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Microsoft's First Seinfeld Ad Airs: Shoe Circus

motulist said:
Meaning they will never directly say vista is better because blah, like the Apple ads do, rather they will integrate using vista into the storyline just like they did with junior mints in the TV show.
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it falls apart when they shove in the stupid computer comment at the end.

had episode two or so been jerry at a coffee shop, using vista and being cool then the whole thing might have worked.

but clearly they are trying to do a parallel to the I'm a mac apple ads where Mac is an idiot. and it just comes off stupid and destroys the whole ad, cause a lot of Joe Q Public is saying WTF
 
Chappers said:
Such a clever advert. We all know it's as cheesy as hell but we're all waiting for the next one.
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i might watch the next to have something to laugh at. if someone posts it someone where here. but I'm certainly not watching for it on pins and needles. if I miss the big debut, oh well
 
iPod versus Zune,Genius versus Guru etc

it should be self evident to anyone who has watched this ad that Microsoft is incapable of competing with their own products against Apple. For anyone who still doesn't use a mac but has an iPod just compare your iPod to Microsofts' players and you will have a "taste" of the differences between their computers...eneough said.
 
jonnysods said:
One side note - I don't think we can totally say that the Get a Mac ads are that solid. They were great at the start, but now they have just made way too many, and the message is the same 'Vista sucks, Macs are cool' thing. They need to start touting what Leopard can do.
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hardly. yes some of them. but others never mention vista sucks at all.

and remember that they aren't just advertising the OS. they are advertising apple as a whole. software, hardware and retail as an experience. one of the newest ads is a short and sweet announcement that Apple Retail will help you transfer files to your new computer, even if it's a PC. for free. I dare you to go into Best Buy and ask them to do a free file transfer to the computer you just bought.
 
AlexisV said:
It's a myth that just because people talk about an ad, it's a success.

Sometimes the world saying something is crap really does mean it is a pile of crap.
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If it's a myth why did you use the word sometimes? The idea of an ad is to get your attention, which it is doing.
 
APPLENEWBIE said:
I can't think of a more horrifying job than being a Microsoft Guru at a big box store...

"Yes ma'am, your grand son is right, you do have a virus and a bunch of spyware. You will have to buy a new copy of Vista and install it because there is no other cure... Yes ma'am, it goes in the CD tray... by the way, ma'am, your computer is too old to install vista on it the way it is now. You'll have to upgrade the Ram and the video card, and maybe the processor... No Ma'am, I'm not kidding. OWWWW. You didn't have to slam your computer down on my hand, Ma'am!"
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actually the Gurus are not tech support. they are basically dedicated sales people. think Mac Specialist with likely a lot less training (I'm amazed about how much the apple 'sales' staff knows and will show you. it's rather cool)
 
johnmcboston said:
Plus the Mac ads have a young hip kid
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and that is the one mistake in my book.

I would love just once for them to dump Justin Long in an ad. seriously. I love the guy as "Mac" but just once they need an ad with an older guy, an even younger than Justin guy (a kid even I dare say) and some girls (same range of ages). Because I walk into my local Apple store and it's all ages/all types and that's one thing they don't ever seem to reflect in the ads.
 
charlituna said:
and that is the one mistake in my book.

I would love just once for them to dump Justin Long in an ad. seriously. I love the guy as "Mac" but just once they need an ad with an older guy, an even younger than Justin guy (a kid even I dare say) and some girls (same range of ages). Because I walk into my local Apple store and it's all ages/all types and that's one thing they don't ever seem to reflect in the ads.
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It's not fair but the fact remains that with sophisticated products men are used to advertise them overwhelmingly over women(often by women themselves in advertising agencies world wide) Women are by both men and women alike often seen as inferior intellectualy and lacking authority,which makes the product itself appear inferior.
 
charlituna said:
had episode two or so been jerry at a coffee shop, using vista and being cool then the whole thing might have worked.
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You've been peeking ahead!

By the way, I hope they stay out of coffee shops - too many posers at Starbucks already, always clustered at tables where they can plug their tacky white plastic power bricks into the wall (don't Apple portables have batteries?). Some people think that the Apple logo is the best thing about the portables - they should work on their issues with self-esteem.

Let's see real people using computers in real-life, not the people who think that they're "chick magnets".

ps: Although it would be interesting to see a Vista ad with the Friends gang at Central Perk doing some stuff....
 
savar said:
You're forgetting that Jerry is an Apple fan. Throughout all the years of seinfeld, he always had a mac on his desk (in the corner next to the window)... and not the same mac either. Every few years they would upgrade the mac.
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folks keep bringing that up but the truth is that Jerry might have had nothing to do with that call. that could be 100% the set dressers who pulled whatever they had that looked nifty.

that Jerry was in featured in a Mac ad and I'm sure they had to ask to use his image in it, that is worth pointing out. then again that was how many years ago. do we have confirmation in the last year or so that Jerry is actually using Macs.

