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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."
... that it was kind of hilarious in a post-modern "we're Microsoft, what the fuck are we gonna do?" sort of way.
I did a half snicker at Jerry's comments about clothing and showering. And that laugh was a stretch.
I guess when you have the comedian from the "show about nothing", you'll get a "commercial about nothing".
Slashdot ... you win first prize. You just fell for, and greatly aided, Microsoft's viral marketing campaign.
It's got everyone even remotely connected to technology talking about Microsoft.
No offense but you are completely wrong in every possible way.
Seinfeld was a HORRIBLE show! :(
The ad was a complete success. Can you believe that, after reading about it on Google News, I actually sought out and watched the commercial? Can you believe that right this very moment you are reading some unimportant commentary by someone whose opinion doesn't matter whatsoever about a TV commercial?
Score one for Microsoft.
Better known as 318230.
You only need look as far as what passes for entertainment on television in the USA to figure out that you should be considered special if you have an 8th grade education!
Have you ever watched TV in other countries? If it's not reruns of old stuff from the US, It's knock-offs like [insert country here] Idol. Entertainment is bad on a global scale.
The bulk of stuff you will find in basic programming is going to suck everywhere for a long time to come, because, well, it has to cater to the 50% of us who are under average.
MS need not fold it's tent, they hold a market share that almost any company in any other industry would kill for... and while the ad may be crappy, so what? They really don't even need to advertise, people know who they are anyway and will likely keep buying MS for the forseable future. Like them or not, their brand recognition is huge.
What's the difference between a Mac and PC besides the operating system?
About twenty years or so of arbitrary nomenclature. "PC" = x86 with Windows. Stupid but hey what's new in English?
The enemies of Democracy are
we're not laughing with you; we're laughing at you.
Delicious, butt-wagging, Seinfeld, cheap shoe stores being abhorrent, poking fun at Mexicans...what do all these things have in common?
Look at your common PHB. Likes "delicious food" as opposed to what the Mac guy eats, probably raw food or wheat grass or something. Thinks butt-wagging and slapstick are funny. Probably laughs at Seinfeld re-runs. Is glad he doesn't shop at the cheap shoe store for athletic shoes, but probably gets his dress shoes there, because who can tell. Has Mexican neighbors, is uncomfortable knowing he's in the same class they are.
This ad is brilliantly tarteted as a sort of subconscious reminder that PHB doesn't have to be a Mac guy, darnit, and he's good enough. Microsoft is here to shove more Applebees cake down his throat.
Seinfeld was a HORRIBLE show!
Sorry but I have to disagree. Seinfeld was brilliant: it was like a modern theatre of the absurd. It didn't play to people's desire for a warm fuzzy feeling, it acted on the cold reality of what its creators portray as futile, cyclical, absurd modern life. And it does it in a way that makes people laugh.
Its comedy is so incredibly clever. I still find it hard to not have my mind blown when I watch it.
Amnesty International
Having seen the ad, and thinking of others that have been defended in this way, I've come to suspect that this in fact doesn't work at all, and that what you're repeating actually originated as marketing for marketing. "Don't worry. It's supposed to be horrible!"
I mean, it ended with Bill Gates coyly wiggling his ass for chrissake!
Wasn't American Idol a knockoff of a British show?
Did anyone notice: the photo on his club discount shoe card or whatever...is his mug shot from when he was arrested in Albuqurque?
- Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
OK, so Bill Gates is buying shoes but instead of getting advice from a trained professional he follows what he is told by some joker who just happens to be walking down the street. What does this say?
The bulk of stuff you will find in basic programming is going to suck everywhere for a long time to come, because, well, it has to cater to the 50% of us who are under average.
Um, no. This is just basic economics, really. Why put forth any more than a minimum level of effort when you have plenty of demand for your most craptastic halfassery?
Intellect not-withstanding, so long as it sells ads, TV isn't going to be getting any better any time soon.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I just saw it for myself today. I was convinced it was an add for the shoe store until the very end when the windows logo flashed...
If sharing a song makes you a pirate, what do I have to share to be a ninja?
That may be one of the oddest and most horrifying things I've ever seen. Gates shaking his ass.
YOU ARE NOT BEYONCE!
so are shoes analogy to Windows... it doesn't quite fit but if you bend it up long enough you can squeeze your feet into it?
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
Not quite, since they're genuinely trying to entertain you. If they failed, then they also failed to create the association.
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.
Not quite, because I have what scienticians call a "brain", and I use this to make my own decisions about what products to buy. If marketing is so effective against people that it's equivalent to stealing their wallet, whose fault is that?
if it wasn't for the Windows logo at the end I wouldn't have known what product it was "selling"
It's not selling a product, yet. It's a hook you're supposed to think "moist, w-t-flip??". That then gives them space in your brain, you're slightly confused as you expect MS to tout their technology, spout off with some of the usual FUD, but no - they haven't even tried to sell you anything ... yet. Now you anticipate round 2, your curious ... curiosity is a killer, it's also a very good marketing tool: if you're in a room with 2 doors and one says "danger to life, do not enter" you couldn't care less what's behind the other one you just want to open the dangerous one!
