
The First Bill Gates + Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft Ad Makes No Sense - nickb
http://gizmodo.com/5045703/the-first-bill-gates-%2B-jerry-seinfeld-microsoft-ad-makes-no-sense
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brandonkm
I think the ad is rather brilliant. The whole "wtf" vibe is what they were
going for. You have to always remember that this ad and the followup ads are
part of a much larger campaign that is basically going to be a saga of
microsoft advertising. Think of this as one of the first few pages in a
chapter within a long book.

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tialys
The 'wtf' vibe is also generating all kinds of noise about the ad. Every Mac
related website in my RSS feed had an article about it, and it's on every news
site I visit. The average consumer may be slightly confused, but the internet
large is having it shoved in their face. Isn't that what you'd want with an
aggressive ad campaign like this?

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mdasen
I don't know what you all are talking about: clearly this is just a teaser ad
for Microsoft's new Edible PC. It comes in three editions: moist ($100), chewy
($150), and moist and chewy ($350).

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swombat
Don't forget Ultimate Moist and Chewy ($500) and Enterprise Moist and Chewy
($750)

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Andys
And thats just the 32-bit range. Don't forget Moist and Chewy 64 bit edition -
twice as crunchy.

~~~
dotcoma
do they come with anti-cavity protection?

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volida
for those that didn't get it:

the ad shows a normal conversation between two people. it wants to show that
pcs are for normal people. this is achieved because it makes you think: hey
look here are two famous people discussing something normal...

that's the thought that runs in your subconsious and thats what microsoft
wants, where instead the message of Apple ads is hey "we use mac, we are
better than you" bullshit...which apple's message is annoyingly imprinted in
their users mind, reproduced in an annoying way by most of them.

~~~
mixmax
If you have to explain an ad then it has failed.

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fauigerzigerk
An ad that people talk about cannot have failed. Whether that talking is
explaining or not doesn't matter.

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raganwald
David Ogilvy, in his seminal "Ogilvy on Advertising," describes the paradox of
the "Gorilla in a Jock Strap." He explains that if what you want is buzz and
recall, you simply show something outrageous, and people remember the ad. Put
the company's logo on the jock strap, and people remember the brand.

But do people buy the product? Does the ad reposition the brand or company??
It is certainly _possible_ that this advertisement does either or both of
these things, but simply generating buzz in and of itself is not a valuable
use of an advertising budget.

Now that I think about it, compare and contrast this to the famous 1984 ad. I
love it, it's great theatre. It made everybody talk about Macintosh--because
it mentioned the brand. It positioned the brand as being against IBM and
corporate computing.

This ad is empty calories, buzz without direction.

Think about this: if _all_ they wanted was this level of buzz, they could have
put out a press release indicating they were buying Yahoo. Same buzz, doesn't
cost M$300.

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fauigerzigerk
The yahoo announcement did cost Microsoft shareholders deer ;-) But to the
point, I agree with the principle you cite, but I don't think this ad is just
empty buzz. I think making two people who are so outrageously successful look
normal and a little stupid is supposed to make it easier for other normal
folks to stand by their Microsoft PC buying choice in spite of Apple's
coolness.

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raganwald
I accept that the ad may do more than just generate buzz. I hope so! As much
as I dislike MSFT's current policies, I'd rather see them change than die.

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rglovejoy
The reason the ad makes no sense is that it is about nothing.

~~~
acesamped
seinfeld humor. "Its a show about nothing." (like everyday life nothing).

~~~
ShardPhoenix
Thank god you're here to save us, Captain Obvious!

~~~
josefresco
Apparently Captain Obvious needs to spend some time with the Gizmodo bloggers.

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rrf
Spending $300m on an ad campaign to inspire consumers to reconnect with
Microsoft not only feels desperate, but seems such a waste when it could have
been channeled into making better products or hiring better hackers.

~~~
JoelSutherland
Microsoft is spending all kinds of money on both products and great hackers
already. The biggest problem they have is their overall strategy.

