Microsoft's First Seinfeld Ad Airs: Shoe Circus

MacRumors · Sep 4, 2008, 10:45 PM

As promised, Microsoft has started running their new ads using comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The ad has already been spotted by a number of readers.

The first in presumably a series of ads show Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld in Shoe Carnival. A YouTube video is available.

Seinfeld was reportedly paid $10 million for his work in this series of ads.

Article Link

Sirobin · Sep 4, 2008, 10:47 PM

Hmm, I still think it's weird that they chose Seinfeld for this.

scottintosh · 01:43 AM

I thought it was decent, but it doesn't say anything about Vista. If I just randomly saw that on TV, I think that I would be confused by it.

Edit: actually, after watching it again, I think it was a terrible ad.

zap2 · Sep 4, 2008, 10:47 PM

Wasn't bad...I like Seinfeld, and it felt a lot like a quick burst of that, which is nice. The jump to Microsoft talk wasn't super smooth, but it was decent, over all an above average ad, I would watch it if it came on TV, I think

fivepoint · Sep 4, 2008, 10:48 PM

Let me be the first to say it.

"WTF?"

Tilpots · Sep 4, 2008, 10:48 PM

Edible computers? What was the point? They must be using McCain's speech writers.

Grimace · Sep 4, 2008, 10:48 PM

Worst
Ad
Ever?

Seinfeld reminds me of the mid 1990s. Kinda like Microsoft...

a1016neo · Sep 4, 2008, 10:49 PM

I really don't get this ad at all

iToaster · Sep 4, 2008, 10:49 PM

[sarcasm] That totally makes me want to go buy a copy of Vista. [/sarcasm]

Seriously though, that could be a commercial for anything until the end until they're like "oh, by the way, this is a commercial for Windows, we almost forgot."

skillz1318 · Sep 4, 2008, 10:50 PM

I don't get it....so uh why should I buy Vista? If not Bill Gates will have to shop at Shoe Cirus?

DaLurker · Sep 4, 2008, 10:50 PM

Seems too clever for their own good, I imagine there will be a lot of very confused consumers after viewing this ad.

APPLENEWBIE · Sep 4, 2008, 10:50 PM

OK. A little background. I used to work for a large bank, producing it's TV commercials. Won some awards. I think I have an eye for good commercials. Anyway, I just watched it again. until the last 15 seconds, there is no indication what they are trying to sell. And I wonder if most viewers even recognize Gates until he flashes his "card."

The inference that microsoft (Bill) is all about discount merchandise is, uh, interesting... Is the idea that he walks in "everyman's" shoes supposed to tell us that what-ever-the-hell it is they are selling is for the masses? Man, I just don't get this at all.

On the other hand, I thought Bill actually did pretty well. Doing that much acting is harder than it looks. I would love to see what ended up on the "cutting room floor."

powerbuddy · Sep 4, 2008, 10:50 PM

Wow. Disappointing. Is this the best they can come up with? I hope there's more (more decent ones).

ryanwarsaw · Sep 4, 2008, 10:51 PM

I am going to run out and buy the new line of shoes from MS.

DOUGHNUT · Sep 4, 2008, 10:51 PM

10 million and this is what they could come up with? The I'm a Mac/I'm a PC ad from Apple is much much more effective IMO.

Vanilla Thunder · Sep 4, 2008, 10:51 PM

so stupid...

Mykbibby · 04:33 PM

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5C1 Safari/525.20)

Let the games begin.

I wrote my thoughts on my blog.

Flanagan · Sep 4, 2008, 10:52 PM

the answer is yes

KingYaba · Sep 4, 2008, 10:52 PM

Revamp Microsoft's image? Hahahahaha well, that ad was worth every dime.

Ntombi · Sep 4, 2008, 10:52 PM

Uh...no.

Salavat23 · Sep 4, 2008, 10:53 PM

The ad has absolutely no substance.

Nothing on Vista.

Simply a pathetic attempt.

