine columnist and best-selling author, today expressed “moderate outrage” at the branding of the new search engine to be offered by Microsoft, also to be called Bing. At the same time, Bing the Author took the unusual step of offering an initial olive branch to Bing the Search Engine, proposing that the two powerful brands merge into one for which Mr. Bing could be the logo, corporate symbol and spokesman, to the extent that it fits in with his other duties.
Read the whole thing here, and make sure you don’t miss the end:
Mr. Bing began his column in FORTUNE in 1995. Prior to that, he was at Esquire Magazine for 11 years, where he built a considerable following. He is also the author of numerous books and is the host of a popular Web destination on CNNMoney.com and writes regularly for Huffingtonpost.com. He has been cultivating the Bing brand since 1983.
Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. It has been establishing the Bing brand for about seventeen minutes.
what the world needs another lawsuit over a trivial word
completely unrelated products. no legal problem. ignore.
unrelated products, no legal problem. ignore.
Comments totally missing the point. No sense of humour. Ignore.
Nothing would be more fitting than a lawsuit against Microsoft. Does anyone remember MSFT sueing a boy named Mike Rowe? For his site mikerowesoft??
“It has been establishing the Bing brand for about seventeen minutes.” Best line in the whole thing
He’s just trying to get some crumbs of the Microsoft’s publicity wave. Stanley Bing (real name Gil Schwartz) is just trying to get some publicity.
Even if he had his name trademarked, trademarks don’t work that way.
Stanley Bing is writing humour. He always has. Brilliantly. Anyone taking this seriously needs to chill. Stanley Bing has always had a sharp wit.
Honestly Bing ‘the name’ has already worked. No press is bad press.
http://www.yout...h?v=z4iiyRv_NrQ
Bing Bong Bros
Detroit’s new mayor is Dave Bing. I don’t expect he even knows about MS’s search engine of the same name despite being on Twitter @davebing.
Could be an interesting campaign platform for Dave Bing or a MS marketing play for the highly coveted Detroit online search market
Sue the bastards!!!
They will do it to you….
Why not some payback????
Oh, C’MON!!!!!
How many people has Microsoft screwed over the years with this same story.
Remember Mike Row??? (mikerowsoft.com)????
Sue the bastards!!!!!!!!
When the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbor in World War2 that drew the US into the war-after which Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander of the Japanese Fleet, is reported to have said:
I fear we have awoken a sleeping giant
Perhaps that this is synonymous with what’s in the minds of both Brin & Page from Google, they’re now fear that the sleeping giant MIcrosoft has just been awoken. There is interesting battle ahead between these 2 competing business entities.
Good move from Microsoft, since they’re battling Google on brand name and not on technology. Their various R&D groups have shown in the past that they could developed search algorithm/s that were superior which outperformed the Google’s PageRank.
So, the giant has just been awoken to start for the battle of the minds. In fact, it is a marketing battle and not a technology battle.
The “sleeping giant” has been awake and trying to knock down Google for some time now….
Dude, “what would machiavelli do” by Stanley Bing, is a classic book about business…yes, it’s humor, but it’s way accurate & truthful imho.
I agree that he should sue MSFT over the whole thing…the guy is brilliant & has written several books is well known, etc…if his reputation as an author is hurt or infringed upon by microsoft, they should pay.
I can’t tell if you’re joking or not, but shouldn’t we start with:
The estate of http://en.wikip...iki/Bing_crosby
And the creators of http://en.wikip...i/Chandler_Bing
?
They probably have more claim to the name than the thousands of people of Danish origin: http://www.sear...igin/b/bing.php
This is a gag.
I wish I was a sleeping giant.
This whole this is like trying to pee on a raging forest fire. It won’t put it out, but it’s kind of fun.
Did anyone read this? It was a joke – and a very funny one. Anyone who is taking this seriously either needs to RTFA or acquire a sense of humor.
People also need to understand the Microsoft culture – the Microsofties love this stuff. This will be taped up in the Bing product manager’s office. They tend to have a much better sense of humor about their brand than some other IT vendors.
Let the games begin….DING!
I just went to the bing site, bing.com and watched the promo video. Damn it looks good. It looks like a cross between a search engine and Wikipedia. Can’t wait to try it!
“Brand Intrusion” by Microsoft against a lone individual? Just a name.
Who the hell is Stanley Bing, and why should I give a damn about this schmuck?
That’s the answer.
Microsoft replied:
http://blogs.ms...er-to-bing.aspx
At least he got a box if cigars…
Bing Crosby is probably the biggest brand.
No way. Bing cherries.
j/k
check http://www.bing.com
MSFT is really missing the point of being ready when you start making noise.