I’m starting to feel bad for Microsoft PR, who’ve been tasked with defending these Microsoft ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. I just didn’t connect with the first ad, which barely mentioned Microsoft and didn’t do much to tell me why I should like their products in a competitive market. The second ad, which aired tonight, was more of the same.
The setting is a normal family. Gates and Seinfeld are staying with them to connect with “real people.” The idea is to show that Microsoft has connected with “over a billion people.” Bill and Jerry explain:
Bill: Why are we doing this again?
Jerry: Why Bill? Because as we discussed, you and i are a little out of it. You’re living in some kinda moon house hovering over Seattle like the mothership. I’ve got so many cars I get stuck in my own traffic. We need to connect with real people.
I guess this is still a warm up act to the real thing, which will presumably get into more details on what Microsoft does and will do to connect people.
But here’s my problem. The idea of the campaign seems to be to show people how great Microsoft products are. The “real people” as they keep calling them are being reached out to so they can understand and grow to love these products.
But…If Bill (and therefore Microsoft) is not already in touch with real people, then their products may not be, either. By spending time with real people, the logic flow suggests they’ll be able to build better products.
In other words, Microsoft is highlighting the fact that they are out of touch. But instead of saying they’ll mingle with real people to build better products, the message seems to be that the real people need to get with the program.
In other words, I’m confused. Perhaps I’m just over thinking the whole thing, but it seems like exactly the opposite message that Microsoft needs to be sending.
The long uncut version:
Haven’t seen/didn’t know there was a shorter version of this ad until you mentioned it, Mike.
Which then made me think, would Microsoft be insane enough to buy an entire 4 minutes to play the entire thing during the break of a show. Imagine, you’re watching The Office and you then faithful NBC comedy viewers see their beloved Seinfeld back on the screen…you know they’d watch the entire thing.
Would it be worth it?
The only thing this makes me want to buy is that mustard with white wine in it. Yum. Three mentions of it, no less!
I’m sold. Where can I buy it?
It’s cleverly written just like Seinfeld, a commercial about nothing… I can’t believe no one caught that aspect of it - I bet Kramer makes a cameo in the next one - lmao.
TC
Some people did - I made that connection - I made that reference in my comments on the first commercial. You should really read all my comments
I think the next version of Windows is going to be called either George or Seven.
Shorter does not mean better. Longer does not either. I rest my case.
why is bill gates in a commercial?
I enjoyed both commercials very much. Funny stuff. Perhaps Bill and Jerry should do a sitcom based on these characters. Gates is actually pretty funny and the two of them actually pair up well together. I think it would be a real hit as well as be a great promotion tool for Microsoft. I read somewhere that Seinfeld was looking to do another TV show. This could be it.
I like the first one - that was pretty clever. I still need to figure this out. Anyway - less funnier than the previous one.
Don’t agree with you Andy. This one is definitely the best. Very well done!
Hello,
A side note. TechCrunch RSS feed users have crossed 1 million.
Great job Michael!
Subhash
I just don’t get it either - usually the CPB guys are quiet professional but this gets way out of control - a definite failure!
Are the 130 comments on this thread part of the failure too? Have you never heard of a buzz building campaign?
Well this is beyond me : they just show how Gates and Seinfeld are totally not connecting with real people.
What was the intended message again ?
Not connecting… but in a humorous way. So the actual connection is suggested to you. That’s how it works.
It is hard to imagine what went on during those roundtable discussions conceiving those ads.
It would really be intriguing if this blog could get an interview with the Creative Directors of those ads.
Those involved in the conception up to the decision makings and scripting.
Would like to find out who came up with this idea and the justification.
This being a powerful blog - surely Microsoft and the Ad Agencies involve would grant you an interview.
They want you to don’t understand it so it gets inside your head and make u think and think and think. And make you follow and follow and follow to see the next one.
Try to think of it this way, if they make a good commercial then you would say O then forget about it because is microsoft. Now they have a commercial which people would talk and discuss about. That’s what they want u to do. Talk about it. Create a hype over it.
Hopefully the overall picture becomes clear and sells, but right now - it doesn’t.
“They want you to don’t understand it so it gets inside your head and make u think and think and think. And make you follow and follow and follow to see the next one.”
Kinda like Lost.
That may be. But I’m not watching these any more. Like Lost. As in, Get Lost
wrong, wrong, and wrong. honestly, mike - sit down with an ad person for 30 seconds and have them explain to you what freshmen learn in ad class 101. really - it’s not that complicated.