We should have at least seen some Vista features/benefits.

tgildred · Sep 4, 2008, 10:53 PM

Yeah. It was entertaining, but I'm not sure how far this goes to make Vista seem more appealing. Perhaps it's step one in a long series or Seinfeld/Gates ads that builds to a larger message. But so far, I'm not getting it. It made me want to watch Seinfeld, though. And buy shoes.

APPLENEWBIE · Sep 4, 2008, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tilpots

They must be using McCain's speech writers.

Easy Cowboy... McCain is a mac guy. So is Obama. Decisions decisions...

dukebound85 · Sep 4, 2008, 10:53 PM

i thought the ad was for the conquistador shoe haha

Ha ze · Sep 4, 2008, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivepoint

Let me be the first to say it.

"WTF?"

Funny.. thats EXACTLY what I said

Sep 4, 2008, 10:45 PM	#1
MacRumors macrumors bot Join Date: Apr 2001	Microsoft's First Seinfeld Ad Airs: Shoe Circus As promised, Microsoft has started running their new ads using comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The ad has already been spotted by a number of readers. The first in presumably a series of ads show Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld in Shoe Carnival. A YouTube video is available. Seinfeld was reportedly paid $10 million for his work in this series of ads. Article Link

Sep 4, 2008, 10:47 PM	#2
Sirobin macrumors regular Join Date: May 2008 Location: California	Hmm, I still think it's weird that they chose Seinfeld for this. __________________ iMac G3, 233 Mhz, 96 MB RAM, 4 GB HD eMac G4, 700 Mhz, 768 MB RAM, 40 GB HD Powerbook G4, 1.67 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB HD Mac Pro, 2.66 Octocore, 6 GB RAM, 4870, 1 TB HDD

Sep 4, 2008, 10:47 PM	#3
scottintosh macrumors member Join Date: Jun 2008	I thought it was decent, but it doesn't say anything about Vista. If I just randomly saw that on TV, I think that I would be confused by it. Edit: actually, after watching it again, I think it was a terrible ad. Last edited by scottintosh : Sep 5, 2008 at 01:43 AM.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:47 PM	#4
zap2 macrumors 601 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: NJ	Wasn't bad...I like Seinfeld, and it felt a lot like a quick burst of that, which is nice. The jump to Microsoft talk wasn't super smooth, but it was decent, over all an above average ad, I would watch it if it came on TV, I think __________________ "We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by." Will Rogers

Sep 4, 2008, 10:48 PM	#5
fivepoint macrumors 65816 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: IOWA	Let me be the first to say it. "WTF?" __________________ 24" 2.8 Ghz iMac iPhone \| TV Panasonic TH-50PX80

Sep 4, 2008, 10:48 PM	#6
Tilpots macrumors 65816 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wilmington, NC	Edible computers? What was the point? They must be using McCain's speech writers. __________________ If you have a difficult task, give it to a lazy man, he will find an easier way to do it.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:48 PM	#7
Grimace Contributor Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: with Hamburglar.	Worst Ad Ever? Seinfeld reminds me of the mid 1990s. Kinda like Microsoft... __________________ Canon 1Ds Mk III • Canon 5D MkII 16-35mm f/2.8L II • 24-70mm f/2.8L • 70-200mm f/2.8L IS 50mm f/1.2L • 85mm f/1.2L • 135mm f/2L • 300mm f/2.8L IS

Sep 4, 2008, 10:49 PM	#8
a1016neo macrumors regular Join Date: Nov 2006	I really don't get this ad at all __________________ Macmini G4 1.25ghz 512mb RAM 80Gb HD 10.3.9 Macbook Pro 15" C2D 2.16ghz 3gb RAM 120Gb HD 10.5.4

Sep 4, 2008, 10:49 PM	#9
iToaster macrumors 68000 Join Date: May 2007 Location: In front of my MacBook	[sarcasm] That totally makes me want to go buy a copy of Vista. [/sarcasm] Seriously though, that could be a commercial for anything until the end until they're like "oh, by the way, this is a commercial for Windows, we almost forgot." __________________ Unibody MacBook \| 2.4 \| 2GB \| 500GB \| white iPhone 3G S⃣ \| 32 GB MRoogle

