I was puzzled about Microsoft’s decision to exclusively sponsor the Fox program, “Family Guy”, to promote its new Windows 7 operation system.  So earlier this week I was downright amazed (and not in a good way) when Microsoft announced that it was bowing out of the arrangement:

“We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of ‘Family Guy,’ but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an e-mail statement. “We continue to have a good partnership with Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent.”

Here’s what didn’t “fit” with the Windows brand: riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest.

My question to the brand managers at Microsoft is this: Did you ever watch “Family Guy”?

So much for basic planning.