IMO it's a good advert, we just have to see if the marketeers can make good of that advantage.
Well, there goes my ability to watch any reruns of Seinfeld ... starring a Microsoft shill & a racist
Actually, if I could be paid to create a pointless and counter productive ad for MS I would do it to... and I hate MS. Perhaps Jerry actually hates MS too and he intentionally accepted Millions and intentionally created a bad ad.
Maybe Jerry is like Oskar Schindler, profiting off the enemy while doing nothing to further their cause.
Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.
starring a Microsoft shill & a racist.
First, he wasn't an MS schill back then, in the later years he was an American Express schill. Second, so he's doing pitches for MS, so what? It's not like he's getting up there staring into the camera and saying, "Windows Vista is the greatest thing since penicillin." He's a comedian and he's being paid to do some ads. He's not a business ethicist or technologist, he probably knows as much on MS's business practices or technical stances as your average person, which is next to none.
Third, RACIST? What the hell? Can you PLEASE explain that, because I REALLY don't get that one. Honestly, I haven't a clue where you got that and really want to know.
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
I, too, was throughly unimpressed by the ad, but there is one thing they didn't do: Play Apple's mud slinging game.
I enjoy the "I'm a mac" ads -- they're just about the only commercials I'll intentionally watch -- but they're pretty aggressive. They blatantly, and actively attempt to belittle their competition. The latest two show "PC" resting on his laurels, and trying to deceive people into purchasing him -- both suggesting that "PC" doesn't have his users' best interests at heart.
This commercial doesn't do that at all. Some have speculated that was the goal: making it clear that they feel that they don't have to insult their competition. Whether they're just trying to win points for being the nice guy, or they're trying to suggest that they don't have to stoop to Apple's level because they're just that superior, I don't know.
Well, there goes my ability to watch any reruns of Seinfeld ... starring a Microsoft shill & a racist.
You, sir, are a moron. I strongly suggest you go look up the word "shill" - it doesn't mean what you think it means. As for a "racist" - who cares. The guy made some idiotic comments in a night club. Wait, I know, it's a good opportunity for you to expound on how much of an anti-racist you are and at the same time mention racism and Microsoft in the same sentence. Double dweeb win!
Irony can be informative if you recognize that it is irony...
Money is the root of all evil?
You should be right, this is only a teaser.
And IT'S WORKING, since everybody is talking about it.
Open your eyes people !
Nice, but too subtle for the mods in all likelihood.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Oh burn. You sure got me there.
If you can't find 45 minutes of free time, you don't have any sort of life worth living.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Actually I thought the whole thing was about stroking Gates and sucking up to him.
"You're a 10, Bill"
"The Conquistador."
"Let me get down on my knees and serve you, Bill."
He was Bruce Campbell's literary agent. All else is epilogue.
Now go shred your cool card application — you have been pre-denied.
"I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
The ad was about the PC users being able to go out and you can get have your cake and eat it too. Granted, they think Windows gives you that but as you really know, GNU and Linux get you that in spades. It's all about choice and what YOU want.
Sorry Bill, Jerry, that ad just didn't work IMO.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
First, I think what a lot of people have missed here is something basic: The market. Microsoft is not selling their product to the same people that Apple is selling to. Microsoft has to please a lot more middle-aged corporate types, and a lot of common types. Even the place this ad premiered reflects that - NFL football game. Not the Oscars, MTV Music awards, American Idol - NFL football game. Domain of white guys.
Second, the point of the ad is not to advertise the product. Microsoft and their ad agency have probably done quite a bit of research and realized that the brand perception of Microsoft is mostly large, faceless, corporate machine. Insert 'evil' in there, if you'd like. The point of the ad is to put a human face on the company. "Oh look, Microsoft's founder has to buy shoes just like me!" Jerry's contribution is to be annoyingly quirky, which allows Bill to be tolerant and 'humor' Jerry. The whole ad is Bill playing along even though you suspect he thinks Jerry is quite odd (also making Bill look not-so-odd by comparison.)
The ad is effective for what Microsoft is trying to accomplish with it. Hell, even proving Bill isn't ACTUALLY equipped with a Borg eye is worth a few million.
paintball
Just a question -- do you seriously think that marketing is not effective against you? If so, that's sort of like trying to block a punch by refusing to believe in it.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
It's the goatse for the new generation. That's what this ad is about.
I think that's a pre-requisite to learning this language. I think I remember checking a box regarding that in the TOS.