Would the “billions” of people these ads are going to connect with going to have run through ad class 101? Not saying that the accepted and taught wisdom is necessarily wrong, but by virtue of the backlash here (and I think MS-haters are not the only ones expressing confusion here), it seems that being out of touch is starting to look like a bit of a theme here - and not in the way MS were after.
the “billions” of people watching the ads aren’t tech bloggers and admitted apple fans trying to analyze the ad to figure out why they should be buy ms products.
the ads are what they are, a funny attempt to connect to the public and brand microsoft using one of the most popular comics of all time. microsoft isn’t trying to reach any of the people who read this or any other tech blog with any kind of frequency. we know about the major software companies and be you an apple, open-source or m$ft fan-boy, you are not the audience. joe six-pack, the average american who uses their computer at home an hour or two a day is the audience. how is this complicated?
personally, i thought the first ad was okay, this second ad was pretty funny with the exception of the last :10. and i’d wager that most of middle america probably will find these ads funny and bring the brand microsoft back to their conversations. i mean, look at the conversation it’s creating here. job done in my opinion.
Bingo Jason. When you talk to “non-techies” they are clueless about browser wars, net neutrality, google conspiracies, yahoo! take-overs, etc. Computer technology is magick. Period. End of story. They eat this silly, non-informational stuff up. If you don’t believe me, take a quick view of election headlines. Lipstick? Really? No seriously…really? ahhhh… I love humanity
Personally, I think the commercials are terrible. When you dissect them, like Mike has done, you can easily see the flawed logic behind them.
However, I have noticed that if you watch the commericals with non-techies… people laugh. And they think the commercials are cute. I can only imagine that point is that people are dumb enough to be inspired to buy stuff from a brand that makes them chuckle.
I think Microsoft has basically recognized that they have a brand problem. So they are poking fun at themselves and hoping people will laugh with them.
The genius behind the Apple ads is that people laugh and they are to the point. The Microsoft ads just make average people laugh, they don’t try to do much more than that. And I think that’s pretty telling on the sorry state of the company.
Give Crispin/Porter wide berth.
I haven’t actually sat through and watched either commercial to completion. They’re pretty boring, so after about 15 seconds I just change the channel.
Doubt I’m the only one.
Don’t know about the humour, but what worked for me was the overall idea of humanizing Microsoft, which for a while now has been looked at as an evil corporation.
Agreed. It’s a Seinfeld episode and it is an opportunity to see Gates in a quirky situation; it humanizes him (albeit in a Napolean Dynamite kind of way). Also, they’re both ‘nice’ where as the Mac vs PC ads are’mean’. I think this is good…
Well put
I had the same feeling.
Agree totally.
I don’t recollect ever having laughed at any of those “i’m a mac you’re a pc” Apple spots. The role-playing just bores me; it has never been my type of comedy.
This, however, was great! And it’s the most ‘human’ I think anybody has ever seen Seinfeld or Bill Gates (gosh, Gates is much more of a nerdtard than I ever imagined; must be a charade? ). The people in this ad were WAY more ‘human’ than the Apple people.
And for $10M bucks, that must mean more are coming! Personally, I would like to see more of the Gates vs. Seinfeld bit. “The logician versus the joker.”
If it’s Bill and Napoleon you’re looking for see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKbb1qY5ON8
Anyone who’s seen Microsoft’s presentations at the old Comdex trade show in Las Vegas knows Bill Gates has been in some funny, star-laden videos before. I don’t care what this vid’s an ad for, it’s as entertaining as anything on TV. If they made it a 20-minute serial on Hulu I’d subscribe.
Microsoft doesn’t need to humanize their image, they need to humanize the company. You can’t write software to automate the creation of beauty. If there’s anybody this ad needs to work on, it’s Microsoft’s top management.
I think these shorts are great. They’ll spend the next couple of months building up a story. And to be fair, the ad is targeted at the general public, not the Silicon Valle technorati
Sorry, I love these commercials
I agree. These are quirky, goofy commercials and Microsoft never had any need to make something to attack those Macs vs. PC ads (just ignore Mac and they’ll eventually go away). If it was just Seinfeld talking about Windows directly, it’d be like an infomercial.
This campaign is great. I already know what Windows is (as do most people) - these commercials just help me enjoy the product more by showing the guys in charge don’t mind spending tons of $$$ to entertain us users.
I enjoyed it also. The kid who delivered the food who looked a bit like a young Gates cracked me up. Gates saying he had no money to pay for the food; the do-it-all Grandma; the mustard stealing kid. Good stuff.
