This is one of the largest tech companies in the US running a media campaign to attack one of the other largest public tech company's products. That alone makes it newsworthy. The fact it was such a lame attempt at a time it's crucial for Microsoft to have some marketing success in mobile also makes it newsworthy.
That it was picked up by niche press and turned into a viral wave doesn't negate that. I'm sure (a large) part of Microsoft's intent in this campaign was for it to turn viral and get picked up by media outlets. If it had gone according to their plan and turned into a tidal wave of complaining about Android, I expect they would have hoped for media coverage as part of that.
This is one of the largest tech companies in the US running a media campaign to attack one of the other largest public tech company's products. That alone makes it newsworthy. The fact it was such a lame attempt at a time it's crucial for Microsoft to have some marketing success in mobile also makes it newsworthy.
That it was picked up by niche press and turned into a viral wave doesn't negate that. I'm sure (a large) part of Microsoft's intent in this campaign was for it to turn viral and get picked up by media outlets. If it had gone according to their plan and turned into a tidal wave of complaining about Android, I expect they would have hoped for media coverage as part of that.