Sep 4, 2008, 10:50 PM	#10
skillz1318 macrumors member Join Date: Mar 2006	I don't get it....so uh why should I buy Vista? If not Bill Gates will have to shop at Shoe Cirus? __________________ Posting from 15" MacBook Pro

Sep 4, 2008, 10:50 PM	#11
DaLurker macrumors 6502 Join Date: Mar 2006	Seems too clever for their own good, I imagine there will be a lot of very confused consumers after viewing this ad.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:50 PM	#12
APPLENEWBIE macrumors 6502a Join Date: May 2006 Location: The high desert, USA	OK. A little background. I used to work for a large bank, producing it's TV commercials. Won some awards. I think I have an eye for good commercials. Anyway, I just watched it again. until the last 15 seconds, there is no indication what they are trying to sell. And I wonder if most viewers even recognize Gates until he flashes his "card." The inference that microsoft (Bill) is all about discount merchandise is, uh, interesting... Is the idea that he walks in "everyman's" shoes supposed to tell us that what-ever-the-hell it is they are selling is for the masses? Man, I just don't get this at all. On the other hand, I thought Bill actually did pretty well. Doing that much acting is harder than it looks. I would love to see what ended up on the "cutting room floor." __________________ The two most thrilling words in space flight: "Launch commit."

Sep 4, 2008, 10:50 PM	#13
powerbuddy macrumors regular Join Date: Jun 2006	Wow. Disappointing. Is this the best they can come up with? I hope there's more (more decent ones).

Sep 4, 2008, 10:51 PM	#14
ryanwarsaw macrumors 6502a Join Date: Apr 2007	I am going to run out and buy the new line of shoes from MS.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:51 PM	#15
DOUGHNUT macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2006	10 million and this is what they could come up with? The I'm a Mac/I'm a PC ad from Apple is much much more effective IMO.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:51 PM	#16
Vanilla Thunder macrumors member Join Date: May 2008	so stupid...

Sep 4, 2008, 10:51 PM	#17
Mykbibby macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Palm Springs, CA	Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5C1 Safari/525.20) Let the games begin. I wrote my thoughts on my blog. __________________ Mac Soda: Quenching Your Thirst for Everything Apple Last edited by Mykbibby : Sep 5, 2008 at 04:33 PM.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:52 PM	#18
Flanagan macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2008	worst ad ever? the answer is yes

Sep 4, 2008, 10:52 PM	#19
KingYaba macrumors 68040 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Stuck in a rut...	Revamp Microsoft's image? Hahahahaha well, that ad was worth every dime. __________________ Texas: illegally acquired; universally admired.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:52 PM	#20
Ntombi macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Bostonian exiled in SoCal	Uh...no. __________________ 2.53 GHz 13" MacBook Pro 5.5 gen White iPod 32GB White iPhone 3GS Switching to AT&T? PM me for a $25 gift card!

Sep 4, 2008, 10:53 PM	#21
Salavat23 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Feb 2008	The ad has absolutely no substance. Nothing on Vista. Simply a pathetic attempt. We should have at least seen some Vista features/benefits.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:53 PM	#22
tgildred macrumors 6502 Join Date: May 2007	Yeah. It was entertaining, but I'm not sure how far this goes to make Vista seem more appealing. Perhaps it's step one in a long series or Seinfeld/Gates ads that builds to a larger message. But so far, I'm not getting it. It made me want to watch Seinfeld, though. And buy shoes. __________________ It's a ninja's job to flip out and kill people.

Sep 4, 2008, 10:53 PM	#24
dukebound85 macrumors 603 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Upstate New York, but will always have my heart in Colorado	i thought the ad was for the conquistador shoe haha __________________ "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." - Churchill

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