Help me find Ads for Microsoft Office.

April 7, 2007 4:53 PM

Help me find old ads for Microsoft Office.

I am making mock print ads for my graphic design class, and I was assigned Microsoft Office 07. I know there are ads are very conservative, but if anyone can point me toward there past ads that would be helpful.
Thanks

posted by chuckforthought.com to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Admittedly, this isn't as helpful as an online gallery or an animated paperclip or something, but if you visit your campus library (or, if there's no campus library, the nearest big public library), you will most likely find shelves and shelves of old copies of bound computer magazines, and these magazines (and, to a lesser degree, business and general-interest magazines) will most likely have many, many ads for Office in them. If you skim a few Microsoft histories, like this one or this one, you can note the release dates of new Office versions, focus your search and save some time and papercuts.
posted by box at 5:11 PM on April 7, 2007

You may have seen this, but it would be worth a look if not. It's the parody video "If Microsoft had designed the iPod", and it's about their packaging design philosophy.
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:16 PM on April 7, 2007

Adforum.com has a bunch of them but they are not free.
posted by McSly at 5:56 PM on April 7, 2007

Also, check with your school's library and your local town library for old issues of computer and business magazines, or newspapers. These are likely to have Microsoft ads, with a bit of digging.

Here are a few old MS print ads.
Here are some of their current print ads for just the brand, not for a specific product.
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:54 PM on April 7, 2007

Inspiration.
posted by rossination at 7:39 PM on April 7, 2007

Well, there is this classic for windows 386, hyping it's utility for office work.
posted by delmoi at 9:46 PM on April 7, 2007

david carson has done two or three old ads that he still shows off in his lectures. you might want to browse through his books or search through his website (http://davidcarsondesign.com).

also worth a try: http://adsoftheworld.com, http://www.adcritic.com and http://ihaveanidea.org
posted by krautland at 11:43 PM on April 7, 2007

delmoi, that Windows 386 video is fantastic.
posted by 6550 at 12:57 PM on April 8, 2007

I remember the MS Office ads with the dinosaurs for Office 2003?
posted by mphuie at 4:10 AM on April 9, 2007

If you do not love your job, change it. critique from 1996
posted by Lanark at 12:34 PM on April 9, 2007