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

evilgEEk said:
This went on way too long, and again didn't convey any real sort of product awareness.
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It's an ad with Bill Gates in it and a Windows logo at the end, how many people need to be told what it's for?

Horrible generalisation coming up, but Americans seem to like the in your face approach much more than we do here (UK), maybe this subtleness just doesn't fit so well with what the US is used to.

They're not pushing a specific product directly, just reminding people that MS are here, they're staying here, and they're trying to show that they're cool, modern, and listening.

These are bold, if subtle but clever ads.

Anyway, they get people talking, like we are here, which is pretty much the point of any good advertising campaign.
 
It did work better than the first one. This one had a definite theme running through ("connecting"), which applied to computers as well as to the ad's plot. The first one just had random moments concerning shoes with a slogan about the future at the end.

That said, it was way too long. IMHO, they should have started with the dialogue in the bedroom ("Why are we doing this again?" - "To connect with people"). It would have introduced the basic idea right at the beginning. Then a montage with some of the embarrassing moments in the family, maybe 20 seconds or so, followed by the whole bit about the stolen giraffe. That way, they would have had a tight, 90-second ad instead of this messy jumble which doesn't really pick up until somewhere past the halfway point.
 
apparently, everybody is a microsoft hater nowadays. and even if i am an apple fan, i still liked the commercials. no no, i loved them. they are far more intelligent and funny that the mac ads which are just stating the obvious and are sometimes (often) mean.
anyway, for all of you who had an interest in these two microsoft ads, here is a full explanation to the first one: http://tgdaily.com/content/view/39205/118/
i think the second one also has some hidden meaning and jokes inside.
:)
 
I think these ads a good and quite funny.

I think most people on here would be saying they were great if they were Apple ads. I personally think the Apple ads are worse, with their anti-microsoft attacks and lies about PC's.
 
WINDOWS RUMORS BABY!!!

microsoft is legit now!!! vista is awesome!!!!!!!!!!! i'm getting a vista pc this weekend!!!!

VISTA IS THE NEW MAC
 
Well, I didn't hate it, but it wasn't funny.

At least the point of this commercial wasn't to look at Bill Gate's arse like the last one. Well, that's what I got from it. :confused:

The Apple commercials are meant to be taken with a pinch of salt. I've been using PCs since the eighties and Macs since the mid ninties. I don't mind them. Unlike these MS commercials, they make a point and they do so quickly, and they can be funny.

<]=)
 
edesignuk said:
Horrible generalisation coming up, but Americans seem to like the in your face approach much more than we do here (UK), maybe this subtleness just doesn't fit so well with what the US is used to.
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I don't need an "in your face" advertisement with some guy in a clown suit yelling at me to "buy, BUY, BUY!!!", but I still want to know what they're going to do for me.

Why would I buy Windows, or a Microsoft product? What will it do for me?

I feel advertisements need to convey a connection to a product, not just "people connecting", or whatever nonsense that was on the end of the ad.
 
edesignuk said:
I much prefer this kind of stuff to Apple's Macs rules, PC's suck, Mac vs PC school playground nonsense :rolleyes:
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I think both campaigns are fitting for the different challenges each company faces.

Microsoft is a market leader. Their position may be a bit worse than it was a couple of years ago, but so far, people are buying their stuff. MS' main problem is its image, their seen as an evil monopoly by their customers.

So they don't need ads telling people why their products are better than their competitors', they need ads to show people "We're human, we're nice people". And even though I'm not a big fan of the 2 ads I've seen so far, this is clearly what they're aiming for.

Apple, on the other hand, doesn't need an image campaign right now. They had that, too, back in the "Think different" days. Right now, Apple's public image is the best it's been in years, even though they're starting to feel backlash, because of the iPod's massive domination of the MP3-player market.

The "Mac vs. PC" ads are telling people: We're not just these cool guys, we also have the better product, so there's really no reason not to switch. Notice there's no "iPod vs. Zune" campaign from Apple. When you're the market leader, you don't need to tell people not to buy something else.

So in the end, both Apple's and Microsoft's current campaigns fit their respective positions in the computer market. I still think, however, the MS ads could benefit from some tighter editing.
 
evilgEEk said:
I don't need an "in your face" advertisement with some guy in a clown suit yelling at me to "buy, BUY, BUY!!!", but I still want to know what they're going to do for me.

Why would I buy Windows, or a Microsoft product? What will it do for me?

I feel advertisements need to convey a connection to a product, not just "people connecting", or whatever nonsense that was on the end of the ad.
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So you say that you don't want someone screaming at you buy buy buy, but you do want to feel they're trying to sell you something, which means giving a little sales pitch.

These ads obviously aren't a sales pitch kind of ad, they're there to be different, create talk, and raise the general profile of the brand over all.

On a Mac forum there are two huge threads for each ad that has aired, I'd say they're doing OK.

