I told you August 21 that Microsoft hired comedy icon Jerry Seinfeld (for $10 million) to make Windows Vista ads with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. Now, the first commercial hit TV primetime this evening. Here's the ad. (Like this kind of thing? Follow me on Twitter!)
5:34 PM * PERMALINK * 58 comments
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Comments:
Terrible. Simply terrible. Somehow it's like listening to really bad karaoke. Bill and Seinfeld both need acting lessons.
Wow I am so underwhelmed - I was definitely hoping for more. (And the image of BG adjusting his shorts was not one I needed.)
I should have known better than to expect an innovative ad from a company with no signs of innovation.
--
sent from my iPhone
I think the platinum card is funny :)
Who is John Galt?
Ha - made me laugh...
Loved every second of it. They sure have their thumb on my pulse.
So when does the
Windows Delicious
hit the shelves? In the future?
I'd like to have it because I find the current offerings quite bland, at most, tasting like cardboard.
Shit.
The ad says nothing. Pointless.
Someone spent time and money on that!?
What a treat - loved the commercial! The juxtaposition of big business and comedy is perfect. Well done!
Because the purpose of the commercial was not evident until the very end, confusion was a problem. Just wondering what the heck was going on made it difficult to absorb the message.
What are they trying to sell? Shoes?
I don't think this is going to help them beat Apple.
THAT'S what we've been waiting for?
Oh come on... It was entertaining. Like so much that is entertaining, it "said" nothing... But the point wasn't to me-too the PC/Mac ads... It was to take Mcrosoft out of the suit, and put it in casual clothes... which I think it did effectively.
From a happy Vista user and "sent from my iPhone", too (you lame name dropper)
If anything, was intresting to just watch Bill Gates in action. Not sure why the other users are hating on the commerical that much I can recall when APPLE started their commericals with the two guys, and people hated them at first.
John Galt is someone who we should all be listening to very carefully.
He is full of wisdom and innovative thought himself.
--
sent from my computer at work
Disappointing, pointless and that smirk on Gates' face shows he doesn't think this crap will work either.
Who wrote this drivel? Ballmer?
I think Microsoft should get into the shoe business. I mean, they couldn't do any worse with it than Vista.
Microsoft is not trying to beat Apple. They are trying to crush them. Brilliant commercial. Loved the Seinfeild-esque comedy about nothing. FANTASTIC.
These types of commercials often require a few to understand the thread. I agree that the PC/Mac commercials looked moronic at first. What about Gaico's gecko? Give it a couple more.
Unhappy with Vista, OS X, the iPhone, and much stuff out there now. About the only thing I like: my Blackberry, my PS3, and my wife's Wii.
How could John Galt even watch this flash video on a "smart phone" that can't yet play flash videos... what a douche
I prefer MS products to Apple and am happy with Vista, but god this company is the worst when it comes to marketing. It was cute and interesting but not worth what I'm sure they paid for it. Seinfeld doesn't come cheap, and time wise a90 second spot doesn't come cheap either.
They would've been better off releasing the Mohave campaign where they tricked users into saying Vista was good (which it is) by telling them that it was MSFT Mohave. But that campaign shows how bad they are at marketing, that they have to trick people into realizing that their products are good because they've let the competitor define them as bad.
They need to attack Apple directly. There are so many weaknesses in the Apple model, namely one provider of hardware, and, to a large degree software. MSFT should go after Apple as Apple has come after them. Apple started slinging mud, its worked pretty well, you don't win by taking the high road at this point.
I say attack them with ruthless abandon. Call Steve Jobs out as the greedy arrogant SOB he is who won't partner with innovative hardware and software companies, instead beleiving only his mighty Apple can deliver value to the consumers (and take their money). Call out Mac users for their arrogance. The zealots aren't going to buy PC's anyway, don't worry about insulting them, instead demean them so others stop listening. Make them look like the cult members that they are :)
Show what a world where Apple was in MSFT's shoes would look like, to a monolithic world of computing where all of your hardware would be white and most of your meaningful software had to be purchased by one company.
Can't wait to get flamed by the cult for this :) As a Mea Culpa, while I don't like him, I think Jobs is a marketing genius, and if he ever teamed up with MSFT some great things could happen :)
Sean
Pure crap. They did not come anywhere near the hilariously funny Apple commercials. Damn - Bill Gates is getting old. He is my age and I don't think I look that bad.
Was the shoe store in an old Apple store?
You'd think Microsoft would have money to hire a real marketing agency. Instead they just asked Bill what to do.
Pretty dumb. I can make a tastier commercial with one egg, two cups of sugar, and gasoline.
Microsoft is a household name, and bill gates mearly has to show his face for everyone to think of microsoft. They dont need to push a particular product, they just have to push their name. And they did that well here. Would you prefer if they treated us like sheep and said "buy vista because its good" ?? They are just trying to keep their brand fresh. THey did this really well with a simple add that makes you question qhy bill gates is in the discount shoe store, and whats seinfeld going to do? Good add. Could have been funnier. May need acting lessons. But good effective add.
