HTC likes to bill itself as an underdog, a small company that makes superior smartphones with a humility befitting its Quietly Brilliant tagline. All that modesty has been thrown away this week, however, by what might be the new champion of atrociously bad corporate music videos. The two-minute "Hold The Crown" anthem packs a remarkable density of woeful jokes and half-rhymes, mocking Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S5 in a style that's intentionally goofy, but also entirely unfunny. If there's a joke here, it's at HTC's own expense: the company comes across as petty and confrontational. Some of it doesn't even make sense, such as the line saying, "It took you copycats six times to get it right," which implies HTC's approval of the iPhone 6's design.

We didn't think that BlackBerry's cover of REO Speedwagon would ever be topped for inducing a cringing unease in a tech audience, but HTC has clearly surpassed the achievements of its Canadian competitor. To top it all off, there's an interview with the author of the rap, Doc G, which is conducted by "HTC's own D 2 tha B" and elevates the awkwardness quotient to a whole new level.