Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Microsoft
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Microsoft explains Seinfeld-Windows TV ad: just a 'teaser'

It's the first step in Microsoft's campaign 'to reconnect with consumers'

September 5, 2008 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - The much-hyped Windows commercial starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates that aired on U.S. television Thursday night left many viewers scratching their heads. That was intentional, said Microsoft Corp. today.

The ad was a "teaser" to a much longer campaign, said Brad Brooks, corporate vice president for Windows consumer product marketing at Microsoft, in a video interview posted on Microsoft's site.

Microsoft wants to "engage customers in a conversation and dialogue in a humorous and intriguing way," said Brooks, who took over marketing for Windows and Vista in February after a major reorganization.

"We want to re-engage consumers emotionally around the brand, Windows," continued Brooks, "and actually create that emotional connection again -- a connection we've had, and that we want to have again."

Prior to the commercial's airing last night, advertising experts had cast doubt on Microsoft's choice of Seinfeld, suggesting that the 54-year-old comedian's brand of observational humor had become dated and wasn't hip enough to win back Mac defectors, especially youthful ones.

The commercial showed Seinfeld encountering Gates in a discount shoe store at a mall, chatting him up about nonsensical topics such as whether the Microsoft founder wears clothes in the shower, and then asking Gates if Microsoft could make "something that makes our computers moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while we're working." Gates wiggles his rear end to answer in the affirmative.

The predictably negative immediate reaction by tech bloggers seemed to reaffirm that criticism. But ad experts were also not much more enthused.

Barbara Lippert, a critic for AdWeek magazine, called the ad "beyond bizarre."

"While Gates deserves extra platinum Big Top Points for being able to make fun of himself (and his reputation for being cheap) ... the spot shoots itself in Bill's size 10 Conquistadors several times."

Gates' wiggling his butt to answer Seinfeld's question was a motion that Lippert would "rather not see ... that gesture puts a whole new spin on 'multitasking.'"

"If Crispin Porter + Bogusky [Microsoft's advertising agency] and Microsoft were going for the oddly creepy or the offputtingly nonsensical, then they've succeeded brilliantly," wrote Steve Hall, publisher of AdRants.com.

But some commentators at Computerworld found the ad surprisingly funny.

"This commercial was funny and interesting," wrote "HFC" in a post titled "It's about image not a product." "It wasn't directly trying to get you to buy something, it was letting everyone know the company isn't the uptight (yet amusing) business guy that Apple wants us all to believe."

Others said that considering the pre-airing hype, as well as the reflexive cynicism that accompanies almost anything Microsoft does, the ad succeeded as well as could be expected.



Jump to comments

Microsoft

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER
Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.
WHITE PAPER
Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.
WHITE PAPER
Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.

What People Are Saying