Y'know, I never really had anything against Dell. I mean, I didn't love them, and that "dude" kid was annoying, but I remained fairly ambivalent. Apparently they weren't happy with that, and now they're actively trying to irritate me.

The latest ad campaign for their XPS line of high-end gamer computers features the url www.dell.com/ftw and the tagline "Build your ultimate gaming machine and crush all who stand before you. Dell XPS 700 -- for the win!"

Ugh. It makes you feel dirty just reading it. It just seems like a massive branding misstep for them. In one sentence, the XPS line has gone from a somewhat more corporate Alienware to a bunch of 60 year old men with those deep lines around their necks from where the fat and loose skin bulges out over the collars of their starched dress shirts, sitting around a conference table throwing around ideas on how to "rap" with the kids these days, with a whiteboard behind them reading like:

XPS IDEAS

XPS is keen
XPS is gnarly
XPS is the bee's knees
(picture of XPS computer jumping a skateboard over buses)
(images of entries from XPS' diary wherein it is clear it disrespects its parents)
XPS ftw!
XPS: ptkfgs

One wonders if Dell knows that half the time ftw is used online, it's said ironically. I swear to God if the next ad involves someone saying "I hear the XPS 700 is a good machine" and an owl turns around and says "o rly?", I'm going to shoot someone. Possibly myself.