Count me among the fans as well. These advertisements are pure entertainment. I smiled and laughed throughout the whole of the extended cut — and to create a 4:30 cut of looniness for just one of the spots! This is respect for your audience, for your current customers, for your potential/future customers. Gates and Seinfeld and these mock real environments each come off delightfully queer and warmly engaging. Admittedly, I’m already a fan of all involved, and ‘to each, his or her own’ as far as personal taste and rampant galvanized anti- biases go, but (as mentioned previously) this advertising strategy does go well beyond the apparent understanding of this post’s ‘analysis.’ If it MUST be a Mac vc. PC comparison: Apple advertisements make me embarassed to be seen with Apple products. Those commercials are targeted to Mac fanboys, the computer illiterate, and no one in between or otherwise. That’s insulting to everyone but the Kool-Aid drinkers. But it’s also another valid strategy; one perhaps better suited to a company that needs to chip away at another company’s sales for its own. (Simply due to its cleverness, I did enjoy the anti-PC Mac commercial that shows up on the frontpage of NYTimes.com; otherwise, I feel Apple is better off when it simply shows its spiffy wares.) Pepsi disses Coke in its advertisements. Coke just does Coke. And Burger King has bizarre characters, often creepy, running around doing perplexing things. And it makes me want a Whopper.
“…and so when the king puts the money in people’s wallets, it’s either saying to the viewer that BK’s prices are so outlandish that people need financial assistance to an unorthodoxically extreme level in order to afford it or that they are needing some sort of extra incentive at all just to consider a BK product. Moreover, even after the incentive, people are dissatisfied to the point of alerting the police! Finally, the physical abuse and pending arrest of the king send further mixed messages about the quality of both BK’s services and products. Unlike anything and everything McDonald’s does, I’m NOT lovin’ it.”
-Michael Arrington rant impression
I agree, these commercials are awesome. They don’t seem to be intended to accomplish much more than to get people talking about Microsoft, but they’re pretty entertaining.
Fan
I agree, they’re hilarious.
You ever watch something and minutes later think, “WTF?” This is what has happened to me after watching both the first ad and the second ad. I’m confused, but I keep watching to see what will happen next. The conversation between Bill and Jerry in the bedroom look like it was filmed with the same technique that Curb Your Enthusiasm is filmed. It’s a bit shaky (visually) but you feel like you’re listening in on a conversation, no matter how ridiculous or peripheral it seems to the goals of the source who created it (in this case, the ad guys at Microsoft). I will keep watching these ads not because they are brilliant on a standalone basis but to see what comes next. At least in this respect they hit me differently than the Apple ads do, which are all much of the same (we’re better than Microsoft, Microsoft is a bumbling idiot, cue the xylophone).
With the Apple ads, I know what I’m getting before I even watch it. With this new Microsoft ad, I as a consumer have absolutely no clue what will be said or done next, so I keep watching, and waiting, and watching, and soon enough the ad becomes like that song George couldn’t get out of his head on the Seinfeld show (”Master of the House” from Les Miserables). Maybe that’s the aim of this campaign - to make us watch it and talk about it.
hey mike, i sent you an email with the video link to this
I think its much better and much “funnier” - compared with the first. Its not about proving microsoft’s products are in touch with people as much as it is simply putting an ad out there with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Its just supposed to be a satirical take on things.
Be serious. 90% of the world uses microsofts products - I think they are pretty “in touch” with people. 99% of people would never have known what a “folder” was until they used windows.
The point of the ad is that by improving microsoft products they will be able to be even ‘better’ in touch with people. They ALREADY are - so the future will mean that they will be with EVEN MORE. Don’t be so short sighted in your view. I remember in the 90s when everyone used hotmail, windows and office. Microsoft have been instrumental in transforming “non-tech” peoples ability to use computers (and No, i am not saying other platforms haven’t either but due to the Microsofts distribution ability - they obviously have been much more)
I’m not sure I agree with you by saying “the fact that they are out of touch” - I dont think they are out of touch - this is an “Apple” fanboy opinion (and I have both a PC and a Mac - so dont start).
I agree with Saul W. Its not a “tech” ad - its a funny ad for 99% of the world to see that Microsoft is trying to be “cool”. Just take it for what it is and don’t try and analyse it by saying that Microsoft are out of touch with real people.
I was quite happy with my directories before Microsoft came along, thank you very much…
omg the second ad is just hilarious. i haven’t watched the cut version but the uncut one is just so funny. have no idea what they’re trying to say but i’m actually really looking forward for the next ad in the campaign.
michael
sorry you can’t connect to it. maybe they should do an ad campaign just for you and Erick with lots of cool valley words like apple, rumble, google and koogle?
dude what are you talking about that was AWSOME..
i like microsoft more already even though I am an avid mac lover!
