You know, we really have to give Skype credit: it takes a set of enormous, hairy, and pendulous balls to not only announce that you’ll be barging into the free calls made on your service with ads, but to actually refer to those ads as credible topics of conversation. Either that or a naivete that would be charming if it weren’t so stupid. Either way, Skype actually put this out, as a press release, with a straight face:
… you should think of Conversation Ads as a way for Skype to generate fun interactivity between your circle of friends and family and the brands you care about. Ultimately, we believe this will help make Skype a more engaging and useful place to have your conversations each and every day.
Well, let’s see here — family and friends are actual thinking people, and brands are copyrighted intellectual property representing a product. Hmmmm, those two don’t seem like they can “interact” in any way, let alone a fun one.
We get it — Skype is expensive to run and it has to monetize its free services somehow. But come on, guys. Saying that you expect the ads that we all know will be incredibly annoying, as they’re the same size as the chat window, to be fun and interactive is a load. Can’t you just admit that nothing’s really free? We’re all adults here. Just say “hey sorry to have to do this put you’re getting to chat with your friends for free so deal with it.” Especially when you consider what Skype is mostly used for anyway, we can probably handle an adult, mature take on the situation.