Microsoft Enlists Jerry Seinfeld in Ad War Against Apple

[(L)]

So, it seems that "one Microsoft executive has stated that Apple's 'Get a Mac' ad campaign has had a damaging effect on Vista's image." No, Vista has had a damaging effect on Vista's image. It's like the woman who says, "Does this dress make me look fat?" To which the correct—if not wise—answer is, "No, it's the fat that makes you look fat."

Another acceptable answer is, "No, you make the dress look fat."

My favorite answer, which would prevent her repeating the question:
"Yes of course, all dresses make you look fat."

By the way, women who ask that aren't often fat. Also, men look fat or just gross in any dress, so asking men isn't like asking an expert.

 

[wpc33]

"Who are the Ad-Wizards who came up with this one??"

 

[Unspeaked]

OMG, This thread is the best thing in my day! I hear voices in my head:

Jackie Mason: "HI! I'm a MAC!"
Rodney Dangerfield: "And I'M A PC!"

Justin Long: "Hi... I'm a Mac."
ALF: "AND I'M A PC!"

Well, they brought back Fred Astaire and Orville Redenbacher...

Maybe Microsoft's ads should just feature dead comedians; even if they wouldn't have approved when they were living, their estates probably won't turn down the $10 million...

What I find funny:

Bill Gates who once said "Television is not real life—in real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs" is going to be on television with a comedian who's sitcom had the characters sitting around in a coffee shop. And the comedian is a Mac user.

Since when do TV commercials and reality have anything to do with one another?

Yes, well over.

"As of July 6, 2008, it has grossed $126,631,277 domestically"

and it cost $150 million to make. Huge success.

Um, are you suddenly John McCain or something? Isn't $26 million more than $100 million well over?

And while you're making it very clear you're not familiar with the film industry, yes - grossing $126 million domestically on a $150 million film is a success. As I said earlier, it grossed $287 million in total, plus whatever sales from DVDs, books and such. It made a lot of money. Accept it.

 

[gcmexico]

Apple should hire Jason Alexander!!!!! how can Seinfeld go pc

 

[Zadillo]

I'd be curious to see exactly what kind of commercials these will be. Personally I didn't think he was very effective or funny in the HP commercials he did, but then again something is off about HP's ad campaign in general.

He always seems to come off as very artificial though in the commercials he does; even if they're funny commercials, I'm not sure how they'll pull off Seinfeld trying to convince people about how great Vista is.

And I agree with the other posters; Vista's negative image is due to Vista. The idea that the "Get a Mac" ads are the only reason people have a negative view of Vista is silly, and doesn't even make logical sense (you'd see lots more people switching to Macs as opposed to simply downgrading to XP). I think it's also giving those ads much more credit than they probably deserve.

 

[Zadillo]

Apple should hire Jason Alexander!!!!! how can Seinfeld go pc

Seinfeld "went PC" when he started schilling for HP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BraU_cpfBeI

 

[slackpacker]

Um...take it and start trolling Macrumors to bash Apple products??

Ah that would only be fun for a little while... Bashing Linux users is much more fun.

 

[russellb]

Oh My God Clueless

mm they are really clueless

"We think that's a sad message. Software out there is made to be compatible with your whole life."

Uhmm isnt that the whole point of getting a MAC and not a PC. That the PC is such crap and causes such grief that you CANT just get on with your work and your life !!!

 

[AidenShaw]

Anyway, what I found funny was your comment that iMac fans spin like helicopter. I don't mean to make fun of your English skills. It's funny because:

(1) Helicopters don't typically spin. If one was spinning above your house, you should run away! A helicopter's blades do spin, of course, when it is off the ground.

That's odd, because my window fan doesn't spin - but its blades do spin.

You made exactly the same mistake that you're accusing the other guy of making!

And, by the way, I'm sure that "spins like a helicopter" was perfectly understandable to 99% of the readers here. Not every statement needs to be written like it belongs in a technical manual - normal speech often has implied context.

 

[mr.light]

Every word? Including the part about how exciting it is to find a person who suffers for the sake of suffering? If you agreed on me with everything, it's quite possible that you are me, or perhaps an impostor out to deceive me. In any case, I'll get to the bottom of this, even if it means arresting myself. Or if we just happen to share the same tastes, I hope you don't live near me -- there's a woman I've seen at a park down the street who likes to torture herself in public, and if you touch her, I'll have to "reprogram" you.

