AOL’s e-mail team wrote a snarky blog post on Friday, making fun of Gmail and accusing it of being late to the game with its new features.
The post, entitled “An Open Letter to Gmail: Happy Halloween! We love your costume!” seems to be intended as a friendly joke. But the overall tone is pretty harsh and, in a way, puts out a reminder that this is a company which, regardless of its achievements, is easily overshadowed by the 800-pound gorilla of the internet.
And it's also a funny way of putting your best foot forward when you are, um, for sale.
The AOL team highlights some recent Gmail advancements like SMS integration and emoticons, both of which AOL has offered for a while now.
“They say imitation is the best form of flattery, so Gmail, we thank you and we are indeed very flattered. Putting together a costume that is so dead-on could not have been easy, and you've got it down pat. Trying to convince all the other kids at the party that the only thing to use is Gmail and putting out a press release every time you add a new button to the service is just so 1998. We're telling you – this outfit brings back memories!” the post reads.
It’s a strange piece of PR in general, and judging by some of the comments, probably not one that is likely to boost AOL’s service:
