

Microsoft makes a great ad (seriously) - njoglekar
http://blog.reelsurfer.com/microsoft-makes-a-great-ad-viral-videos-of-the-week-january-25/

======
bradleyland
I disagree. I enjoyed the nostalgia, but it did not make me long to use IE
again. I ended up blogging about it. Below is the text from my blog, but the
version on my website has links to the Draper Carousel speech if you haven't
seen it: <http://www.bradlanders.com/2013/01/24/hes-no-don-draper/>

========

Anyone who has seen Don Draper’s iconic Carousel speech knows that nostalgia
is a terribly effective agent for emptying consumers’ pockets. Apparently, a
reader at Daring Fireball saw a correlation between Don’s work and a recent
advertisement for Internet Explorer.

Take a moment to watch both the Carousel speech and the Internet Explorer ad
before you move ahead. I’ll wait.

I don’t doubt that the agency responsible for the advertisement had this in
mind when they scripted this piece. Unfortunately, the ad falls flat for me.

I grew up in the 90s. I saw a lot of things I remember fondly when I watched
the ad; if not with a chuckle at the absurdity of the 90s aesthetic. I did
feel connected with the images, but why didn’t I feel connected to the
product?

Don Draper tells us we should be nostalgic, but not because we have a strong
sentimental attachment to film slides. We feel what we do because of what the
Carousel delivers. We insert our slides, dim the lights, and we are taken back
to “a place where we know we are loved”.

Sob.

Unfortunately, yeterday’s Internet is gone. Internet Explorer cannot bring it
back. Therefore, the product fails to deliver on the promise of the ad. That,
I think, is the disconnect, and it’s the reason the ad falls flat for me.

~~~
njoglekar
You are not necessarily disagreeing. The ad can still be good regardless of
how you feel about the product.

~~~
bradleyland
Boy, I'm sure disagreeable :) An ad can be _enjoyable_ regardless of how you
feel about the product, but it cannot be a good advertisement.

~~~
njoglekar
Yeah you're right. Poor choice of words on my part

------
outside1234
you can spray paint gold on a turd but its still, at best, a gold turd.

------
mladenkovacevic
One of my favorite commercials ever is this one for Zune:
<http://youtu.be/IvDFbmb9DwE>

It's not particularly great from any kind of branding sense or at selling the
product.. but it's just fucking awesome anyways.

------
acuozzo
I enjoyed watching this ad, as it targets people from my generation (I was
born in 1988).

~~~
njoglekar
could not agree more (born in 86)

------
Toshio
Friends don't let friends use internet explorer. microsoft didn't like that
and made internet explorer ads depicting us tech-savvy people as weirdos and
nutjobs for recommending better browsers to our not-so-technical peers.

This so-called "great ad" is not going to wipe those insults clean.

