“Burton Research Director Drue Reeves noted that Microsoft representatives were handing out cards with the URL outside VMware’s user conference in Las Vegas last week until they were asked to leave the premises.”

http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10008478o-2000331759b,00.htm?new_comment

“This is not the first time that I’ve seen this kind of behaviour. Back in the late 1990s when the Outlook vs Notes war was raging, Microsoft decided to hold its Outlook conference in Boston, which also happened to be the stopping ground of Lotus, maker of Notes. Lotus hired a fleet of vans embossed with its logo to drive round and around the Microsoft exhibition to show the Redmond boys it wasn’t going to take such provocation lying down. Juvenile but amusing.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6485483.stm

“Microsoft crashes Sony PS3 launch [...] In both London and France Microsoft mounted publicity stunts to rub some of the gloss off Sony’s launch events.”

Anyway, this site is largely about MS, not nike or coke.

I’m not sure why you think Microsoft are the only ones who resort to “guerrilla marketing”, and I’m not even sure why you class that as guerrilla – it doesn’t really fit the accepted definition of the term.

Certainly I can think of about ten companies who’ve run similar campaigns off the top of my head without even looking.

Can’t say I care for either Microsoft or VMWare, personally. Microsoft have a lot to answer for, but you hear stuff about VMWare’s bits being based on hacked-up Linux kernels…

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.