I’m also an avid Mac user and I agree Joe. It makes Bill Gates a little more real and accessible similar to how Peyton Manning did in his commercials. I dont think its the best advertisement I’ve ever seen but makes me hate MS a lot less.
I like this one better than the first - “Power down” and “Who has 1 ball?” Funny.
This one explained why they were there - connect with people. These commercials are almost like an admittance of a problem. But they want and will fix.
http://afewtips.com
To the author: Do you really think that most people will analyze a simple commercial in this way? I doubt it.
“But…If Bill (and therefore Microsoft) is not already in touch with real people, then their products may not be, either. By spending time with real people, the logic flow suggests they’ll be able to build better products.
In other words, Microsoft is highlighting the fact that they are out of touch. But instead of saying they’ll mingle with real people to build better products, the message seems to be that the real people need to get with the program. ”
Come on. Its pretty clear we are still in the warming up phase to another set in this series but it seems that most articles I read about these commercials are totally overanalyzed.
I love it.
Bill Gates is a mainstream version of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Great storytelling as well. It’s Microsoft’s answer to the apple ads. They’re funny, puts things in perspective and confirms that a microsoft user isn’t this clumsy, spreadsheet loving manager. All of a sudden the apple ads become arrogant and snobbish (which they are of course).
Well we’re talking about the ads - and that was microsoft’s goal. As the campaign develops i’m sure things will become clearer.
Still they have nothing on the Mac ads.
Maybe they’re still trying to build up the two as likable characters, building a rapport with the audience and will then ‘go in for the kill’ with the audience by talkng about Vista??
hi mike. thanks for removing my previous you POS. You are an idiot who cant understand an idea. cause all u want is a mac vs pc ad that doesnt even mean anything. You should go back to school you moron.
These ads are funny as hell, and will be successful in the long wrong.
I think part of the magic is that the viewer doesn’t really know what’s going on. There’s no “Windows Rocks!” message which can be so easily ignored. The viewer is left wondering: what is this? Subversive counter-culture message? Ironic celebrity commentary? Brilliantly subtle end-run around our advertising expectations? Incompetent ad-company run amok? The questions left unanswered make an impact.
oh and i forgot something. you’re a moron who’s a loser. and il give u 2 years before TC goes to the deadpool and il laugh at ur moronic face!
Uah , I’m bored. Jerry is still funny, but Bill…?
everyone has been talking about these ads- even if the conversation is ‘wtf?’
so they are doing their job
hopefully/presumably the real messaging around the products will become clear as the campaign develops. otherwise this will be a missed opportunity.
Hey, They got people talking.. Everyone took notice of these Ads.. Isn’t that the purpose of advertisement.. As we put it in the Web 2.0 world “Create a BUZZ”…
@ hendrik - arrogant and snobbish is partly what makes them cool.
microsoft is not stupid. they’re hooking you on. the entry point ofcourse is the all too globally familiar face of seinfeld. the ads may say nothing much now. but as the story goes on and we see more and more … we will naturally get hooked on (form a positive association / let our guard down etc). Then when its just right - microsoft will attack. what exactly this attack consists of is yet to be seen. meanwhile, slowly but steadily we WILL slowly get attached. then, they can say what they want and we will believe… google bashing, apple biting whatever. we’ll partly believe (many fully).
so … watch out!
I love the commercial, and imo it worked to a T.
The purpose was to show that Gates and Seinfeld, despite their celebrity status, are normal people. The “we have to connect with real people” comment was an acknowledgment that yeah, they’re rich, but after you get to know them better you realize they’re kinda normal despite their eccentricities. In fact, compared to the wacky family they stayed with (6-years-with-the-family-giraffe, grandma mechanic, greek coins, scheming daughter), you realize all normal people have their own eccentricities.
In this short, they bring the masses to Microsoft’s side. We’re all weird but we’re all real and we try our best.
Quite a breath of fresh air compared to Apple’s condescending “I am a PC” ads.
You hit it right on the head. Everyone has complained the last while that Microsoft doesn’t “get it” and don’t care about their base — unlike Apple, so this is trying to show that they are getting back to understanding the people.
Microsoft must understand that the problem isn’t PR or viral marketing but their products. Vista doesn’t rock.
(linkback) Funny or Lame? The second Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercial [VOTE] - http://www.thriveorfail.com/c0828
We will not be seeing these ads for a while ‘live’ here in Australia, but just watching them on YouTube makes me agree with the majority of comments here: they’re good!
I think you’re reading too deep into these commercials. It doesn’t matter that they don’t make sense.
