Microsoft spent $10 million dollars getting comedian Jerry Seinfeld on board for a series of ads. The first ad aired this evening, but it doesn’t seem to make much sense. Maybe I’m missing something?
What do you think?
-Krishna
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First half I was thinking “ok, so this is make Bill Gates seem nice and friendly … look: he wears cheap shoes too! etc.”
Second half: hmm??
Last scene: hyyyyyyyyyyyuwhat!?
Could this be the comedy routine equivalent of Vista? It’s all messed up, like there originally was almost something there, but it got killed on the whiteboard when Gates showed up. None of it fits together now, that’s for sure. What a stinker. Is it meant to be really bad? Will there be a Mojave Experiment for this ad?
Guess it takes more than 10 million to get a convincing performance out of old Jerry too.
It means, in the near future, you can eat a PC with Microsoft on it.
Of course, then, you’re stuffed!
Don’t throw up!
It means Microsoft has a lot of money in their advertising budget. They are trying to show they are creative like Apple too.
I suppose if MS intended for this ad to get people talking, it certainly did. In the vein of “Wha HUH?” =)
Re-examining the commercial again, it’s obvious there were some re-shots. I agree with you, John. I guess the only person who’s laughing now is Jerry Seinfeld ($10 million in the bank).
I watched and re-watched it about a dozen times and couldn’t see anything that made any sense whatsoever about it. This has to be some kind of Madison Ave. ploy to sell Vista…maybe the blue background with the Windows logo at the end? The shoe store setting with the little knot of non-English speaking crowd outside? Microsloth can easily afford a $10M ad campaign about….NOTHING! After all, we’ve spent untold BILLIONS on their op-sys’s over the years and got NOTHING!
A hint:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/04/microsoft-ads-first-phase-to-engage-consumers-spark-conversation/
Clearly intended to be the first of a series… to catch your interest so you watch more. But I think the execution is really poor: I doubt anything in the branding strategy can be attached to edible PCs or to Bill Gates adjusting his pants.
Also, I see the commercial as derivative… a really weak but excessively expensive derivative… not only of the Mac vs. PC campaign but also of the IBM “to geeky IT guys” campaign. Those other campaigns are right on message: Apple’s “we’re cooler than a PC” and IBM’s “we’re the IT guys, even if we’re geeky”. Microsoft is well off message and brand image here.
Got to hand it to Jerry though — $10M for a day or two’s work. Priceless.
A more authoritative source: Ad Age
http://adage.com/article?article_id=130763
I really hope these ads won’t be the preparations to rush windows 7 >.>
I think it is just an introduction to give Jerry Seinfeld some legitimacy as he becomes the official spokesman for Vista.
Having a comedian speak for Vista is appropriate, considering Vista is a joke.