Second Seinfeld/Gates ad surfaces
updated 12:10 am EDT, Fri September 12, 2008
New Seinfeld Gates ad
Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled a new ad featuring founder Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, cozying up to an allegedly typical American family in an attempt to discover what the average user wants. The ad follows in the same vein as the first, comprised mostly of Seinfeld's well-known comedy style "about nothing." Both Seinfeld and Gates portray a character who act like opposites of their commonly perceived personality, with a food delivery driver being told by Gates that he has "got nothing" when it comes time to pay the tab, Seinfeld handing the teen an old Greek coin.
Throughout the four-and-a-half minute commercial, the two are subject to suspicion and abuse from a grandmother character, before they are eventually set up for trying to take a leather giraffe statue. The teenage girl in the family set them up after Seinfeld was found in her room, clipping his toenails.
Their experience ends as they walk down the street with their luggage. Seinfeld probes Gate's success in the computer industry, bringing up that he's "connected over a billion people," and wonders what could be next. When asked about whether the world would see frogs with email, a goldfish with a website, or an amoeba with a blog, Gates does a small robot dance at Seinfeld's behest to confirm any of the above.
According to ZDNet, the ad is just one phase of Microsoft's re-positioning of the company's public perception, and a more Windows-oriented advertisement is due I the coming days. "Very shortly, we will move into another phase of the campaign that will be about Windows," said a spokesman for Microsoft.
The advertising campaign is costing Microsoft close to $300 million, with part of the money going towards hiring over 150 Microsoft Gurus whose jobs are to help prospective customers with how-to introductions to Windows. Microsoft eventually hopes to use the ads to show users how Windows Vista, Mobile, and Live can be used to increase productivity.
There have not been any anti-Apple overtones thus far, unlike Apple's Get a Mac ad campaign, which directly slams Vista for being difficult to operate and restrictive of a user's work flow.
Enough already!
09/12, 12:22am (1 reply) reply
I dont think we need more garbage on TV. Gates is game over. No miracle on earth is going to change that. Not even that has been, Seinfeld.
jarod
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 2005
ads??
09/12, 12:23am reply
Wow...I get their point but what a screwed up way to get it across. Jerry Seinfeld and the third richest man in the world and this is the best they can do. No wonder XP/Vista is no MacOS!
cgkaide
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Joined: Jan 2001
ads??
09/12, 12:23am reply
Wow...I get their point but what a screwed up way to get it across. Jerry Seinfeld and the third richest man in the world and this is the best they can do. No wonder XP/Vista is no MacOS!
cgkaide
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2001
perfect analogy
09/12, 12:32am reply
the commercial shows how rich people have difficulty relating to regular people, and Microsoft is having problems relating to regular users.
Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999
What are they thinking
09/12, 12:39am reply
This is the second commercial in this campaign and it's just plain awful. I do not see how Microsoft authorized this campaign and expects it to improve it's image. Even if the next commercial, the "windows" one is great, they would still have 2 completely odd (and costly) commercials produced. I was expecting something creative and actually really good. What I see is very poor and reflects directly on the product and my perception of Microsoft. It's a shame.
jamesfabin
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Joined: Aug 2007
wow
09/12, 12:50am reply
Unfunny, and uninformative. The longest commercial I ever edited was 60 seconds and had ten times the amount of information in it, and actually drove people towards the product, not away.
Whoever Microsoft hired to create these ads should really consider going out of business.
Tim_s
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2006
Just like PC
09/12, 12:54am reply
This is GREAT!
Just like PC!! "Windoze" doesn't get what people want and they just don't get funny either!
I feel kinda bad for them... They are trying so hard its pathetic.
cima113
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2008
Perpetually Connected?
09/12, 02:18am reply
This seems to be more a vanity campaign that anything else: look kids, we can spend millions of bucks BECAUSE we CAN!
4:30 of your life you'll never get back again.
dimmer
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2006
I kept waiting
09/12, 03:39am reply
I kept waiting for the punchline or the point. I didn't even smile. I sacrificed my time too so I can tell at least 5 others they should watch an old Droopy or Tom & Jerry cartoon instead where you'll learn more and certainly laugh more.
JackWebb
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Joined: Aug 2007
4 1/2 minutes?
09/12, 04:13am reply
Is that right, a 4 1/2 minute commercial? Has this thing actually played on TV? Or is it just some web commercial?
chadpengar
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Joined: Oct 2001