With a sense of humour like yours you very well be... That's it! (L) is really Jerry Siefeld! It's true isn't it?

 

[ClassicMac247]

Seinfeld. really? What has he done in the last 10 years? I guess 18-25 yr olds are not part of Microsoft's target audience.

ironically, Jerry always had a Mac in is apartment on the show.

Thats exactly what I was going to say, Jerry Seinfeld has been a known Apple Customer both for personal use and use on his show, (I'm a fan of the show). Anyway, he's just in it for the cash, even he knows Apple is better. He's going to get so much hate mail for this, i think i'll send screencaps of his episodes when we see his Mac's.

 

[fastbite]

and i bet if apple were to hire him instead, people would be praising the decision

Of course, becouse it would have meant that apple,after having conquered the youth were going for the old floaters

 

[Cpt. Morgan]

OMG wake up MS - all you need to do to sell more of your product is to FIX IT! thats why people are switching, not because of Trendy, Hip Macvertising or style.....

oh dear

I disagree. Mac's have a huge bling factor. Its a huge portion of why and how they sell. How they are presented and the design of the computer itself is better than what most PC companies can offer with their computers.

I'd say the "bling" factor combined with the average user seeing Mac's as a superior product (which has to do with how they are presented) and the Vista hate out there (Vista in truth is tolerable) is why people are switching.

Apple is seeing a fat fat fat wallet that is growing because of the above. I'd say a huge amount of it has to do with how MS has failed to properly present themselves (ESPECIALLY Vista). Apple has created a wonderful little world more people view as being "better" and no one has challenged it. In truth "macs being better" is very debatable.

 

[surferfromuk]

At least we now know who was under the helmet.


http://www.icanhasforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/star-wars-boba-fett.jpg

Just another gun for hire.

 

[Kwill]

The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is hiring comedian Jerry Seinfeld for a series of new ads in which he will appear alongside Microsoft's Bill Gates.

A comedian is the only expert that can make the claim that Windows is better than Mac.

 

[milo]

I think this is not about liking Seinfeld.
It is about his celebrity status and that people know him.
When you see Seinfeld on the screen, you remember how show was funny, not just how Seinfeld funny himself.
He is a BRAND.

He's a brand all right, an incredibly tired one. People see him and they remember a great show a long time ago, and a guy who has been floundering since.

This reaction isn't just mac bias, look at the headline on Yahoo news:

"Microsoft, Trying to Be Cool, Hires Uncool Comic for Ad Campaign"

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticke...mUD6tqa0rBLqQAY10Qa3Rm7YWsA?tickers=msft,aapl

We can joke all we want but $300 million will sell a lot of Vista and take some wind out of Apple's sales regardless of how bad it may be. (Hey, I used it for 3 weeks before upgrading my work laptop to XP). Not to mention they'll now be bundling their new iGetaLife apps with Vista.

No way. If you think throwing money into ad time is enough to help sales, you're incredibly naive. The ads actually have to be good (which MS has never done well), and people actually have to like the product when they start using it.

 

[TomTomGPS]

Are you guys kidding me? I'm 17 and many of my friends, including me, are huge fans of Seinfeld.

The reruns get very good ratings nationwide (on Fox and TBS, etc), and just FYI, Bee Movie made nearly $130 million in theaters. That is very good, for those of you too blunt to realize it.

Now I know I'm wasting my time, since many of you are typical blind fanboys, and while I am a big fan of Apple myself (I am sad that Seinfeld is doing the ads, but oh well), I am not ignorant enough to claim that he is a has been.

Please. He only created the greatest sitcom of all time, and that's purely based on facts (sales, reruns success, etc).

In Microsoft's dreamworld the best person they probably could have gotten was Stephen Colbert. And I defy you to come up with someone better.

 

[CWallace]

Considering the license deals Microsoft already has in place, which ensure over 50 million Vista licenses a quarter are sold, I really don't see the ad campaign being aimed at getting people to adopt Vista, but more to just accept it being the default OS on their PCs.

 

[Gray-Wolf]

This thread is amazing. I had no idea it would last this long and go this far in 1 day

Never really cared for Seinfeld myself. I preferred Friends.

 

[rumplestiltskin]

I think MS is confusing correlation with causation. Vista is damaged not by Apple but by its own failure to work properly. Apple is just taking advantage of this.

All the advertising in the world won't fix Vista. (Maybe if they Swift-Boat Steve Jobs?)

