MoFo Launches New, Somewhat Less Crazy Website

About a year and a half ago, Morrison & Foerster unveiled an insane edgy new website, openly embracing its MoFo moniker and a new “What the MoFo?” theme. At the time, we walked you through the minefield of interactive design elements that the site offered.

Now, after what I can only guess has been a year and a half of head scratching, if not outright mockery, from clients and other lawyers, MoFo has apparently decided to abandon its $1 million design experiment in favor of a more traditional approach to law firm advertising. Gone are the brainteasers and optical illusions. Gone are the indecipherable picture puzzles.

But fear not, there is still plenty of crazy to be had. Find out all about the new “MoFo mojo” after the jump….

The changes from the old MoFo website to the new one are drastic. Take, for example, the concept of innovation. The old “What the MoFo?” site felt that the best way to convey that innovation mattered at the firm was with this crazy picture, followed by a bizarre passage about the ability to solve puzzles:

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The new MoFo website tackles the notion of innovation in a much more normal way, linking the concept to its attorneys:

Innovation is what drives our people. Ask our lawyers what keeps them engaged and excited. They say it is the excitement of tackling our clients’ complex problems and the satisfaction of finding practical, winning and efficient solutions. And just because our work is important, doesn’t mean it can’t also be fun.

This is fairly representative of the new website. The rethought approach seems to be the traditional one of presenting information to clients in a serious, informative, and useful way.

While the new MoFo site spares its clients from a barrage of crazy, prospective employees aren’t so lucky. All of the interactive design elements from the old website have been moved over to the Careers section of the website, which opens in a separate window. When we first visit the Careers page, we’re greeted by a shrill, overly-synthesized approximation of a Caribbean Island tune. And then we are asked the important question: do we have the MoFo mojo?

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“MoFo mojo” seems to be the firm’s new thing. Thankfully, they are kind enough to give us a few examples of what “MoFo mojo” is:

To help prospective hires determine whether they have the requisite mojo, MoFo provides its vision of The Whole Lawyer. And what better way to give new associates a sense of their future in Biglaw than by using imagery that typically only appears in slaughterhouses and butcher shops?

In case you were wondering, a “sense of ownership” comes from the ass and makes up 16% of the ideal MoFo lawyer.

Next, MoFo addresses the idea of pigeonholing, a common problem for associates at large firms, under @$%#@! (Pigeonholed). Surely this won’t happen to you if they pretend to curse over and over again while they show you pictures of pigeons. Lots of pigeons.

A few things have survived from the old MoFo website (wouldn’t want that entire $1 million to go to waste). We still get the interactive numbered boxes that give us 25 answers to the question Why MoFo? They have thankfully done away with the gunshot sounds. Instead, we are now treated to a ringing bell sound that is more than a little annoying after you’ve clicked on it 25 times. For reason #24, MoFo reaches deep into the overused metaphor file to assure new associates that they will not be drones who are overworked until they collapse, but rather gems that will be polished until they sparkle.

Finally, it seems that MoFo’s designers just couldn’t resist the urge to include a game somewhere on the site. By way of introduction, they give you the concept of “rankophilia”.

Then you can engage in your own rankophilia by actually awarding little prize ribbons in the categories of ugliest vegetable, strangest celebrity baby name, and most addictive snack food.

Gotta keep those legal minds sharp, people.

So why does MoFo insist on doing these crazy things with its websites? In their own words:

You can’t really argue with that.