Slack claims Microsoft copied its advert in "ok boomer" spat

Microsoft has been accused of ripping off the advertising of workplace collaboration giant Slack during a promotional video for its Teams platform.

The video in question, released as part of Microsoft's 'Unpack the art of teamwork' campaign on 13 November, featured rolling purple balls to symbolise how people collaborate across their organisation.

In a Tweet on Thursday, Slack poked fun at the technology giant by highlighting the video bore a striking resemblance to its own promotional material released earlier in the year, which also used rolling balls to demonstrate connected groups.

The first was an advert for Slack's Frontiers conference published 24 April, which was also used as an intro for the event. In it, different coloured wooden balls are used to depict ways to work as they roll through a number of patterned grooves and tracks. In a second video, which went live 14 August, uses the same wooden balls as begins with a shot of them rolling over a hill.

Slack posted a short video on Twitter that compared the shots, entitled 'ok boomer'.

This is the latest dig in a long-running spat between the two companies that are competing to be the number one workplace communication platform.

Although the statistics favour Microsoft, Slack has shown plenty of gumption in calling out the tech giant.

Microsoft has declined to comment on the advertising issue.

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield has previously criticised Microsoft for its tactic of bundling Teams into Office 365, calling the move "surprisingly unsportsmanlike".

Microsoft recently revealed that Teams had surpassed 20 million daily active users, increasing by 7 million since July. Part of its success is down to the fact that its available as part of Microsoft Office 365.

Slack has also seen its own growth, now boasting 12 million daily users as of October.