If you were using Microsoft Word in the later ‘ 90s , you probably remember Clippy , the anthropomorphous gem clip who pour down up from clip to metre in ordering to offer tips on how to better apply Microsoft Office . That is , until Microsoftdemoted Clippywith the introduction of Office XP in 2001 , only to finallykill him in 2007 . Love him or hate him , Clippy ’s been effectively dead ever since — until earlier this week when Microsoft briefly resurrected him for about a solar day before killing him again .
On Tuesday , Clippy was featured in ananimated sticker packin Microsoft Teams . The gummed label were then released via GitHub so that anyone could download the Clippy stickers and live over that sweet Office 97 nostalgia . Except , by Wednesday , the stickers were go . If you peek at the officialOffice GitHubpage , Clippy is nowhere to be find .
Clippy ’s brief revival meeting apparently did not sit well with Microsoft ’s internal brand police — a company spokesperson toldThe Verge .
Microsoft did not right away respond to Gizmodo ’s petition for a reason why Clippy was so brutally murdered like that , but a source conversant with the situation toldThe Vergethat the stickers angered Microsoft ’s “ brand police . ” A ship’s company voice told The Verge :
Clippy has been trying to get his job back since 2001 , and his brief coming into court on GitHub was another effort . While we prize the sweat , we have no design to work Clippy to Teams .
Dang — that ’s cold . It makes sense that Microsoft might still be sore over all the hate Clippy ’s gotten over the class . There have beencountlessthinkpieceswrittenaboutwhyhe’soneofthemost hat post helper of all time . But a small muckle of cunning stickers was n’t exactly anguish anybody , so it ’s a bit odd that Microsoft seems so keen on keeping Clippy out of sight . Especially since the nostalgia auto has give Clippya bit of a resurgencein the past few age . One would ’ve think that the mo was ripe for Clippy ’s salvation .
Really . Clippy has some serious fans . In 2017 , anextensionadding Clippy to every site you visit was bestow to the Chrome Web Store and it has since been downloaded by 1,087 users . There are inexplicable Clippy stumper up for sale onRedbubbleand even more paraphernalia onEtsy . If you ’re a brave soul with no fear , you may also google “ Clippy fanart ” or search the#clippy tagon DeviantArt . ( There ’s one particular fanart of apregnant Clippythat even touch his original designer . ) Oh , and there ’s also the less creepypetition to fetch back the Clippy sticker message ring , which as of this writing currently has 493 votes .
Still , who would have think that in 2019 Clippy , in his perennial search for meaningful employment and a rationality to subsist , would become a young icon for the millennial conflict ?
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