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Microsoft's First Seinfeld Ad Airs: Shoe Circus

That was one of the dumbest adverts I've ever seen in my life. Good waste of $10,000,000+ Microsoft.
 
I didn't read all the replies to this, but I think I get it. Most of the stuff about Apple is hidden almost subliminal. Like the shoe circus is obviously Apple Store that's a given. But the card Gates has could be Pro Care, what do you get from it... Or Jerry saying leather, leather Leopard? Then there is the shower thing Think Different, and last the gooey cake thing is probably a poke at Apple's designs...

Over all I get the impression that it's a poke at Apple's cult like status, but very subtle, hell to the point where you just try to figure it out, get you thinking. But most of all make MS like approachable and friendly.. That and Jerry is really different, and Gates and him seem to have some thigns in common in the ad.
 
It doesn't need to tell us what they are selling. It is actually assuming we know something. It's an ad that doesn't think we're stupid. We should all obviously know what they are selling!

And I think they are allowed to put an add for whatever they want. Heck, they could sell shoes for all I care. It's their money. If I had the money, I would buy a 30 second spot and just make a 30 second tv show that doesn't sell anything.
 
rtdunham said:
I don't think we should forget these are two very smart guys. I'd bet the series of ads develop into something smart that makes us look back at this first installment, see the role it cleverly plays in the overall theme (something we can't/don't see now), and say, "oh! cool."

If i'm wrong, god help MS's ad agency. And MS.
Click to expand...

I agree and had a long post last night.

I have no idea why mac rumors logs you out after a few minutes but its very frustrating when you have a long post only to be greeted by USER NOT LOGGED IN. NO COOL!!! And you lose your post.


Anyway, ever been to a movie where for the first 20 minutes your left scratching your head? Look what everyone is doing, they are scratching their head, and I mean everyone.

If they do this right (who know), they will have half the population if not more that compute, left saying what? I don't get it, then when the timing is right, they will release promo's that show what the "future" is all about, if so, it's brilliant and I doubt all of them will be like this, if so, the marketing/visuals department, branding, need to be fired.

On the other hand, as a Mac user who once used windows, I find it ironic that many continue to diss MSFT when in fact, MSFT bailed out Apple, MSFT discovered the spotlight (which came out in VISTA but Apple introduced it first), DOCK was not apples but Kobilators (google Y'Z' Dock), and as Apple found out, when you are playing with the BIG BOYS (fortune 500 EXCHANGE), its not so easy is it. Still no INSTANT mail for the PC like EXCHANGE, and speaking of MSFT and their blunders, BSOD, just take a look at what happens when Apple decides to let 3rd party app's run on their hardware (iPhone), crash, crash, crash, yet, we still continue to bash MSFT when they actually might have something good up their sleeve and they DO have so much money that if I were gates, I would say screw tha anti trust, buy AMD/INTEL.HP/ALIENWARE/NVIDA/, SUN and control all the hardware software (plus of course all the motherboard makers) and with Apple having the ability to run WINDOWS on APPLE, what's to stop WINDOWS from developing code to run OSX (not that they would, but they could, and would have 100 to 1 lawyers to fight them off.

WHo knows, but I think they are going to do a great job as every is scratching their head, perfect for step one.
 
Interesting Seinfeld moment.
I got the message that things are changing at Microsoft.
This is apparently the only message in this ad, beyond the insinuation that Seinfeld is a Windows user, despite evidence to the contrary on the Seinfeld show.

This commercial left me with the feeling that Micheal Richards(as kramer) would have actually been somewhat better than Jerry for this role as person intruding on shoe purchase, giving silly expert advice, then befriending the victim.
 
MacRumors said:


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
Click to expand...


A totally dumb ad... Microsoft is so huge and ossified and their ad shows it. What was Microsoft trying to sell? Cookies or what? Certainly not their Windows or Vista operating software. May be they're too embarrassed to mention those names.
 
Tilpots said:
Edible computers? What was the point? They must be using McCain's speech writers.
Click to expand...

Nah, definitely Obama writers!

MS is hoping ads like this will be change we can believe in, they are sadly mistaken and I would imagine they have more of these ideas in the works that in the end will just take more money out of MS's back pocket! This ad isn't "Obamanation", it's an abomination! :rolleyes:
 
fivepoint said:
Let me be the first to say it.

"WTF?"
Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it better. What are they trying to accomplish with this kind of advertisement? What was the point? It took Seinfeld to show Bill Gates how to try on shoes and to introduce him to churros? At leasts Apple's Mac vs. PC ads address an issue...
 
snickelfritz said:
I got the message that things are changing at Microsoft.
Click to expand...

