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Seinfeld-Windows TV Ad Anything But 'Delicious'
CWmike writes "Microsoft's $300-million ad campaign for Windows starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld launched Thursday with a long TV commercial almost entirely devoid of any talk of Windows, Microsoft or anything, really. With co-star Bill Gates, the scene is set in a shopping mall. Seinfeld, who did most of the talking, helps Gates buy a pair of shoes called the Conquistador. The commercial ends with Seinfeld asking Gates if Microsoft will "come out with something that makes our computers moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while we're working." Gates wiggles his rear to answer in the affirmative. The commercial ends (see video inside the story) with the Windows logo and the phrase 'Delicious.' Preston Gralla writes, 'I just saw Microsoft's much ballyhooed Jerry Seinfeld ad, and can say without equivocation it's one of the worst, most pointless ads in history. If this is Microsoft's response to the 'I'm a Mac' ads, it should fold up its tent and tell the world to switch to Apple."
Seinfeld-Windows TV Ad Anything But 'Delicious'
Are you crazy? I found that ad effective & informative.
... starring a Microsoft shill & a racist.
I can't wait to get down to my local shoe store to try out a pair of "The Conquistador" although everyone knows they 'run tight.' I can't wait to finally have shoes I can wear in my shower!
Well, there goes my ability to watch any reruns of Seinfeld
I caught this ad on TV with my non-technical retail employed roommate. And, acknowledging my predisposition to the big evil, I turned and atonally inquired what he thought of the commercial. "What?" he replied, "I don't think when I watch commercials, I just watch them." My god, it's worse than I thought, normal people just might digest this!
My work here is dung.
I did find it humorous that they used his mug shot for his photo on his membership(?) card for the shoe store.
I
They do nothing
Thank god I can finally scratch that off my list of things to see before I die.
Careful What You Wish For....
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=seinfeld%20windows&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#
I'm... I don't know... um... WHAT THE FUCK? Intelligent response in maybe 15 minutes when I've recovered.
I now want a delicious churro. Clearly they're coming out with Microsoft Churros. It's a logical step up from the X-Box... who doesn't snack while they play?
What? That wasn't the point of the ad? I can't imagine what else it would be.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
... that it was kind of hilarious in a post-modern "we're Microsoft, what the fuck are we gonna do?" sort of way.
You mean, "Where do we want to go today?" sort of way?
Sounds like Microsoft with Alzheimer's.
Ignore this signature. By order.
A large table dominates the room. Sleek metal chairs are located around the table, all of which sits on a raised platform above a large pool full of sharks. Various nervous looking henchmen sit in the chairs, watching their beloved leader. A squeaking whiny voice speaks:
Bill Gates (for it is he): Now, I've been thinking about our advertising, how we get the message out that Vista is the best operating system ever written, and I was watching TV last night.
Steve Ballmer: Oh, excellent my master! Excellent!
Steve chortles uncontrollably
Bill Gates: Shut up number 2. Now, I noticed two things. First of all, there is a hilarious comedian on the television called Jerry Seinfeld.
Various flunkies nod.
Number 8: Oh yes, he's very funny
Number 9: I agree my master. We were all talking about his hilarious show around our water cooler earlier today.
Number 5: Indeed. In my department, I couldn't get to the water cooler because of the number of people talking about his show. It is the funniest show on television. You are so right number one, you are...
Bill Gates sighs
Gates: Silence! Now, the other thing I noticed was a theme to many of the advertisements. Let me show you.
The table turns around, with the chairs parting to form a straight line parallel to and facing a giant unfolding screen. The lights dim, and an image appears on screen.
McCain: I'm John McCain, and I approve this message. Barack Obama says he's for the common man. But he's actually just a typical liberal elitist.
Obama: Poor people suck. I'm a big dofus. Look at me with my big car and fancy house.
McCain: Do you really want this person becoming President, or would you rather that a real American be in the White House?
The screen changes to show a new ad. This time the word "Hope" appears in big letters on the screen.
Obama: I know what it's like to be at the bottom. I grew up in a family so poor we used to have to live in a paper bag. Every morning, we used to have to get up before we went to bed, lick road clean, and every night our parents would beat us, bury us, and dance on our graves. But my opponent John McCain was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, listen to his real world experience:
McCain: Look at me, I'm an old person who doesn't even know how to use an Interweb. I have sixteen houses because I keep forgetting where they all are and so have to keep buying new ones to live in.
Obama: Do you really think that guy can relate to us? Do you really want him to become President? Vote for me, change you can believe in. I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message.
The lights come back on and the table and chairs go back into position.
Gates: You see, I'm noticing a common theme. What the common people want is to know their leaders aren't elitist, whatever that means.
Number 17: Er, Mr Gates. I don't want to talk out of turn, but those are election ads, they're not trying to sell computer operating systems.
There is a deathly hush. Gates motions to Balmer:
Gates: Number 2...
Balmer picks up a chair. Number 17 gets up and starts to back away.
Number 17: Please! I meant no disrespect! I was just trying to help! No! Please!
Balmer coldly follows 17 and carefully aims the chair. Finally, with a single thrust of the arms, the chair is thrown. All four legblades hit 17 together. He staggers backwards, bleeding profusely, and falls off of the platform into the shark tank, screaming as he goes.
Gates: As I was saying. The people want to know that their leaders are not elitists, that we can relate to the comm
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I want my damn minute back!
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
It's an "Ad about Nothing"!
the cake is a lie :O
What the fuck...I've got karma out the ass.
What's the difference between a Mac and PC besides the operating system?
