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Microsoft's First Seinfeld Ad Airs: Shoe Circus

Pigumon said:
It's basically setting up Gates as an amiable ol' fellow, the everyman, he shops at a discount shoe store just like the mexicans...!?!!!!:eek::confused::eek:
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I found it odd that the people in the window happened to be Latin Americans, Seinfeld just happened to be eating a churro which is a pastry popular in Latin America, South America, & Spain, and the shoe just happened to be named The Conquistador, which were the Spanish Soldier/Explorers who 'found' South America & claimed it for Spain. But for some reason, Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates aren't on their radar, they're only concerned with The Conquistador.
 
a 90-second commercial is unheard of...

...especially when YOU DON'T SAY ANYTHING IN THOSE 90 SECONDS! That was pretty lame. The Apple commercials are short, punchy, and to the point. This commercial from Microsoft is what they call a 'train-wreck' in the TV media industry.
 
wow

This business will go bankrupt soon..... Hopefully.

The two most annoying guys on planet earth. What is it with all these bees? I mean what is with all these fu*king questions Jerry? Seriously you're not even funny anymore. Giving me a headache.
 
I was half expecting a car to run Seinfield over as they were walking to their cars.
 
a1016neo said:
I really don't get this ad at all
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I'm guessing we're looking at what they call a "branding exercise", which will build up over time.

You're meant to be confused by the ad, because that's got you thinking about it.

There's also the shoe guy, trying to get Bill to wear the ill-fitting shoe, which is Microsoft's main beef about Macs – that there is limited flexibility compared to windows.

Expect to seem them expanding on this theme, probably more blatantly, in future ads.

I think that there's a good chance of them striking quite successfully once we've seen a series. Apple have got a spotless image at the moment, but it's true that OS X can be less than flexible at times.

Plus there's the whole American Choice / Freedom thing.

On the other hand I understand Liberty / Liberal doesn't go down too well there? What's up with that? Isn't liberty quite a key part of freedom?...
 
ChrisNH said:
...especially when YOU DON'T SAY ANYTHING IN THOSE 90 SECONDS! That was pretty lame. The Apple commercials are short, punchy, and to the point. This commercial from Microsoft is what they call a 'train-wreck' in the TV media industry.
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90 sec is a pretty long spot, especially in the US, right?

Doesn't it get your attention? Ads come and go so fast that you mentally tune them out, but if something seems a bit like real content, and isn't doing a hard sell, then it'll pique your interest simply because it's different.

That process happens slowly, some people won't eve be watching for the first 60 seconds, but at the end they see the brand.

Not that I'm happy about it, but it'll work better than you think.
 
I'm not really sure what to make of this. I guess the one positive is that decided against attacking Apple?
 
i still dont get what shoes and a shower have to do with microsoft. if id see that way to long commercial on tv id assume its for water resistent lether shoes
 
I am extremely confused.... watched that and thought what exactly am I supposed to do... so I went down the shoe shop, and true... they do run tight...
 
djellison said:
Most Mac ads don't show any OSX features or benefits - they just point and laugh at PC.

That aside, this is possibly the worst advert I've ever seen. As a colleague commented ' What's the point of that? '

Doug
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That's not entirely true. The mac ads center around some sort of difference between the two. It's very focused on features if you ask me, at least compared to . . . . the CONQUISTADOR!

I'm not sure you want your former Chair & CEO buying something from a place with the word "circus" in it as something that is good. It seems to confirm to me that 'Softy has been run by a bunch of "clowns".
 
I'm guessing that since they havent copied Apple (or some other company) on this one.... it's their usual 0 on 5!
 
It was a wtf but a 'what's next?' wtf. I imagine it was that way for many.

Of course, many are less sophisticated despite their pretentions otherwise - they'd rather have bite-sized, (completely unjustified) holier-than-thou, what-passes-for-brains-in-their-eyes, simple-to-digest (regardless of facts) ads served up to them. One company in the computing arena certainly does that well, and their most devoted users are testament to that sort of advertising.

I'm divided between thinking the Microsoft should have pursued this avenue as well, or taking the weirder, higher road as they seem to be doing.

I was kind of fearing a repeat of Ballmer's 'There's More' skit so it was a more or less pleasant surprise.
 
Mostly what I'm taking away from that is that MS = crappy shoes, but I'm from the UK so I don't know the shoe store brand.

Bill Gates comes off as unassuming and unthreatening and basically the complete opposite of World-Owning Corporation of Doom, which is good, I suppose, as long as they don't start portraying him as ineffectual or irrelevant!

I think we need to see where the series is going. As an opener it was so-so and my first few reactions were all pretty much the same: Huh? What? I don't get it.
 
I knew Microsoft would miserably fail with these ads. The ad is actually giving people the wrong message - "Don't buy Vista, wait until 2012 for Windows 7!". Steve Jobs must be laughing his head off right now.
 
Huh, hope they still have some money left ...

They must have spent millions on that "Shoe Circus" sign 'cause the acting stinks.

Using simple word substitution we can come up with:

"Microsoft Circus, discount operating systems at quality prices" ...
 
What is a "Add"?

I think I understand the commercial. It will show how Jerry and Bill met and the first Ad finished with Jerry talking about technology. The story will continue with them becoming friends and Bill giving Jerry the insider information on how Vista is better than Mac and all the things you can do when you are compatible.
 
Missing the point

Problem is Apple can do funny ads because their products are simply brilliant as well as OS X. However these ads are embarassing for Microsoft, they're so try hard fun and 'hip' but there's nothing cool or great about Microsoft's VISTA at all.
 
Agreed. They didn't pay Gerry 10million for one ad. This will be a series of advertisements and will build a story over a series of commercials. In saying that I think its *****.

lord_flash said:
I'm guessing we're looking at what they call a "branding exercise", which will build up over time.

You're meant to be confused by the ad, because that's got you thinking about it.

There's also the shoe guy, trying to get Bill to wear the ill-fitting shoe, which is Microsoft's main beef about Macs – that there is limited flexibility compared to windows.

Expect to seem them expanding on this theme, probably more blatantly, in future ads.

I think that there's a good chance of them striking quite successfully once we've seen a series. Apple have got a spotless image at the moment, but it's true that OS X can be less than flexible at times.

Plus there's the whole American Choice / Freedom thing.

On the other hand I understand Liberty / Liberal doesn't go down too well there? What's up with that? Isn't liberty quite a key part of freedom?...
Click to expand...
 
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