I did not read all 760 + posts in this thread although a lot of funny posts. My favorite part of the commercial, the clown membership card.
Bill Gates proudly announcing he is a Platinum Clown member. More interestingly is where it says expiry date 09 on the card. Microsoft are telling us that people will not laugh at them anymore when the next windows whatever appears. We will see. In the meantime, plenty to chuckle about.
 
Elderloc said:
I didn't read all the replies to this, but I think I get it. Most of the stuff about Apple is hidden almost subliminal. Like the shoe circus is obviously Apple Store that's a given. But the card Gates has could be Pro Care, what do you get from it... Or Jerry saying leather, leather Leopard? Then there is the shower thing Think Different, and last the gooey cake thing is probably a poke at Apple's designs...

Over all I get the impression that it's a poke at Apple's cult like status, but very subtle, hell to the point where you just try to figure it out, get you thinking. But most of all make MS like approachable and friendly.. That and Jerry is really different, and Gates and him seem to have some thigns in common in the ad.
Click to expand...

A normal computer shop is "Shoe circus". Yep, those places where you go to check the price of your favourite graphic card to see if you can save some bucks.

The card and the pro care, just I don't see the relation. Usually those cards are for free for customers. A Pro Care support... you have to pay for it and it's not a card in your pocket, is a contract for a computer (for example).

Lether, Leopard, and a cat in the shower. Yes, that's gonna happen to Apple.

Some times when you think so much, you get a final idea that is far away from the original purpose. Just like this advertisement.

BTW: It was a strange Ad. but I guess strange = more people will speak about it.
 
Horrible ads

I've seen the ad yesterday and had to watch it again on youtube to figure out what the point is and where the humor is.

If that's all that Microsoft can manage as far as retaliation to the Mac vs PC ads, they're in trouble.
 
Geez what agency came up with that ad and how much did they robb MS.
Give me 1/4 of the pay, a snow cone and 30 minutes and I will have a better idea than that crap.
 
What was that?

I had seen many weired ads in my life. watching them you can't tell what that is about but an ad from company like microsoft with bill gates in it?
I first thought this is a shoe company CM, then i could finaly make out it is about the clown club, with the microsoft's super clown as a star.

:D
waste of time, waste of money AND it is too long for a TV CM
 
Wow

WORST ADD EVER

watched it last night, had NO IDEA what the point was.
everyone is the room had the "wtf" look
 
What was that?

I had seen many weired ads in my life. watching them you can't tell what that is about but an ad from company like microsoft with bill gates in it?
I first thought this is a shoe company CM, then i could finaly make out it is about the clown club, with the microsoft's super clown as a star.

:D
waste of time, waste of money AND it is too long for a TV CM.
any way, Its Microsoft, any thing "destructive" is possible from them.:eek:
 
Elderloc said:
I didn't read all the replies to this, but I think I get it. Most of the stuff about Apple is hidden almost subliminal. Like the shoe circus is obviously Apple Store that's a given. But the card Gates has could be Pro Care, what do you get from it... Or Jerry saying leather, leather Leopard? Then there is the shower thing Think Different, and last the gooey cake thing is probably a poke at Apple's designs...

Over all I get the impression that it's a poke at Apple's cult like status, but very subtle, hell to the point where you just try to figure it out, get you thinking. But most of all make MS like approachable and friendly.. That and Jerry is really different, and Gates and him seem to have some thigns in common in the ad.
Click to expand...


God... some (most) of you guys are so slow.

It's not a poke at anything.... its about Microsoft trying to create a new, funny, hip image of itself.


There's no subliminal stuff here... quit reading into it like the damn Kennedy assassination! It is what it is... a quirky, sorta funny commercial.

I'm sure they have some jabs planned down the road, but this is the first of probably many ads to make Microsofts image more relevant.
 
Circus is right...

A has-been clown and an old geek with a pinch-a-penny shoe card? What the Heck? Churros and the mexican family? What is El Conquistador?
Bill looks just like John Hodgman. The stereotype of the PC user... All that money and u can't buy yourself a sense of style.
Whoever the ad company is that is handling this new campaign for MS should just quit...
:apple:
 
90 seconds?

I agree with pretty much everyone here. That was one dumb mo-fo of an ad. However, did y'all notice that it is 90 seconds long. That's 3 times the length of a regular TV commercial! So not only did they pay Jerry $10M for the entire campaign, can you imagine what it must cost to put this first commercial, as well as the forthcoming ones, on TV?

Maybe that's why they stopped releasing Microsoft Money. It told them it was a bad idea!:D
 
Reading these comments are hillarious, it's actually quite sad. I guess you could say they did get attention, over 700 comments on the first ad. The amount of people who think the entire 10 million dollar campaign is this single ad is quite shocking, lots of intelligent people here :rolleyes:
 
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