TorontosFinest, ThisReporterRox, SuperGurrl1983 – these are not just unfortunate grammatical errors, they are all also embarrassing @hotmail.com addresses, picked out when internet anonymity was cool (and so were we).

Working from the insight that most Hotmail users have ridiculous emails, either because they were young when they chose them or because their real name was unavailable, a new campaign for Microsoft is encouraging a generation to take advantage of the launch of a new Hotmail.ca domain, and pick a more professional name.

Jean-François Houle, creative director at Taxi Montreal, which developed the creative that includes videos and banner ads, says his hotmail address is the only one that didn’t have his personal initials, and admits he should probably hurry and register his preference before it’s gone. ‘We asked everyone why they [didn’t use] Hotmail, and they said ‘oh it’s my crappy name because I didn’t have a choice,” he says, of the insight.

Targeting busy professionals between the ages of 25 to 40, banner ads will be placed across the MSN.ca properties as well as on popular business-related sites like Linked In, Workopolis and Working.com, he says. Media was handled by M2 Universal. Videos that show an adult’s transformation from a Goth to a teacher for example, also hammer the ‘You’ve changed. So should your email,’ message.

‘The new Hotmail target is busy people who want to sync all their contacts and keep everything in the same place,’ Houle tells MiC.