Atlas Shrugged. I think of it often when I listen to Obama.
What's really sad is they did use a BIG ad agency to come up with this lame spot. It wasn't entertaining or sell the product. It was just dumb and boring. If you are going to use the owner of the company to sell a product they should at least be engaging. I'm sorry Jerry is old news and acting is not one of Bill's strengths.
Bill -- you should have used the money you spent on this lame ad to make your products more user friendly - that would have been a better use of your time and money.
Sincerely
Underwhelmed
Are we supposed to shower with our computer?
I like it.
"How could John Galt even watch this flash video on a "smart phone" that can't yet play flash videos... what a douche"
I just watched that lousy commercial from my iPhone with no problems. Perhaps you should try it before posting such ridiculous comments.
Who is John Galt?
An Ad about nothing. Brilliant.
The subtlty of the message was interesting. It might have been so subtle that most of you missed it. I noticed more than one message about Microsoft being presented in the ad.
Add to that the idea that the ad sseemed pointless will get people to talk about it. Talking about a Microsoft ad (as everyone in this thread is doing), is talking about Microsoft.... :)
While I agree it seems dumb, the more I think about it the more clever it could actually be.....
Has to be a fake. Nobody would pay 10 mil for that.
That's an ad for Seinfeld. Vista still sucks. Nice going Jerry. They paid you $10 million to promote your reruns.
I like my wife's WII better :P
The cake is a lie!
The ad wasn't to get you to buy Vista, if you notice, there was no mention of Vista in it. The ad's purpose was very simple: Get people talking about the ad, and by extension, Microsoft.
Advertising is all about mind share, and as and advertiser will tell you, there's no such thing as "bad publicity" if the ad gets you talking and thinking about Microsoft.
This was a brilliantly executed commercial. It did exactly what it was supposed to do, as evidenced by the fact that you all POSTED about it.
rofl. This definately shows the potential. Hope to see some more direct.
I have to say Vista Media Center + Xbox + PCTV = Awesomeness!
I'm anxious to see how the general public responds to the ad after it airs on television, instead of the reactions of tech people who are already mostly bias one way or the other.
Dear Mr./Ms. Anonymous:
If you found multiple subtle Microsoft messages in that commercial then I am either marketing-challenged (possible), or else I'm not smoking what you're smoking. Please, enlighten us with your interpretation!
Total crap.
Wow. If you liked "Seinfeld", maybe you liked this. The member card was cute, but this whole thing was a waste of time. I'd have done it for half of what they reportedly paid Seinfeld so that they were out less money.
I love Microsoft Products, Including Vista, I find the commerical a waste of 90 Seconds, I will continue to watch to see if there any real value to this approach to Marketing.
Certainly not as good as Apple's Mac and PC ads :\
Wow, The every-man Billionaire with the every-man stand up comic in an add promoting nothing. Clever or unimaginative? The real advertizment was the fact that Seinfeld was paid 10 million to do the adds, and sadly, it appears to have worked.
Its the START of a ad campaign. Ramping up, I think...which started with Mojave.
$10 million dollars pissed away.
It was a commercial about nothing.
I thought it was cute, they're both rich jerks, so I probably dont get their kind of comedy. BUT, I did't understand WHAT the heck it had to do with computers...
Bill should have paid 10 mil, to steal commercials from someone else.
Interesting... the related videos from youtube included Chinese propaganda...
Yes, this advert works in this sense:
- It has a gentle, whimsical, humour for thinkers
- It is the first episode of a series that has you slightly puzzled, wondering where it's going
- It is the first episode of a series beginning identification with a regular "odd-couple" of characters
- A strong association with a brand name (but not necessarily any particular product).
Campaigns such as this have proved VERY successful in the past (well, at list in New Zealand where I reside). Suggestions that the ads should emulate the Apple ones or should directly attack Apple are short sighted - such campaigns would be sure-fire failures.
Subtle and softly-softly are the best approach. (OK, I'm not sure about the pants hitching!)
lol, are you guys surprised it's a commercial about nothing? Have you ever seen Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld co-founder Larry David's other project? Not only is it about absolutely nothing, he's annoying as hell. At least this was palatable.
We had to buy several copies of vista ultimate for our studio's PCs simply because you can't purchase XP anymore... And none of the software which we use in our studio that ran beautifully under XP can run under vista without hiccups and this gave us absolute hell... Some simply refuse to work... Microsoft could never solve our problem and told us to go buy new hardware whereas we are running on state of the art, top of the line PCs... That shoe should go up Bill Gates' and Balmer's ass as far as we're concerned...
That was rally stupid and way too LONG!
If you take 100 people off the street to view that commercial and ask them what it says to them, I'll bet you more than 90 of them will simply shrug. It's not effective in communicating anything. I'm not a MS hater, but this commercial is a waste of time.
All i have to say is that i enjoy these commercials as if they were short seinfeld satire. Clearly crap as far as advertising is concerned. And everyone has to agree, hands down better than the Mac propoganda commercials that ran on tv for the longest while. not to start a mac vs pc war, but this was at least fun to watch.
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