Mr. Clippy



April 14, 2001



BROOKE GLADSTONE: To the Germans he is Herr Papierklammer [sp?]; in Spain he is Senor Pedaso Molesto de Matal [sp?]. But to millions of frustrated American computer users he is simply Mr. Clippy, the paper clip with eyes that appears on the screen whenever you begin writing a letter using Microsoft Office.

LADY: Is there any way to turn that moronic paper clip off?!

MAN: Memo to Bill Gates: if that paper clip pops up one more time, I can't take that thing any more! I quit!

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Those opinions come from a web site actually sponsored by Microsoft: Officeclippy.com. The reason for officeclippy -- actually the reason behind the entire movement to force out Mr. Clippy is to promote a new Microsoft product -- Office XP. The big selling point for Office XP is the elimination of the paper clip that interrupts you with the phrase: it looks like you're writing a letter -- and then proceeds to watch you work - critically -blinking periodically. Lisa Gurry joins me on the phone from Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington where she is product manager of the office line. Hello Lisa.

LISA GURRY: Hi there!

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Do you personally hate Clippy?

LISA GURRY: You know I actually love the little guy, but I do know lots of people that don't. My husband, for example, told me I'm glad you're getting rid of that little guy.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: What was the extent of the market research that suggested the public wasn't warming to Mr. Clippy?

LISA GURRY:Oh, most of the research that we did was actually anecdotal. We saw a Conan O'Brien sketch actually where Clippy had been shot and we heard a lot of feedback from our customers as well that some were less than pleased with Clippy. So we thought we would have a little fun with this campaign.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Before this marketing campaign could Microsoft employees confidently voice anti-clippy sentiment?

LISA GURRY: Absolutely. We're a pretty - pretty free nation over here. [BOTH SPEAK AT ONCE]

BROOKE GLADSTONE: I see that you're answering my question! [LAUGHTER] Sorry -- I do that sometimes - just, just go ahead.

LISA GURRY: We are a free-thinking company actually and, and many Microsoft employees did not like Clippy either.

BROOKE GLADSTONE:The New York Times reports that Microsoft is spending 30 million dollars to market Office XP and half a million of that is earmarked for the Clippy Campaign. All of this puts you in the odd position of trying to sell one Microsoft product by playing on public loathing of a feature of another Microsoft product!

LISA GURRY: It's an interesting approach, one that we actually haven't taken before, but we think it's a great way to highlight the improvements in Office XP while also showing that Microsoft does have a sense of humor.

BROOKE GLADSTONE:But come on, can't you disable Mr. Clippy from the office software that's already on most computers as opposed to buying a whole new product.

LISA GURRY: You can turn Clippy off in any version of Office; however we are choosing this type of campaign really just to demonstrate or generate interest.

BROOKE GLADSTONE:But I put it to you, Ms. Gurry, why should we believe that the new Office XP will not have a similarly annoying feature that we'll only be able to get rid of by buying Office XXP?

LISA GURRY: Well our goal definitely is to introduce features that people love. We don't want to-- [BOTH SPEAK AT ONCE]

BROOKE GLADSTONE: I see you're ducking the question! Would you like some help with that? [LAUGHTER]

LISA GURRY: Let me try again. [LAUGHS] Seriously our goal is to introduce features that people love. In fact, when Clippy was first introduced, he was quite popular.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Which raises the question - has there been a save-Mr. Clippy backlash?

LISA GURRY:There hasn't been yet, but since we've just kicked off the campaign it wouldn't surprise us! We think there are a lot of closet Clippy lovers out there.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Thank you very much.

LISA GURRY: Thank you!

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Lisa Gurry is product manager for Office XP -A Clippy-Free Zone.

MAN SINGING WITH GUITAR: IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE WRITING A LETTER, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME HELP ALONG THE WAY? YEAH IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE OPENING A SPREAD SHEET NOW MAMA, THAT'S THE KIND OF THING I USED TO SAY. CHILD, I TOLD YOU HOW TO GRAB TEMPLATES THAT GOT [...?...] WORKSHEET [...?...] DATA DO A DATA BASE, AND YOU JUST YELLED AT ME TO GO AWAY. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE WRITING A LETTER-- I DO BELIEVE I COULD FORMAT IT BETTER, BUT SINCE YOU'VE UPGRADED TO XP, LOOKS LIKE YOU GOT NO MUSE FOR ME.