On Gear Live: Circuit Breaker: The Tech Newsletter that Elevates Your Gadget Game

Tuesday August 29, 2006 8:59 pm

Unauthorized Microsoft Training Videos Feature Brit “Office”




Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, BBC, The Office, Internet,

Ricky GervaisAs many videos that are never meant for public consumption find their way on the Internet, so too have a couple of Microsoft in-house training videos from The Office creator Ricky Gervais leaked online. Both Google Video and YouTube included the videos in their lineup, but the films were meant only for Microsoft employee’s eyes. Microsoft commissioned the videos in 2004, to provide “a light-hearted way of getting our staff to think about the values they attach to working at Microsoft,” according to a company spokeswoman. Both videos run about 20 minutes and feature Gervais and co-writer Stephen Merchant, with Gervais playing his annoying Office character David Brent and Merchant acting as a Microsoft employee.

YouTube has since pulled the videos, however Google Video still has them up. I checked them out and they are really great—especially if you miss the original Office humor and the way Gervais plays his character to the most annoying level, with gobs of arrogance and self-confidence. I’ve always found his character to be almost painful to watch because of the level of embarrassment you feel for him—all the while he’s clueless that he’s being inappropriate. It’s complete genius.

According to the company’s spokeswoman, “These videos were produced for internal use and were never intended to be viewed by the public. We are actively working to investigate how and why they have appeared now.”

If you don’t have time to watch the full videos, just check out the last few minutes of each. Following the end credits, some of the outtakes have been included—there is nothing more infectious than Ricky Gervais laughing. Enjoy.

Read More | Yahoo! News

Advertisement

Advertisement

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.

Advertisement