This year’s ugly Microsoft sweater has a suggestion for you: It’s Clippy
Enlarge / Microsoft's newest ugly sweater is Clippy- and Office-themed. (credit: Microsoft)
I'm not always a fan of corporate whimsy-like when brands' Twitter accounts have "attitude" or when companies put together cringe-worthy April Fools' Day pranks-but I do enjoy Microsoft's now-yearly tradition of releasing ugly sweaters with retro Windows patterns printed on them. Two years ago, the patterns were MS Paint- and Windows logo-themed. Last year's pattern paid homage to Windows 3.1-era Minesweeper. And this year's brings back an old frenemy: Clippy.
Though his days as a ubiquitous Microsoft Office mascot ended when Office 2007 was released, Clippy has found a second life as Windows 11's version of the paperclip emoji. Clippy was not, unfortunately, open-sourced along with the rest of Microsoft's emoji designs over the summer, owing to his status as a copyrighted character.
Clippy is the hero of the new sweaters, but there are other little Office- and Windows-themed touches, too-an old-school Windows logo on the back, the Office ruler on the top, some formatting buttons on the sleeves, and falling stacks of paper throughout.