I suppose it's hard to compare the Apple ads and this. Apple are still the underdog and have to fight for sales. Apple are a choice people make when they by, Microsoft are the default.

edit: Baumi summed it up quite well too (couple of posts above).
 
this is great, - imagine if jobs done something like this.
I'd laugh just like how i laughed at this ad.

Take out the MS vs Apple stuff, this is entertaining.
 
Thing for me about these ads is the Bill Gates comes off well. You clearly see that he isn't arrogant, he really is a nice guy.

The first ad seemed better than the second. I felt that the second ad was a bit unfocussed and lost its way in the middle. I did like the end when Bill did the robot dance thing though.

For me these ads bolster Gates' image, but probably not Microsoft. As evidence from the anti-trust case shows, Gates himself is often not happy with the Windows product experience. And anyway, how much influence/control does he have any more?

But I suppose for people who think Gates is the same as Microsoft, the ads could help the MS image.
 
Ok I can see exactly were this is going how I pretty much know how its going to unfold now.

Even though the entire advert(s) are just totally unrelated to the product and we have no idea whats going on and it has nothing to do with Windows, look at the discussion we are having about the advert and it all go backs to the whole, well that had nothing to do with Windows, well theres the point, its making sure you see what isnt there and look for it.

Its actually quite genius, advertise a product that you dont even talk about and see what response you get.

Also the last 30 seconds of the advert would of been quite a good small advert, but 4:30 was just too long.
 
johnasmith1914 said:
by embarrassed i mean that i say to myself after watching a mac commercial: "Am i really supporting this bullsh*t?"
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But why would you care? Are you afraid people are going to see you using a Mac and assume you support Apple's every move and therefore you must be embarrassed or something? I don't get why your self-image would be bound to any ad.

And if you want to get into supporting real BS, you should take a look around. There are probably a dozen companies you support every day who do much worse than any ads Apple has run. Oil/gas companies, fast food places, Wal-Mart, etc. I assume you're also embarrassed by that stuff too.
 
I enjoyed it, and I like there approach where they are not putting down the competition. Just now I caught the commercial on tv, but had to walk away to attend to something. Though, I can't believe people have to waste time saying it's too long, it's obvious they'll cut it up to create several commercials to add variety. From the short bit I saw, the kid delivering chinese food said one word and cut to the swimming pool.
 
CompUSAMacNerd said:
I saw a lot of symbolism in there.

The Giraffe was perhaps an operating system that was 'stolen'? Hmmm? At least it came across that way to me. Maybe it's a lot of historical references being very satire like?

I think they are taking playful stabs at Apple, seeing if anyone will catch on.
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Interesting, but I think it's too early to tell right now. Compare with what we see in a third ad and deduce from that as to whether your idea has any merit.

I'm a little tired of the constant "I don't understand, it's rubbish!" comments. Mac users are creative and intuitive, use your intelligence. Microsoft isn't trying to sell anything with these ads, just improve their image. They aren't brilliant, however they aren't bad either.
 
But why would you care? Are you afraid people are going to see you using a Mac and assume you support Apple's every move and therefore you must be embarrassed or something? I don't get why your self-image would be bound to any ad. That seems really insecure.

And if you want to get into supporting real ********, you should take a look around. There are probably a dozen companies you support every day who do much worse than any ads Apple has run. Oil/gas companies, fast food places, Wal-Mart, etc. I assume you're also embarrassed by that stuff too.
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No. i don't really care what people think of me if i'm using a mac. i would really be insecure if that were the case. i don't really pay attention to what anybody thinks of me. because i have a deformed face from burns from a grenade, i kind of got used to everyone looking at me for a minute the first time i walk into a room.
 
I will say this was better than the first one and they are intriguing in that it lures you in out of curiosity to see what Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld do.

This one made a little more sense too. I guess they are going for the message of Windows sucked but it is going to be better in the future because we are trying to understand what people want lol. Well good for you Micorsoft, but that is a pretty sad message!
 
Maybe Steve could star in a Mac commercial, but I guess the general population wouldn't know him as well as Bill Gates is. It would be crazy if Steve and Bill did an "I'm and Mac and I'm a PC" together :)
 
Maybe it's because I'm Australian, not American, but I don't understand why people say Gates comes off as a nice guy.

To me, he comes of as being cheap. In the first one he buys his shoes from a cheap store when he has plenty of money. In the second he doesn't offer to pay for the Pizza, and is mooching off some family, even complaining about the food. Probably supposed to be really funny, but to me he comes off looking mean.

(As an aside, another view from a non-American. In the first one, there's this Latino family outside the shoe store. The impression I get is the family are too poor to even go in to this cheap shoe store, so are hanging around looking longingly at shoes that they wish they could afford.)

Anyway, maybe it is all a cultural thing. But Gates comes out looking like a cheapskate. And Seinfeld is just an annoying loud mouth.

Though I read today these are not meant to be shown outside of the US, so we won't be seeing them here.
 
Funny but...

This is really funny; it made me laugh a couple of times and I'm BRITISH; but it does make you wonder what the hell it has to do with anything.

Changing their image? To what, a comedy film making company?
 
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