 

[milo]

Are you guys kidding me? I'm 17 and many of my friends, including me, are huge fans of Seinfeld.

That's nice. Just because people still watch his show doesn't mean that people still think he's cool. People still watch lots of old shows in reruns, but that doesn't mean the actors from those shows are good spokesmen, particularly for tech products.

FYI, Bee Movie made nearly $130 million in theaters. That is very good, for those of you too blunt to realize it.

And it was hugely hyped and cost 150 million. So it LOST money. Losing money is not "very good".

Now I know I'm wasting my time, since many of you are typical blind fanboys...

Ah, the tired "fanboy" card. For the record, I'd be saying the exact same thing if any other company hired Seinfeld for ads, including apple.

He only created the greatest sitcom of all time

Do you even understand what the term "has been" even means? It's not somebody who hasn't done anything, it's someone who did something big a long time ago but nothing recently. That definition fits Seinfeld perfectly.

 

[MickdyMickdyMAC]

The ad agency in charge is Crispin Porter + Bogusky. http://cpbgroup.com/
Their have a nice portfolio of campaigns they've been involved with.

There was an article on this in the June issue of Fast Company magazine. I remember it being a very interesting article with a lot of ironic stuff in it like how the Crispin Ported + Bogusky agency pretty much exists because of the revolution to desktop publishing that the Mac brought. So I wouldn't be surprised that this agency will even execute this Microsoft campaign using Macs, lol.

Ah, I found the article: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/believe-it-or-not-hes-a-pc.html

It's a good read.

 

[slapppy]

Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh

It was awesome to have. I still have mine boxed away in 100% perfect condition.

Go here.

http://tam.axon.net/

Forgot to point out. Click the image and you'll see some other Apple conceptual designs for the TAM.

 

[The Flashing Fi]

I can't help but think that it's about time that MS does something about the propaganda that are the "Get a Mac" ads. Jesus, they are annoying.

How Apple makes PCs look as if they're for "old" business people, is just inane. If you're a "gamer," you're going to pretty much need Windows. Yes, there are Mac games, but the list of Windows games outweigh the Mac games, and many of the Mac games are cross platform.

Don't get me wrong. I like my Mac, but I also like my PC that I built. The "Get a Mac" commercials that take aim specifically at Vista are borderline slander. They made Vista appear as if nothing worked at it (and the first one to quote that and then say something to the tune of "well, nothing does work" must have gained all their "information" about Vista through the commercial), when in fact, many things did work, and while admittedly, it was a rocky start out of the box, due to the implementation of a new driver model (although, older drivers theoretically should work, certain features may not be present or work properly), which, in the long run, has helped the adoption rate of Vista 64-bit (the adoption rate of XP 64-bit was nearly non-existent, and it's based off the Server 2003 codebase, which is updated from XP's codebase, and some things may not work properly), since, if companies were going to have to create new drivers for Vista 32-bit anyway, they might as well put in the extra effort to make them work for 64-bit. However, after 6-8 months, drivers had improved dramatically, and after a year, on par with those of XP's in quality (depending on the manufacturer). SP1 also addressed many issues.

It's not like Leopard didn't have any software incompatibilities or any other problems when it was first released.... Wait. There were.

 

[badmac78]

ok . . .

"Windows, not Walls", pretty interesting seeing as that M$ has had more anti-trust suits than you can shake a script at.

Get a mac ad causing damage to Vista? I'm not sure if that is doing more damage or all of the negative press the software has been getting after actual usage.

"Software meant to be compatible with your whole life" . . . alright, maybe it's me but Apple has done a better job at creating an "ecosystem" that fits with your whole life than M$.

As far as signing Seinfeld. I did not enjoy his show so I am completely biased. I think that if 'Softy is going to go head-to-head with the "get a mac ad" they may want to think about a few things

1. Portability - The Apple ads are very portable (geographically). Seinfeld is a very U.S. centric character
2. Product Focus - This is very subjective but I have a feeling that the ad will have Jerry saying something like "I am Jerry and I approve this message"
3. Simplicity - This is also a wait and see, but 'Softy has not been known for simplicity. And I can't even remember the last time I saw a "windows" video ad. So we will see how busy the ad is

M$ chose JS I think because the they are trying to defend their 30-40 demographic with is the business demographic . . . if Apple makes inroads into the boardroom then 'Softy is surely done for.