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Microsoft Causes Internal Family Strife
techmuse writes "Fresh from its ad featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld eating churros and discussing shoes, Microsoft has introduced a new advertisement in which the aging former CEO and comedian take up residence with a family, causing infighting and malicious plots by the family members. Although the ad does not mention Microsoft's operating system directly, it does mirror the real world experience of the company's products — appearing where not wanted, hard to remove, causing administration headaches, and finally being forced out in hopes of getting one's living space back."
Microsoft did not connect billions. They did not create TCP/IP, SMTP, the Web, or much of anything else.
They have ridden the wave with mediocre email apps and web browsers, but that's not much to crow about.
( And you would not have to crawl under a car to diagnose a blown head gasket, so there )
Its not that uncommon. They will break up the commercial into several small sets that you will see over and over again.
So you might see one 30sec spot that just has the part at the dinner table, etc.
They do this alot with superbowl commercials. During the Superbowl you might see a 1.5 minute commercial, and then for months after you only see parts of it.
Because I don't like the plugging of a Mac site for a MS video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWPf1BWtkw
I thought there were some funny points too.
1) Bill is reading "Story" kis asks "Are there monsters?" to which Bill replys "Yes, there there's a firewall". 2) Kid is playing computer and says "This is AWESOME! When are you going to release it?" Bill says "Never, and don't tell anyone where you got it"
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Was this another commercial for Schmitts Gay beer?
It was largely co-written by David and Seinfeld...
Gates is not a technical person. He doesn't know squat about anything beyond where the start button is and how to send an email.
Okay, I really don't like Windows or MS. Really, I use Linux and OS/X [1] and avoid Windows like the plague. But one thing I am getting tired of everywhere is all the incorrect "common knowledge" circulating. Gates was a programmer and while he may be rusty, there is no evidence he is a technical idiot - especially when compared to the vast majority of CEOs.
[1] No doubt, some groups on Slashdot will now label me a fanboi. Go ahead, that will convince me to see the light that is so obvious to you that only a 'tard wouldn't know it's the absolute truth. What was I ever thinking?
Some privacy policy Slashdot.
True, but your missing the point. I saw a documentary on this a while ago, and they played two coffee commercials back-to-back, one from the 50s and one from the 90s. The ad from the 50s actually talked about how good the coffee tasted, while the commercial from the 90s showed a man and a woman in a cozy setting, drinking out of coffee cups (you never saw the coffee) and enjoying a romantic conversation.
The point is, they aren't selling you the coffee, they're trying to sell you the emotional feeling. Their goal is to get you to subconsciously associate their brand with warm-fuzzy feelings of romance. Showing the scene of a couple in a cozy environment is a way of generating that feeling, and showing the coffee cups and the box of coffee creates the association, but it really isn't about showing you the product or telling you anything about the product.
But Gates is a psychological stand-in for Microsoft, and serves well enough to generate the association. In order to make you feel warmly about Microsoft, the makers of this commercial believe that it will be sufficient to get you to feel warmly about Gates. Whether that's true or whether the commercial succeeds in getting you to feel warmly about Gates are separate issues. I'm just telling you what the ad agency is trying to do here.
The point is, commercials today often have nothing to do with the product, and the people making the commercials don't want you to think about the product. They just want you to feel a specific emotion in connection to their brand, and they'll try to create that association in any way they can, whether it includes showing the product or not.
Now as to why they don't really show any Microsoft products, I have some guesses. First, you know the products already. You've seen Windows. If you'd consider buying an XBox, then you already know what one is and probably know the advantages/disadvantages compared to other platforms. Talking about their products is about as useless as Coke trying to describe the flavor of their cola; you know what Coca-Cola tastes like.
In fact, a lot of people associate Microsoft Windows with "frustration", so showing their product might only serve to bring those feelings to the forefront. Also, the bad associations people have with Microsoft are that Microsoft is a big, powerful, pushy company. So not showing their product can serve to counter that, because there's no way you can watch those commercials and feel like they're pushing their product on you.
Finally, not showing the product can work in a sort of reverse-psychology kind of way. Jerry keeps asking Bill about plans for future products, and Bill shows the kid a game that's not released, and we don't get to see it. By refusing to show us their current products or possible future products, they might be trying to get you to ask, "what cool things might Microsoft be working on?"