I think Microsoft is just trying to seem less like a stuffy nerdy software company to the less technically inclined people in America. IMO mission accomplished with these ads.
Mac’s are the greatest computers ever no question about it - I will never give up my Mac! But Apple just got their asses handed to them with this one!
I can’t wait to see the next one video!
Cheers - Eric
Jerry is still funny, but Bill…?
” … the first ad, which barely mentioned Microsoft and didn’t do much to tell me why I should like their products in a competitive market.”
Which is not unlike the famous Apple “1984″ ad.
“On January 24, Apple computer will introduce MacIntosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984.”
I liked this commercial and I completely disagree with the comments you made Michael. The ad is to demonstrate how they connect with “real” people, not just your tech savvy people who know what an Ethernet cable is or why Web Standards are so important. They just want to accomplish a goal and get out of there.
Thats why they keep showing the old grandma, the random pranks that kids play, the husband who’s hiding things from his wife, etc, etc. Its about show casting how in the midst of all this chaos that our lives are, we can easily jump on a PC, do what we gotta do and get out of there.
look, so far these are not product ads talking about features or more specifc things such as that, rather these are brand ads.
Anything with Seinfeld is terrific; http://www.wddg.com/projects/superman_seinfeld/
The ad does exactly what is has to do. People are discussing about it (no matter if in positive or negative meaning). That is what is advertising about.
They want to create buzz till the climax and what can I say: It works!
It is funny - TechCrunch writers are consistently “perplexed” by advertising / media…the last article I remember was Erick talking about the Dexter magazine cover ad campaign, but there are so many more.
I think the disconnect is that in writing about technology, if you don’t “get the product” you guys assume that the product is flawed since TechCrunch is the industry metric for evaluating what’s new. However, media / marketing doesn’t really work like that - they have a target market and if you don’t fit into it, the message wasn’t for you!
That much aside, these ads need a better writer. The dinner scene didn’t work and the overall message is unclear. From my experience working at ad agencies, this seems like one of those “foggy” concepts where Microsoft (HUGE CLIENT) comes in and says “We want to do a campaign about how we’ve lost touch but are reconnecting” and you’re like “SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA” cha-ching!
jerry is still funny but bill?? isn’t jerry seinfeld a comedian? of course he should be funny… bill gates is a tech geek not a comedian. He may not be liked by all the mac fans here in techcrunch but for the average consumer he is a very carismatic person.
Raskin — Dead on.
Personally, they remind me of the funny short films that Bill and Steve Balmer used to do for TechEds (the one about the Office Chair 1.0 or whatever it was wasn’t good but the VW commercial parody was great). They remind us that people like this can be human …maybe not lets-give-them-their-own-sitcom funny…but human.
Well there were some subtle messages.
The dining scene: The grandmother has been there for 7 years. They are having the same food they had yesterday. - signs towards routine, age and outdatedness.
The pool: The colours of the toys were the Microsoft Colours. This whilst being told “it never gets warm”. - saying don’t expect warmth from Microsoft.
Bedroom: Bill bends shoe, taking us back to the previous commercial, where we are told to Spend More, whilst talking about connecting to people.
Grandmother (who has been there for 7 years) and people think are in the way suprises us by fixing the car. - old product still works.
The bit which I’m still puzzling about, because it is unsettling is the “gum in my roll” where the mustard is introduced. - a quick take on this :nasty stuff is glossed over with premium product (which the rest of the family surreptitiously consumes).
In short, there’s more going on here.
Not to mention the XBOX game stuck in there…
As a guy with an advertising day job who occasionally reads some TechCrunch, you would all do well to read Tim and Raskin’s comments. You’re looking for literal, direct messages and these commercials are part of a large tapestry that you’ve only seen a few pieces of. You are supposed to be confused right now, because you haven’t figured it out. Over the coming months, we’re all going to get to know these characters and understand who they are and what they stand for.
Allegory in advertising. I’m hoping it gets as wacky as O Brother Where Art Thou or Barton Fink, but they’ll probably hit us over the head with it at some point.
Excellent analysis Tim. That’s what the author of this article should have seen when he looked at this ad, but instead he over analyzed it and totally missed the point of this ad, which is to get people talking about MS.
When I saw the first ad I was a bit skeptical, but then as I watched it a few more times you begin to see what the ad is doing. A lot of people were expecting a punch line to these ads, after receiving none they dubbed the ad a failure. So far the campaign is doing its job… can’t wait to see the rest of it.
Seinfeld is in these adds, and people are asking what the point is?! Did they miss the nine greatest years of television history that were all about nothing?
The ad is a talker. Don’t know if it accomplishes anything but capturing the target audien