Driving Miss Peasy


Closeup of a woman resembling Kate Winslet

You know that Windows 7 commercial [bad link] with the woman who looks a bit and sounds a lot like Kate Winslet talking to us from the back of a cab?

Every one of the far too many times I’ve seen it but one, what I heard was “easier peasier should be simpler”. Now, I’d be thrilled for my brain never to have accessed the dubiously cutesy phrase “easy peasy”; when the ears can’t make out for sure what they’re receiving, however, the brain first searches for something that’s likely and then just substitutes anything that’s possible. The other night I finally recognized what she’s saying as “using a PC should be simpler” — which you’d think I’d have gotten earlier since this whole series of ads is about people sharing how Windows 7’s improvements were their idea, but nope.

Perhaps it’s jingoistic of me to suggest that Microsoft was undercutting their message by employing someone with such a thick accent, and what I (mis)heard didn’t change the gist of the ad, but all the shuddering over “easier peasier” did was take my opinion of Windows further south. And even knowing what I know now, all the woman in the commercial makes me want to buy is tickets to a Kate Winslet movie.


Screencap © 2010 Microsoft.


Related: Brew Ha-Ha Siteseeing Clorox Makes It Dirty

3 comments:

  1. Blam, I've not seen this advert yet, but if you're in the mood for some Kate Winslet, I recommend the episode of Extras by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant that she cameoed (is that a word?!) in. One of the funniest celebrity cameos ever, in my opinion. Kate giving phone sex advice is one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen. I cried with laughter.

    VW: refutase - the technical term denoting the act of raising your hands in supplication and screaming 'Don't taze me, bro!'

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  3. Oh, wow, I envy you that you have all that good viewing ahead of you! Definitely check out Extras. Some fans of the Office didn't like it, but I was a big fan of both series. Kate's cameo was one of the best, but other notable cameos in Extras were Ian McKellan, Sam Jackson and David Bowie. Oh, man.... Ian McKellan's hand pushing on the back of Ricky's head.... so funny.

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