Gates and Seinfeld, chapter two

Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:40AM EDT

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The Windows Vista-Bill Gates-Jerry Seinfeld saga continues with a 4 1/2-minute video that explains a tiny bit more about what the nascent Microsoft ad campaign is trying to achieve: Bill and Jerry (standing in as anthropomorphized versions of Microsoft... I guess Gates is Gates and Seinfeld is Ballmer) are trying to get in touch with "real people."

In the spot (which I presume is being shown in an abbreviated form on TV; I haven't seen it), Bill and Jerry are living with a prototypically "average" family, complete with disturbed dinners, a rumpus room with wood paneling, and an above-ground pool. (Strangly, Gates kind of looks at home in this environment.) Naturally this leads to all manner of humorous mini-confrontations.

It's a more obviously "funny" ad than the last outing, but again it's not really about computing at all. If anything, it comes across as an extended apology from Microsoft for being out of touch with consumers, and by extension reality. If they can just get synced up with middle America, then maybe they can deliver what users really want.

Will the $300 million being spent on this ad campaign atone for mistakes made in the seven years it took to cobble Vista together? Well, as usual, you'll have to be the judge. Check out the full spot on YouTube.

 

Comments on Gates and Seinfeld, chapter two

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  • 1 Posted by somebodys_here on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    Alright... that was funny. For some reason Seinfeld and Gates work well together.

  • 2 Posted by wolverinemarky on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    lol that was definitely better then the first commercial, and if its getting people to talk about microsoft there doing a good job with these commercials.

  • 3 Posted by raidergreg3079 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    It was better then the first. Still got a lot of work to do though. I guess they are just setting everyone up. Apple ads are still better but those ads are getting old and are pretty much the same thing every ad.

  • 4 Posted by alan_r_cam on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    So, they STILL haven't found anything good to say about Vista. And they're stiffing the local delivery guy.

  • 5 Posted by psunjka on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:20PM EDT Report Abuse

    Not bad. Not bad at all. Doing these ads in a nerdy way is just what MS needs to get back to self-promoting "we-are-cool" Mac users.

  • 6 Posted by cartier.chase on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    Does anyone notice that this is sort of like the Wii ads where the people ride up in their smart fortwo and ring the door bell? Hmm.....

  • 7 Posted by dcsoccer25 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think that they're accomplishing exactly what they wanted to. Here you are, Chris, making blog entries about them, and the rest of us are here discussing them. I think that's precisely what they were trying to accomplish.

  • 8 Posted by linuxdad on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:53PM EDT Report Abuse

    No matter how you advertise Vista its still Vista. Not worth the money or the time. They need to say oops sorry for that and move on. MS needs to say "Hey we are the Gaming OS" and be done with it. Linux is for everything other than gaming, even though they are working on a gaming version as we speak. What will MS do then. They are attempting to shovel their way back through a mountain of jello with a vista pitchfork. It just will not work!

  • 9 Posted by t_heintjes on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:26PM EDT Report Abuse

    Now, if only Vandelay Industries would hire Jerry to promote their latex products...THAT partnership would rock! "And you want to buy MY latex products."

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