Microsoft will change the advertising slogan for the Windows XP operating system from "Prepare to Fly" to "Yes You Can" because of the September 11 attacks on the US that involved hijacked airplanes, the company has confirmed.
Microsoft plans a $US200 million advertising campaign for the OS, which is due to go on sale October 25, says Microsoft product press officer Muntaz Beck. XP is already preinstalled on some new PCs.
Prepare to Fly was "one of the concepts we were considering," Beck says, and was dropped in favour of the new slogan because of the airplane attacks. Television advertising will start this week and will be accompanied by both print and billboard advertising, Beck says.
The advertisements will "go on for some time," she says.
The soundtrack for the ads will be Madonna's Ray of Light. Microsoft will not say how much it spent on acquiring the rights to the Madonna song, Beck says.