With the cash they have on hand, I have never understood why they aren't doing
more parallel development in smaller groups to let the good ideas happen
organically. They continue to try to fit every new product into the existing
Microsoft ecosystem -- something that is beginning to fail.

~~~
pwk
"They continue to try to fit every new product into the existing Microsoft
ecosystem"

As companies get both bigger and older, internal politics seem to have a
larger impact on company policy. There are surely many Microsoft employees who
have a vested interest in keeping things exactly how they are, investing money
and resources in existing projects that maintain or expand their power base,
regardless of the benefit or lack-thereof to the company as a whole. It's a
type of corporate inertia that's difficult to overcome once in place.

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snprbob86
I guess they feel the first step towards humanizing Microsoft is humanizing
Bill Gates.

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ars
Funny, I watched it and I though:

I guess they want to start the hero worship of bill gates. (Mind meld? A sign
from above? Running into a store to be a personal servant?)

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omouse
Sweet where do I sign up? Bill Gates dresses better than Steve Jobs, it's
true, my coffee told me so.

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mixmax
This reminds me of the huge campaign they ran a couple of years back, the one
with the dinosaurs, I'm sure you remember it. The idea behind it was that a
load of people in offices ran around with dinosaur heads. The point of the ads
were that you were a dinosaur if you didn't upgrade to the new office.

However what the ad accomplished was that Microsoft got associated with
dinosaurs - they managed to brand their own software as old and cranky.

I was absolutely flabbergasted that a company with that kind of resources
couldn't at least find an intern to tell them that this was a really really
bad idea. This looks like more of the same...

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sdurkin
You can almost hear the money being flushed down the tubes.

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JeremyChase
I'm not a fan of Microsoft, but I liked the ad. One purpose of media is to get
people talking, and there is plenty of buzz about this advertisement.

Jer

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Angostura
My main thought watching the advert was, "that's sad, Bill Gates steps down
from running Microsoft, and now spends his time in discount shoe stores?"

I'm honestly not trying to take a dig at the ad, but it did feel rather
tragic.

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jgamman
i liked it. it reminded me of the way william shatner has reinvented himself
by hamming up his old cliche. he is now way more interesting. if bill gates
could PR himself the role of 'PC genius doofus dropped back into normal world'
with the help of some off the wall humour of JS - i think this could be a
really interesting ad-war.

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watmough
Yeah, maybe John Hodgeman could be tapped to play the part of the doofus.

I'll await further installments with interest. Maybe someone a bit more young
and trendy could be be picked to play alongside the Gates / Hodgeman PC-
analog...

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river_styx
It's nonsensical, unfunny, and just lame. Sorry Microsoft, but you will never
be able to catch up with Apple culturally.

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volida
try understanding the ad. it's actually a very smart ad

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Kilimanjaro
Oh I see, so the ad is targeted to mensans only?

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rbanffy
I may risk to say understanding the ad will qualify you as not human.

~~~
rtf
I understood the ad.

What do I do now?

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senthil_rajasek
Can buying a shoe that fits your feet be so difficult? Actually it is, for me
at least... Personally, for me it is the shirt. Even if you find a shoe that
fits you there are onlookers criticizing that its not the right fit for you.

Now, how about getting the right operating system for your personal computer?
Can some company satisfy every customer find their perfect operating system?.
Its a challenge, I would say... and then there are some who want it moist and
chewy, not dry and crunchy.

Just my interpretation and a thought that crossed my mind as I was trying to
download a patch for my machine...

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rms
This advertising campaign will be a great critical success. It's a sublimely
entertaining advertisement and a really nice thing to do for Bill Gates. This
300MM blitz will really humanize Bill Gates to the TV watching public.

Of course, even the best advertising company can't save Microsoft. They need a
miracle.

How long do you think it will take for the market cap of Amazon and Google to
surpass Microsoft? In 100 years and beyond, Microsoft will disappear and
Google will achieve immortality, at least until we abolish capitalism.

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pwk
"In 100 years and beyond, Microsoft will disappear and Google will achieve
immortality"

I suspect that, in a mere 25 years, Google will get the same respect that
Microsoft does today (ie some, at least from some quarters, but much less than
heyday levels). Some young bucks will come along with the same combination of
smarts and business savvy and build the next big thing, and lots of the bright
people currently at Google will have retired or moved on to other things.

~~~
rms
Sure... I suspect that the market cap of Google will have surpassed Microsoft
in 5 years. Amazon, in 25. In 100 years, Microsoft will certainly be entirely
irrelevant if not completely gone.

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vaksel
sure it does...it says: "look at us, we are microsoft, we have a ton of money"

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trominos
Did you guys see Bee Movie? Did you see the Jerry Seinfeld ads for it?

Compared to the BM ads, especially, this is pretty funny. (I actually think
it's decent on its own, but I've always been a big Seinfeld fan.)

It doesn't do much for MS's image, though, as far as I can tell. I thought
Bill Gates was already popularish? The problem is the company.

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acesamped
Have you guys watched the Seinfeld tv series? Its really the same kind of
humor. lol. I found it funny

As much as we may hate to think it, in the end, I think Microsoft wins again
because we DID watch the ad didn't we?

Jerry and his comedy is the bait.

We now know microsoft is up to something "delicious." whoopie.

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Dobbs
_I think Microsoft wins again because we DID watch the ad didn't we?_

The problem with your statement, is that watches mean nothing if they do not
sell the item. Selling the item means nothing if people don't view the ad.

One does not work without the other. In this case its getting views but its
not selling, educating or performing anything to those views. This ad is
nothing but empty views.

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andreyf
_The problem with your statement, is that watches mean nothing if they do not
sell the item._

Ads aren't just for selling stuff directly. This ad doesn't sell anything, it
changes brand image.

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gaius
Exactly. Another example is the recent Honda ads.

(Tho' actually I suspect those are are more about changing the company's image
as an employer)

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joshu
I am infinitely freaked out by the text "delicious" at the end of the clip.

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rms
I thought this was great. Surreal seems very appropriate.

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kul
we're all talking about it

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kajecounterhack
I don't understand why Microsoft needs to advertise on TV...most people I know
don't see it on TV and use windows anyway.

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caveman82
Since when do ads need to make sense?

