Microsoft's Next Seinfeld Ad Airs: 'New Family'

[ppilone]

The commercials are amusing and entertaining - bottom line. Sure they make no sense in terms of selling Vista but they show a lighter side of MS and I really think thats the whole point. Honestly - no matter how much you love Apple - watching Bill Gates "power down" has to make you smile.

And (I'm going to get in trouble for saying this) at no point in the commercial do they bash the competition in order to look better and I find that refreshing and fun ::ducks for cover::

 

[erickj]

Wow...

These are really terrible ads. I mean, first of all, what's the point of a 4.5 minute ad? Second of all, they have nothing to do with computers. It's like Microsoft is trying so hard to be kitchy and it's not working at all. Too bad. I honestly can't believe that Jerry Seinfeld agreed to this. Sigh.

 

[Phrasikleia]

it's apparent to me they gave Seinfeld free reign with this and he came up with a reasonably clever idea

I sincerely doubt that Seinfeld wrote any of the material himself. He got only $10 million of the $300 million budget. The ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, surely had a team of writers on the job. Seinfeld did some of his own writing for his own show, but as it got more popular, he and Larry David were supplemented with a bevy of talented writers.

 

[Rot'nApple]

i think they're funny. i find it amusing to see two well-known, accomplished men goof off. sure, it has nothing to do with computers, but it's fun.

For more amusement of two well-known, accomplished men goofing off...

Seinfeld and Gates can appear for a remake of E-Trade's monkey dance Superbowl commercial at the next Superbowl. Gates can look at Jerry as he is counting the last of his 10 million bucks, and Bill can say, "We just wasted 10 million bucks. What are you doing with your money?" E-Trade. Then Bill tries to log on to E-Trade using IE7 on a PC with Windows Vista and can't get connected and hears that "phone beep tones and recording" saying... 'we're sorry, the website you are trying to reach is not available. Please use Windows XP and try again. 😀

Regarding the latest MS ad, I hope this goes somewhere soon. If it is "painting a picture", I don't see it!

 

[HirakuMakimura]

I sincerely doubt that Seinfeld wrote any of the material himself. He got only $10 million of the $300 million budget. The ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, surely had a team of writers on the job. Seinfeld did some of his own writing for his own show, but as it got more popular, he and Larry David were supplemented with a bevy of talented writers.

Hmm, good point, thanks. Perhaps what I should have said was that this felt very Seinfeld-like to me. I dunno. Maybe they could have put another comedian in there and I would have thought it was very like them.

 

[largebrandon]

The problem with having Jerry Seinfeld in the ad with Gates is that you can't tell if it is a pitch for windows or if they somehow want you to buy Seinfeld on DVD. They really are funny in the 'awkward' sort of comedy.

Mini-sitcom rating: B

Advertising rating: F

 

[Rot'nApple]

Haha I agree. This is smart actually, a real evolution in marketing strategy. Hate to say, but ya'll watched it. Ya'll commented on it. Ya'll just got owned by Microsoft.

Ever read a post where someone said of a video that they watched, where the viewer wanted their 2 minutes of their life back? This new MS ad being over 4 min., I would say, I want my 22 seconds back. 😱

 

[thisrocks]

Good post.

I think some folks confuse the Command Prompt with DOS. 🙂

And I'm by no means one of those people. I would like to thank tokevino. It is ultimately a case of "I don't know what I'm talking about" mixed with; the last time I read all these things was a long time ago, hence lack of being able to apply the right knowledge - it's all mixed! I thought it was right, although I am clearly wrong.

Thanks for clarifying that though. I understand your reason for saying I don't know what I'm talking about. No hard feelings.

Could you also tell me how OS X evolved in a similar style to that?
For arguments sake - Platform wise.

 

[199708]

haha genius, loving the ad's. i feel like im still watching Seinfeld from back in the days.

I suppose the trend is at the end they'll squeeze in a little about their products.

 

[thecartoonguy]

I gotta say that i did like this spot. It was nicely written, quite witty, in fact. I love the old lady, and the treacherous little girl. I guess the plan is to market microsoft as a friendly and fun company, "connecting with real people." Too bad their products are, generally, not friendly and fun. I can't figure out how they are going to use these ads. You can run a 4.5 minute ad in very few places, and at what cost?

