NPR—and the entire public broadcasting apparatus in general—has had a bad year. The botched Juan Williams firing, followed by the botched fallout from the Juan Williams firing, followed by the dumb James O'Keefe prank pseudocontroversy, followed by the resignation of NPR's CEO, mixed with constant calls from Republicans to defund NPR, which even convinced some pinko liberals that NPR should just get off the government payroll once and for all.

Microsoft has finally figured out that, despite being one of the world's most powerful corporations, it is getting its ass handed to it in the advertising arena. As annoying as those "Mac vs. PC" ads are, it's pretty amusing that the richest man in the world is having his company's consumer credibility shredded by the cultivated stubble and shrugs of Justin Long, who isn't even funny or anything. Now, Microsoft has struck back by handing a $300 million consumer advertising account to Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the HOT and HIP young Miami agency that brought us campaigns like the Miller Lite "Man Laws" and Burger King's scary, big-headed "King" figure. Things are about to get weird. A guide to what to expect, after the jump.