Microsoft has Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Will Yahoo! soon put Jerry Yang and Prince in its commercials? That's not much of a lead, but I'm reeling from Yahoo!'s "Start wearing purple" push and can't seem to think straight. Purple, Price's favorite color, supposedly symbolizes innovation. In Yahoo!'s new campaign, it looks shag-rug ugly. Online copy reads: "Go ahead. Take the road less traveled. Zig when others zag. Wear purple after Labor Day. Be you with Yahoo!" And it gets worse when you click through to content such as "spontaneous purple happenings directed by New York comedian Charlie Todd." This stuff makes Bill and Jerry's antics seem like Shakespeare. It's a put-on, right? A so-bad-it's-good attempt that, sadly, really is just so bad? I wish Microsoft would buy Yahoo! just to get this stuff off the Web. The way the markets are heading, Yang and his crew better take whatever deal they can get before a whole lotta green slides off the table for good.

—Posted by David Gianatasio