Sun Microsystems UK's quick-witted marketing bunnies, have booked some text ads with FT.com's Information Technology email newsletter to exploit confusion over the Compaq's decision to sell Alpha to Intel and to adopt the Itanium as its server platform.

This is the text ad in full:

The link takes you straight to Sun UK's product page - which is a bit naughty of FT.com. The format of the URL is exactly the same as URLs for stories. No doubt, the inclusion of the Web address will bounce up click throughs, enabling Sun and FT.com to pronounce the campaign as a marketing triumph.

Certainly, it will fill FT.com's coffers. Sun's Alpha land grab attempt has stung Compaq UK into replying today with a text link ad, also placed through an FT email newsletter.

Here is the Compaq blurb:

Compaq Alpha
Alpha and Itanium(tm) fit hand in glove. Your 64-bit solution will be better, faster, cheaper... No bitter pills. No headaches.
http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/clk;3044673;6088558;s?http://www.compaq.co.uk/alpha

The link takes you to Compaq's pitch to Alpha customers. Investment will be protected through the combination of Compaq's clustering expertise, its commitment to port Tru64 UNIX, Open VMS and Nonstop Kernel environments to the Itanium™ processor family; and Intel's strength in microprocessor design.

Incidentally, Compaq's Alpha ad appears in the not altogether obvious FT.com Internet and Ecommerce World Digest newsletter. Still with Sun occupying the ad slot on the FT.com's IT news UK edition, and with IBM taking the slot for the international edition (to flog Unix servers), places may be a bit limited.

Can't we all be friends

Midrange and enterprise vendors are much more adept at ad knocking copy than their desktop counterparts. Currently Oracle is running ads in the UK, highlighting IBM's decision to publish performance benchmarks for the IBM eServer pSeries680.

"What's the fastest database on IBM's fastest computer?" the ad runs. "Source: IBM press release. When IBM wanted to show off their fastest new computer, IBM chose Oracle. Interesting." ®