New Microsoft commercial takes jab at Internet Explorer critics

Microsoft hit back at Internet Explorer critics Thursday by releasing a new commercial in response to a viral parody of its previous commercial.

The most-watched videos on Microsoft’s YouTube channel are three versions of “A More Beautiful Web,” a commercial first posted by the company in July. The advertisement features thumbs-up reviews by renowned outlets like Wired and The New York Times, all to the backdrop of Alex Clare’s popular song “Too Close,” basically guaranteeing a continuation of its entertaining rivalry with Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. A fan of its competitors created a parody three months later, it quickly went viral after being embedded at CNN, Gizmodo, and elsewhere. As you’ll see, the video is a replica of Microsoft’s original commercial — only it throws in a few computer viruses, slow loading times, and phony reviews by the same outlets (e.g., “‘It’s kinda fast . . . I guess?’ — NY Times”). Trust me and watch it. Microsoft’s newest commercial is a more or less a response to the parody, portraying critics of Internet Explorer as infantile trolls obsessively perusing the Web’s ‘comments’ sections. The protagonist keeps pro-Firefox/Chrome drawings hung on his wall and drinks out of an ‘I hate IE’ coffee mug but ultimately concludes, not surprisingly, that life is better with Microsoft . . . after the browser introduces a new Karaoke standard. Check out the new video below. Related stories: "10 perfect tweets about the Boy Meets World sequel."

"Samsung accidentally releases a bizarre new commercial."

"Chris Christie ignores question about Twinkies… for 40 seconds."