The price.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
I thought that Seinfeld was acting like he just smoked a whole bag full of weed and Gates was just annoyed with him.
I am so much stupider thanks to that ad, maybe that is the secret purpose.
Of course that is the ad's secret purpose. Would anyone in their right mind purchase anything from Microsoft?
I just have to figure out how Vista can be associated with the word "delicious". A delicious view? Doesn't compute.
Ignore this signature. By order.
What's the message? "Vista is hard, let's go shopping!"
I toldja, they shoulda gone with a tried and tested comedic genius. http://tinyurl.com/5c3r6y
http://rocknerd.co.uk
That's the only thing I could think the whole time. It's the only response I could possibly give. The only comment I can make. WTF There are no other words. This is it, there is nothing left. Article summary: WTF. Sum of all comments: WTF. The only thought that can take place when viewing: WTF.
Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
Too late. You should have checked that "Post Anonymously" mark if you care for... what remains of your tattered reputation.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
No, advertising is NOT like your company buying you lunch every Friday. This is like your company showing you a picture of a nice lunch every Friday, then showing you a picture of their logo, and expecting that, since you like lunch, you will associate the positive feelings you get from seeing a picture of lunch with positive feelings towards your employer.
If, instead of using money for marketing, companies actually bought you stuff, or lowered the price of the product, THAT would be similar to your analogy.
A better analogy for marketing would be, every Friday your boss comes into your office, hits you over the head with a frying pan, jerks off into your eyes, and steals your wallet.
P.S. If you are in marketing or advertising, I'm sorry. Sorry you chose the most useless, dishonest career legally available. Take Bill Hicks advice and kill yourself. You'd be doing the whole world a favor.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Oh, I can think of something worse. They could have had Ballmer shaking his ass. That would have made me and anyone else subjected to that commercial wretch, and I would feel nauseous whenever I see a churro from there on out.
I saw an ad recently with Ballmer's face, and it scared the hell out of me. I realized that Microsoft gained its fame because Bill Gates looks to average people as a trustworthy geek who might help them with their modem or spreadsheets. Ballmer, however, looks like someone who might scream at you for making his coffee wrong or not doing your spreadsheets correctly.
Ahhh. Viral advertising, yes? That makes sense. I'm definitely feeling nauseous and disoriented after having watched the ad.
Back in the last century some ad people at a business school did an experiment that indicated that thirty seconds of the name of the product being repeated in a loud, obnoxious voice was just as effective as an entertaining ad.
I've got something to apply directly to your forehead for bringing back that memory.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
THe defacto naming convention, thats what. While technically you are right, common usage in this context has altered the meaning a bit. What most people call Linux is really GNu/Hurd.
What? Hurd has not been heard (haha) from for over a decade. Linux is the kernel, and gnu/linux is the way debian folk identify one another. Distros take linux (debian folks: that's gnu/linux), bundle it with gnome||kde||xkcd and firefox||iceweasel||plasmapussy, then send it out the door with no acpi support and call it a day.
Sheesh.
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
I will have you know that TV programming in Japan is quite different than anything you will find in the US, since I think that they give all the people who come up with the shows drugs for inspiration.
I was going to say they do that with US TV too. Except in that case the drug is cocaine and the only thing it inspires is crap TV as a means to get more money to get more cocaine...
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
T- Hello, I'm a Toyota. [Looks cool]
H- And I'm a Honda. [Doesn't]
T- Boy, you sure do suck Honda.
H- Yep, I sure do!
[Toyota logo appears]
Computer/software TV ads always suck. Especially the dumbed-down ones. Remember the "rebate" ad starring Bill Cosby?
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
So you mean, "Where the hell am I?" and "How the hell did I get here?"
Actually, quite fitting for Vista...
-=Lothsahn=-
I prefer a career over a job
Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
People... at a bar... watching a football game... applauded a commercial? About software?
So, what part of the Microsoft campus is this bar located at?
The add made little sense.
Agreed. I think it will divide the audience at best, and in the worst case will subtract from the value of their product.
. . . will show a black screen with the following phrase:
The cake is a lie.
Yep - a boring, middle of the road public figure shilling for a boring, middle of the road, operating system. It's an OS about - nothing!
I'm much more interested in seeing what OS Larry David or Frank Costanza would shill for.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
...anti-dentite.
"Have you heard of some type of thing?" -- anon
Oromyofunctional disorder, aka, Tongue Thrust. I like "tooth-talker" better, because if you are a tooth-talker, you have a hell of a time saying tooth-talker, which really brings out the tooth-talker in you.
Remember those old BASF commercials? Kinda reminds me of those, where at the end I'm left wondering just what it is I'm supposed to buy. Shoes? Chips? Hula lessons?
If I didn't have absolutely NOTHING to do, I wouldn't be here.
Simple:
One's a young "cool" alpha male who wonders at times about his counterpart.
The other is an older, larger gentleman in a business suit with glasses who is insecure about his lack of popularity and features.
I don't understand you though. What does the x86 architecture have to do with computers?
"The point of the ad is to put a human face on the company."
And the commercial succeeded in putting a human ass on the company. How like Microsoft.
"by that I mean people who don't sit on slashdot all day wondering why everyone else isn't building robots" DECS
Not as much as they hate basketball though.
And the commercial succeeded in putting a human ass on the company.
C'mon! Give them points for truth in advertising at least! ;-)
"Bah!" - Dogbert
Isn't it amazing what they can do with computer graphics nowadays? Even if it cost a few million to edit his Borg eye away, it really looks as if it was never there.
Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book