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That's no different from referring to US policymakers as "Washington" or their Chinese counterparts as "Beijing".

Maybe it's to emphasize that they're dealing with higher-ups at Microsoft HQ instead of someone at their branch office?

It's like how they call the US federal government "Washington".

This is a normal way for people who are talking to "real Microsoft" and not customer service to refer to them.

Why is that bizarre? That’s been a way to describe talking to Microsoft since the mid to late 80’s.

Facebook is MPK Apple is Cupertino