Microsoft Construct 6 Story Windows Phone in NYC

To celebrate the launch of the latest version of Windows Phone, Mango, Microsoft have unveiled one of their biggest marketing spectacles yet: A six story tall Windows Phone replica in New York’s Herald Square.

The launch was timed to coincide with three new Windows Phones in the U.S. market: The Samsung Focus Flash, Focus S and the HTC Radar 4g.

The phone, which is a 150:1 replica of a Windows Phone, attracted a large crowd. Those in attendance were treated to demonstrations of the phone’s social-focused apps, as each tile opened up during the day. These included free pizza from Ray’s found with a Bing search and a performance from the Far East Movement literally inside the Zune tile.

Microsoft also celebrated its gaming chops with a zombie dance-off, populated from characters from PopCap’s popular Plants vs Zombies title, which was released for the system a few months back. Microsoft reportedly paid $100,000 to have the app ported to Windows Phone, so it’s good to see they’re still getting some mileage for the purchase. Kinectimals and Fruit Ninja characters also made appearances.

The most touching moment of the day (or the most cringe-worthy, depending on your point of view) came when a New York man proposed to his stunned girlfriend from inside the phone. She said yes, a wise decision given the media coverage.

All in all, it was a fairly bold and fresh way for Microsoft to address the public, not hitting as hard as Apple’s subtle marketing but still showing a significant improvement over past Microsoft advertising efforts (like the spectacularly bad Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates ad campaign).

If you’d like to learn more about Windows Phones, Microsoft is due to hold more Windows Phone parties in New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Each promises a chance to check out the new Windows Phones as well as enjoy food and live music, so if that’s your thing get in there. Just don’t propose to your girlfriend, how are you going to explain that to your future kids?

This article was written by William Judd. William writes for GearZap.com, one of the UK’s leading online retailers of laptop cases and kindle covers.