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Video – You Chose Product Marketing, Deal With It!

by The Cranky Product Manager on February 18, 2009

in The PM Profession

One of the Crankerati (that’s what the CPM is now calling all you readers) sent this in, so the Cranky Product Manager might share it with you.  FREAKIN’ HILARIOUS STUFF. And still oh so true.

Enjoy.

Summary:

Back in the 1990s, some creative marketing people at Sun made this video. Though Sun is the setting, it is widely applicable to high tech companies in the valley. Intended to be funny, it has aged pretty well.

“You Chose Product Marketing – Deal With It!” is now available on YouTube.

Quality is not 1080p (source was an old VCR tape), and had to be split into two parts since YouTube will only allow 10 minute videos, and it was about 11 minutes long.

Part One:

Part Two:

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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Paco February 18, 2009 at 1:14 PM

Ever laugh at something and then feel really sad a few minutes later?

Purely hypothetical question, never happened to me…

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2 Crankerati February 18, 2009 at 5:34 PM

I laughed, then cried.

I’m out of my Product Manager job in 2 weeks, and despite a brilliant resume and an uncanny ability to get shit done, haven’t found anything else. This… well….. this made me feel better about that fact. Thanks Cranky.

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3 Roman Strobl February 18, 2009 at 9:42 PM

Watching bizzare videos that make fun of product management/marketing at Sun: http://tinyurl.com/cjdc4g

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4 Stewart Rogers February 19, 2009 at 1:25 AM

RT @crankypm: New blog post: Video – You Chose Product Marketing, Deal With It! http://tinyurl.com/dhet2y – be clean for the sales force?

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5 Todd Bernhard February 19, 2009 at 6:21 AM

Hey, I’m one of the “stars” of this video!

I’m the guy in the light colored suit, the newbie PM who says “Me, I’m a Product Manager”!

This grew out of a meeting where someone complained about something to Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun (this was around 1992) and Scott said “You chose Product Marketing… Deal with it!”

We all looked around, and said let’s make a movie! This was way before YouTube and there was no plan to do much with it. Funny to see it so many years later! Many of those folks playing executives were actual execs, like the guy who determined pricing! And several are still there, like Anil Gadre, the guy with the roulette wheel! They were all good sports.

Now, I’m making videos for my own iPhone app… check out http://www.NoTieSoftware.com!

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6 Maggie February 19, 2009 at 6:50 AM

Funny in a “sad, realistic, meakes me want to eat chocolate and hide under a blanket” kind of way. I’m dealing with it.

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7 David Daniels February 19, 2009 at 9:20 AM

Hillarious! Loved it and lived very bit of it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

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8 Shaun Dakin February 19, 2009 at 4:36 PM

Video – You Chose Product Marketing, Deal With It! | The Cranky Product Manager (funny video about IT product managers) http://ow.ly/lMc

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9 ms0m303 February 19, 2009 at 4:36 PM

Sempra Energy Reports Higher Second-Quarter 2010 Earnings http://tsort.us/pmb93n

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10 Shaun Dakin February 19, 2009 at 4:42 PM

@elissafink Have you seen this video? http://ow.ly/lMj funny

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11 iscool February 19, 2009 at 4:42 PM

アップルの驚くべき新製品は自転車? アップルが申請した特許で明らかに http://is.gd/e9rlW

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12 Dealingwithit February 19, 2009 at 7:18 PM

I can’t believe I was being video taped the whole time!

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13 Jackie February 21, 2009 at 5:28 PM

Note to self: Never. Show. To. Applicants.
Oh wait, right, not hiring right now. Sigh.
Being asked to present to rest of team on “Just what is it product management does anyway?” and thinking of showing them this. Love the way it insults EVERYbody. Could be a CLM (Career Limiting Move).

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14 elissafink February 23, 2009 at 2:20 AM

RT @IsCool: Have you seen this video? http://ow.ly/lMj funny look at PM.

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15 Rachel Hawley February 23, 2009 at 1:02 PM

I may not be a product manager, but I’m pretty sure that what product management is not, is product *marketing* http://tinyurl.com/dhet2y

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16 svraghav February 26, 2009 at 7:37 AM

Lopsided but funny – http://tinyurl.com/dhet2y

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17 Ulf Magnusson April 6, 2009 at 9:55 AM

http://digg.com/u1JCP and yes, I like the blogger too.

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18 ulfmagnusson April 6, 2009 at 9:55 AM

El 9 de la Autopista Duarte tiene un cambio radical http://tinyurl.com/7v72pw

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19 Eduardo April 24, 2009 at 2:03 AM

Trying to deal with it! (this one hit a little too close to home in a funny sad kinda way lol http://bit.ly/S10wX

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20 jocatorres April 25, 2009 at 9:54 PM

You chose Product Marketing, deal with it! http://tinyurl.com/dhet2y
:-D

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21 ragamuffin April 29, 2009 at 10:33 AM

You chose product marketing, deal with it! http://tinyurl.com/cjdc4g

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22 olegstepanov June 9, 2009 at 7:22 PM

You chose product marketing – deal with it! http://bit.ly/10jcEY

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23 Nick Skelton June 3, 2012 at 11:44 AM

Turns out nothing's changed in the world of a tech PM over the last 20 years: http://t.co/f5h0dG6n, and who knew Sun had a sense of humour!

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