TORONTO, ON, July 12, 2000 — MSN.CA today announced an unprecedented milestone in Canadian e-mail usage: 5 million active accounts for MSN Hotmail, the world’s leading globally accessible free-web-based electronic mail service. To mark this occasion, MSN.CA is celebrating in the streets around COMDEX/Canada 2000, Canada’s largest technology industry trade show currently taking place in Toronto. MSN.CA also has a number of activities planned both around the city and across Canada, including a new advertising campaign for MSN Hotmail. In Canada, Hotmail is accessible through MSN Canada’s portal at http://www.msn.ca .
“Thank you Canada for choosing MSN Hotmail for your free web-based e-mail!”
said Judy Elder, General Manager of Microsoft Canada Co.’s Consumer Group.
“Canadians are clearly embracing the communications possibilities of the Internet, and the anywhere, anytime access of free-web-based e-mail through MSN Hotmail. What a great reason for a celebration!”
In the spirit of transferring
“stuff”
from one place to another for free, MSN.CA will be offering Torontonians free rickshaw rides tomorrow on 60 rickshaws that will be running from 8:15 AM to 3:30 PM, July 13 th , between Front Street and Queen Street, and from Yonge Street to Peter Street. The rickshaws and their drivers will be easily identified by their
“MSN Hotmail”
signage, T-shirts and hats. MSN.CA is also supporting the Toronto Millennium Moose in the City Campaign with the
“Hotmail Moose, in celebration of 5 million Canadian Hotmail accounts,”
that will reside in front of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the home of Comdex 2000.
Across Canada, Much Music and MSN.CA are teaming up to let Hotmail users vote on a series of ‘what’s-hot-what’s-not’ categories, one each week for four consecutive weeks starting July 17th. Voters will automatically be entered into Much Music’s What’s Hot What’s Not Contest. This contest will enable people who have Hotmail accounts (or wish to sign up for one at http://www.msn.ca ) to enter a Canada-wide contest that will ultimately determine what’s cool in hip categories. Each week a winner will be announced during Much Music’s
“Go With the Flow”
program. Winners will receive a Pocket PC with a wireless modem. An advertising campaign with also coincide with the Much Music/Hotmail contest to bring awareness to Canadians across the country.
About MSN Hotmail
There are 66 million active Hotmail accounts worldwide, with an average of 270,000 accounts opened daily around the world. Hotmail is now available in seven languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian and Japanese. Microsoft continues to build on the popular Hotmail messaging platform, adding services to enhance the capabilities and benefits of the free service to its customers. These include MSN Messenger Service, the easy-to-use Internet messaging service that provides consumers with instant and private contact with their friends, family and colleagues; and Microsoft Passport, a suite of e-commerce services that features single sign-in for all Passport-enabled sites, including MSN Hotmail. Microsoft’s Hotmail Team is also a leader in consumer advocacy and is widely recognized for its anti-spam measures and is committed to providing a safe e-mail environment for its members.
About MSN.CA MSN.CA makes available to Canadians, on one Web page, compelling Internet services, information, entertainment, a variety of communication options including MSN Hotmail web-based e-mail service – the world’s leading globally accessible free web-based electronic mail service. MSN.CA also provides such high-quality interactive services as MSN Gaming Zone, MSN Web Communities, MSN Messenger Service, and many more for the Microsoft Windows operating system and Apple Macintosh users. Please visit the Web site at http://www.msn.ca .