It might be fun to have a competition to use iMovie to edit it down to a 30 second spot! What d'ya think Arn?

I laughed at the car, and house joke, while Bill was messing with his shoe. It was different.

 

[FoxyKaye]

Well, I actually laughed a couple times during this one.

You know who these ads need? Sarah "Barracuda" Palin! She could fly in on a helicopter and shoot at Bill and Jerry or something. Yeah, I see it now...

 

[Mr Rogerss]

I don't have to spend "sometime" in order to get a laugh with any of the "get a mac" ads. Microsoft ads are, as always, too "geeky."


Agreed.


Sorry, I took that as "why do so much to use Windows just cause 90% of the people do?" Or, in the add, "why do so much to switch to Vista when XP gives less trouble?"


"Didn't we have Windows yesterday and so for the last 10 years?"


Honestly, these ads (2 of such so far), are very bad ads. It draws us attention only because Microsoft *supposedly* uses them to protect their "Windows base."

And sorry, but these ads are not clever at all. It pretty much reflected the very dry, light-beer like taste of Microsoft style (or culture). There is nothing wrong with a dry taste: it is just too flat.

These ads are typical Microsoft style, and it is not a surprise to me at all. As always, Microsoft just cannot get it right, no matter how many tries.

And a reminder: It's a Mac 🙂, not a MAC :-(.

I hear you in all man, but its not a very good argument to turn around the words...I could do the same thing with MAC ( ha ) all day 🙂...I mean it gets no where. I was just pointing out what Microsoft is using the ad for. For all the people who claim to don't get it.

For what this has caused on a MAC site...the ad has done its job.

 

[MacOldTimer!]

These are really terrible ads. I mean, first of all, what's the point of a 4.5 minute ad? Second of all, they have nothing to do with computers. It's like Microsoft is trying so hard to be kitchy and it's not working at all. Too bad. I honestly can't believe that Jerry Seinfeld agreed to this. Sigh.

They can make it a 4.5 minute commercial because they can afford it.
MS has a market cap almos twice of Apple.

It's a commercial and not the end of the world for Mac/Apple Fan's.
I liked it. It doesn't mean I'm switching to Vista in the morning but give me a break. What is the big deal, those in my generation will find some memories from the Seinfield days.

I love my Mac and I love /hate my iPhone (until tomorrow hopefully).

By the way, Gen X has a heck of a lot more users than the people that haunt this room. They are going for a target Market and in my humble opinion have a great commercial campaing.

If you're a Mac fan, you are not going to go MS. If you're a MS fan you may think about upgrading to Vista.

Competition is what we are all about in the US and now globally. Get with the program or be left behind.

By the way, MS Mobile 6.1 has FULL support for Flash and Java. This may be what Apple needs to give Adobe an "I'm sorry, email" and give the iPhone the same advantage.

That would be Advantage Microsoft and I don't like it.

 

[WardC]

Apple ads used to be racy, edgy, and really made you watch and pay attention. I personally think the "PC vs. Mac" deal has had its time.

Note a few: - Check these out, for sure!

-THE ORIGINAL - "Think Different" ad
-1984
-Quadra
-Mac Classic
-PowerBook 3400c
-Voice Recognition
-PowerMac/PC "Business Computer"
-PowerMac/Compatible
-G3 Pentium II Snail
-Power (this one is good!!)
-PowerBook from Apple
-PowerBook Ad 2
-Power Macintosh Future
-FlowerPower iMac
-G4 Processing Power (weapon)
-PowerBook Networking on Airplane
-PowerBook Duo
-17" PowerBook G4
-PowerBook 500 Series - In the Middle
-PowerBook 5300 - Save the World

OK, I am tired now but those should be a fun watch. Anyways, you will obviously tell that Apple's current ads are a BORE compared to the stuff the used to run on TV. And the current deal has just been running for way too long, it is time to Think Different Apple! (again) like the old days. LOL

 

[199708]

stolen from another topic on another forum.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0309540/

looks like Gates building his resume nicely and will be starring in a comedy show for 1 ep? or season im not sure.

 

[mgauss]

Bill Gates the smartest man in the world

To be the richest man in the world when his product is so horrible, he must be the smartest. Oh and his ad is even worse than Vista.

 

[Doctor Q]

PC = Perpetual Commercial

How much of Gates' fortune would it cost to run an ad this long during the Superbowl?

