No, seriously. I’ll do it. One million. That’s a drop in the bucket – 1/500th of what you’re planning on spending.

It’s a crazy idea. It’s insane.

You’ve got your work cut out for you with a mindnumbingly lackluster launch – and the remainder of your media blitz needs to be coherent. You need to begin illustrating Vista’s biggest strengths and benefits:

• The new Start Menu can help you find things faster
• Fast USB sticks can speed up your system instantly
• Program-independent volume control will keep your sounds in check
• The Windows Explorer exposes tons of file metadata
• Parental controls will keep Mom and Dad happy
• Checking for updates and problem solutions has never been easier
• Guided Help takes interactive learning to the next level
• Both wired and wireless network management are smarter
• There’s an infinitely more stable video driver model in place
• Hardware-accelerated eye candy on the desktop is awesome

It’s not just about selling a new operating system, though! You have to let people know where they can find help during this transitional period – when their software and/or hardware might not work like it used to work in XP. If you don’t address those issues head-on, Windows will start bleeding mindshare like never before.

C’mon. If you accept my proposal, I bet I’ll get more press for you than theiap.org did – and I’m guessing you spent more than a mil on that alone. Moreover, I’m guessing that some Macs were used for production. Does your marketing team know Windows intimately – do they know how Vista is relevant for the average user?

And if you don’t bite, maybe an OEM will…