Great New Scroogled Ad with the Pawn Stars

My children watch a lot of reality TV and most of it is pretty disappointing. But one of their favorite shows, "Pawn Stars," is a good one, and for a simple reason: It's actually educational. So I was happy to see a great new "Scroogled" ad appear from Microsoft this week featuring the guys from "Pawn Stars." It's worth watching.

There are two versions, a TV-friendly 30-second spot and a longer, extended cut. Here's the longer (and better) version, though both do a great job of emulating the format of the TV show.

There's really no use discussing this one too much. Some people will see this for the utter truth that it is, and some will find some kind of fake outrage in what they see as Microsoft's "desperate" and "negative" FUD campaign. Since I don't think Google could be overseen enough by regulators around the world, I fall on the side of common sense: Microsoft's Scroogled campaign is important because the claims they make about Google are correct.

But please. Rein it in. Just enjoy the video if you like this kind of thing. Or move on if you don't.