 

[LanPhantom]

Bill is Retired

You know, as strange as this is, I think these adds may work.

Remember that Microsoft is seen as the faceless, monopolistic company with only money in mind. The apple commercials were a success not because of pointing out the flaws in Windows compared to OS X, but because of Hodgman and Long's ability to personify what the general public felt about both Apple and Microsoft.
These adds aren't so much aimed at selling Vista or Office, but aimed as pitching Microsoft as a personable company. I for one don't buy microsoft products just on the principle that they seem like a faceless company. These adds give them a face and a character.

People are going to see Bill Gates and Jerry, and suddenly John Hodgman seems as obsolete as a beige PC tower.

Edit: What Mac Me Up said.

You seem to seem to forge that neither one of those two are Microsoft anymore. Bill is Retired and Jerry is, well, a comedian. The idea that M$ is a faceless monolith is just one opinion. I work with M$ products everyday and they are everybit involved in your companies success with their products. The unfortunate part is, they don't engineer very good products so they're rep spend countless hours troubleshooting issues.

Oh well, have fun M$. I'm sure you have a 'point' to these commercials and just like everything else they build, you have to have ALL of it to make sense.

LanPhantom

 

[Niiro13]

I wonder if they purposely make it like this in order to create a memory in people.

Albeit, maybe not a good one.

But at least you remember Microsoft.

 

[andyboy620]

Moist & Chewy

In the first Microsoft/Seinfeld ad he asks Bill if Microsoft is working on something that is moist and chewy? It occurred to me that apples are both moist and chewy. Is that statement some sort of metaphor that Microsoft is working on something as good as [an] Apple?

 

[wonderbread57]

Oh please college gods grant us this request and make huge poster of bill gates in the robot pose!

 

[archurban]

they just make no sense again! commercial is no more than 1 minutes 30 seconds usually. if this is more longer, viewers just change channel easily. MS need human behavior study for business. I think that almost ten out of ten people don't understand what MS tries to say on this. so they wasted $300 Millions. why don't they give me donation? I think that they need to stop this bull ****. or make some better for windows AD. come on! I am sick of it.

 

[weezer160]

How can it be quality if it's Winblows Media Poop?

 

[pika2000]

Okay guys, the fact that we and every tech blogs and tech podcasts out there are talking about these ads mean that the ads are working! IMO this is what MS want in the beginning, attention.

 

[Virgil-TB2]

I doubt we'll be in the majority on this forum, but I really enjoyed this one. It's not swaying me to like Vista or MS, but it does show Gates in a positive and amusing way. If that is there goal then I think they did it.

Nah, you guys are actually the target audience and you are the majority if you look at the responses here. They totally got you.

What you don't realise is that the discussion here (what there is of it), is about how good or bad they are as advertisements. It's not about whether you enjoyed it or not.

If you check out Engadget, Digg or any other site reporting about this tonight, by far the majority of viewers think this is "better than the first one." but by that, they mean "more enjoyable" or "more funny" than the first one. This is the whole point and exactly what the advertiser wants you to think.

In fact, advertising is about the message or in this case the "story" they want to tell. The first one had a rough spot or two but was on message (Gates and Seinfeld are regular folks like you and me that eat crappy food, buy cheap shoes and are so dumb that they get the planets in the solar system mixed up). The "story" is to identify with regular folks and say that Microsoft is "just like you," therefore their products are made for people like you. This kind of stuff works very well when it's done right. People laugh and think it's good because they enjoyed it and thus the message is hammered home without the viewer even knowing what happened.

This second one, noticeably fails on some of the same technical issues as the first (a few more actually), but more importantly, it gets the message all screwed up. Instead of "connecting" with the regular folks as they explicitly state is the aim now, Gates and Seinfeld come off as smug, elitist and out of touch. It's just bad. Any advertising student in college could tell you so.

When the message gets as confused as this, when the point of the message switches from episode to episode, and when it actually kind of reverses the gains made by the previous outing, it loses all it's power. The commercials then just become about "being quirky." At that point, the lack of any serious brand mention becomes killer.

I would expect these to be re-cut after the series is over, with more of a traditional brand mention at the end (certainly stronger than the little logo we see now), so that they can still be used to some kind of effect once it's clear that the message itself has failed.