This article is more than 1 year old

Dell EMC courts HPE sales people with putrid Monty Python parody

'Green Knight' - aka HPE - says it's more agile after cutting itself in half with a light sabre

Dell EMC looks to be courting HPE sales people with a Monty Python and the Holy Grail parody that compares the latter company to the film's infamously incompetent Black Knight.

The parody sees Dell's King Arthur analog declare “I seek the finest and bravest reps in all the land to join me in my court!” The name of that court is “The Knights of the Round Rock” - the name of Dell's home town.

The vid opens with Arthur and his lackey coming upon an HPE sales rep trying to disentangle himself from a HP Inc printer. Arthur complements “The Green Knight”, saying “You fight well despite not being paid well” and then tries to recruit him. Cue lots of jibes about HPE's leadership and its impact on the company's ability to do battle in the IT market. Things get nasty and the two fall to blows.

For both readers who haven't watched Holy Grail, the original scene is funny because The Black Knight insists he is not wounded and indeed capable of fighting even after Arthur severs his limbs. The Green Knight goes a step further by removing his own limbs and gets a couple of good lines about being more agile than ever now that he doesn't have to sell software.

The video's on YouTube under the name “Jason Newsted”. Yes, that's the name of Metallica's former bass player. And yes, we're almost certain the real Jason Newsted has nothing to do with it.

Youtube Video

The Register has learned that folks from Dell have been directing the vid into the inboxes of data centre bloggers in the hope they'll spread it far and wide, presumably to help with its quest for decent enterprise sales reps. There's also a Twitter account, @GreenKnightIT, that says it's located in “Tweetalot” and is “Calling it like I see it.” The Register isn't sure the tactic will work, not least because Holy Grail ended with its protagonists being arrested for murder and being extraordinarily deluded.

Maybe Dell EMC's forgotten that. Or perhaps being carted off is a preferable alternative to selling for HPE. Either way, the vid's capable of producing a chuckle or two, and might just offer insights into either what it takes to hire a sales rep these days, or how Dell EMC goes about rallying the troops. It's also rather better than the dire music video parodies that vendors inexplicably keep making. ®

UPDATE, MAY 2ND: The plot thickens. Our coverage of this vid has seen the Twitter account @ArthurOfTheDells defend the work, along with some hints that this is part of the fun planned for next week's Dell EMC World.

More about

More about

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like