The seinfeld commercial seemed pretty pointless, and a rather lame attempt by microsoft to generate some viral marketing, but at least the content of the commercial was funny to me. I like the absurdity of the whole thing, and the way the two guys have a natural rapport, even though they come from very different backgrounds.
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had they not wedged in the computer stuff at the end, it might have worked.

I'd like to see Apple do more commercials about how Macs actually help people out. Not like the switcher stories, but a little more like those early iphone commercials. They could have different representatives: the tech geek, the college student, the suit, the entrepreneur, the grandparents, the husband/wife, etc. Each person comes on and talks about the things they do within their mac/ipod universe.
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that sort of thing works on a website, and in quick quotes and photos it works in magazines. but as a tv ad, it drags on too long. tv ads should be 20-30 seconds. which is a major complaint about 'shoe circus'. it was about 4 times longer than it should have been.

I recommend this fast company article for those wondering what MS is trying to pull off here: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/believe-it-or-not-hes-a-pc.html
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the moment you need to explain a joke, it is definitely not funny.

microsoft tried to be too clever and too cute and blew it.
 
Unspeaked said:
.

If it were an Apple ad, and it was Steve instead of Bill, this thread would be twice as long and full of endless praise.
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no it wouldn't.

because the comments aren't about it being a microsoft ad and not an apple ad as much as they are about it being a stupid ad.

if it was an apple ad, folks would be even more pissed.
 
Anuba said:
Yeah, it's not a Vista ad, but it's about the Windows brand, not Microsoft itself (that's a Windows logo at the end, with no mention of M$).
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i wonder how many folks saw that lame excuse for funny and changed the channel before they got to the logo.

and of those, how many recognized Bill or stayed long enough to see his name and make the connection
 
mastercard, amex or vista

looks eerily reminiscent of the old credit card commercials seinfeld did in the 90s.

first rule of good advertising - mention the product name at least 3 times in the advert.

i think these are a light-hearted attempt to build goodwill with their existing customer base. it certainly won't bring back all the rats, i mean, customers, that left the sinking ship that is windows vista.
 
The Ad aired on TV last night on Discovery Channel. It was so stupid, it was almost embarrassing to watch. I wonder what the other ads will be.:rolleyes:
 
Hands Sandon said:
It's not fair but the fact remains that with sophisticated products men are used to advertise them overwhelmingly over women(often by women themselves in advertising agencies world wide) Women are by both men and women alike often seen as inferior intellectualy and lacking authority,which makes the product itself appear inferior.
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which is why it would be an amazing move. walk into an Apple store and it's not all guys scooping up stuff. there are lots of women around.

and actually apple has made small strides in breaking the gender thing. go back into the archives and note that when they did their 'i'm a mac genius' ad it's a girl. so they aren't totally blind to the fact that computers and the like are not all men. they just need to acknowledge it more often
 
AidenShaw said:
You've been peeking ahead!

By the way, I hope they stay out of coffee shops - too many posers at Starbucks already, always clustered at tables where they can plug their tacky white plastic power bricks into the wall (don't Apple portables have batteries?). Some people think that the Apple logo is the best thing about the portables - they should work on their issues with self-esteem.

Let's see real people using computers in real-life, not the people who think that they're "chick magnets".

ps: Although it would be interesting to see a Vista ad with the Friends gang at Central Perk doing some stuff....
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First of all we don't want any more of these White Trash ads,especialy not "Friends in the Park" that's so out!
Secondly they are "chick magnets" and I'd rather have "fun" than "run" with a virus!!!!
 
Eric Szilagy said:
I guess Microsoft has money to waste, 'cause that commercial is pointless and even lacks Seinfeld humor.
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I dont get the commercial at all. This is why MS SUCKS at marketing. Supposedly these are to make MS look "cooler". Well, even as a scene setter, this does nothing. It's pointless and stupid.
 
herbalizer said:
Wow, that was incredibly bad. Micro$oft has 90 quadrillion dollars and they can't hire someone to make them a decent add?

I can just picture the dopes at the MS board meeting that thought that add was a real knee slapper.

Maybe they hired the same folks that put on the republiscum convention. Great stuff...
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That's actually funny since MS hired CP+B to run the ads from now on. Very disappointing to me. A creative shop like Crispen should do better.

Such a loser ad
 
charlituna said:
which is why it would be an amazing move. walk into an Apple store and it's not all guys scooping up stuff. there are lots of women around.

and actually apple has made small strides in breaking the gender thing. go back into the archives and note that when they did their 'i'm a mac genius' ad it's a girl. so they aren't totally blind to the fact that computers and the like are not all men. they just need to acknowledge it more often
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If they had used an attractive female at the end this ad would have redeemed itself and wouldn't have been such a saggy flop! Just kidding,women graduate from university at a higher rate than men and spend over 90% of the household budget,I hope they don't run this ad in Europe where people have more respect for women.
 
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