Debate IT: Microsoft’s Seinfeld Vista ad

As Microsoft's second ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld debuts, will the campaign about nothing help sell Vista?
Word that Microsoft is reaching deep into its pockets to get Jerry Seinfeld to pair up with Bill Gates in a series of new commercials to sell the world on Windows Vista and counter Apple's ubiquitous Mac vs. PC ads is sure to generate lots of jokes, and we're not talking about the gags in the ads themselves. For starters, Jerry is double dipping in that he also pitches for tech company HP.

Word that Microsoft is reaching deep into its pockets to get Jerry Seinfeld to pair up with Bill Gates in a series of new commercials to sell the world on Windows Vista and counter Apple's ubiquitous Mac vs. PC ads is sure to generate lots of jokes, and we're not talking about the gags in the ads themselves. For starters, Jerry is double dipping in that he also pitches for tech company HP.

Apple’s “I’m a Mac, he’s a PC” commercials painted a picture of Windows-based PCs as outdated and out of touch. When Microsoft enlisted the help of Jerry Seinfeld - a comedian whose heyday came a decade ago – to tout Vista, it seemed as if the software giant was playing right into the hands of Apple’s sly marketers.

IT’s love/hate relationship with Vista has spawned more memorable Microsoft ads, this time around Seinfeld was hired for a reported US$10 million to appear in a series of quirky commercials alongside Bill Gates touting the slogan “The future, delicious’.

The first ad featured Seinfeld helping Gates purchase a pair of Conquistadors at the local Shoe Circus store. You can view it on YouTube here.

The second ad, recently released on Microsoft's home page, features Seinfeld and Gates' misguided attempts to live a normal life among a normal family, which ends with them both being booted out of the home.

The software giant’s bid to repair the market’s poor perception of the Vista operating system has seen some liken the campaign to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as Seinfeld’s hit show.

While many have labeled the Vista OS a dog, we all know the proverb that predicts it may still have it’s day, but is the Jerry Seinfeld ad campaign going to help Microsoft?

See our slideshow on the Techiest celebrity endorsements of all time, and tell us how the Seinfeld ad compares to tech plugs of the past.

Are the ads a waste of money, or will they help boost Vista adoption? Is Microsoft cut out for quirky, clever ads like Apple?

Tell us what you think...
Click here.

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Comments

1

Rohan

Fri 12/09/2008 - 15:40

I don't believe it!

I find the Mac vs. PC ads incredibly annoying, so I was quite surprised to find that Microsoft had actually managed to produce an even more irritating advertisement. Bravo! I can't imagine it will aid Vista adoption. On the other hand I think that describing Apple's ads as 'quirky' and 'clever' is a bit of a stretch. It all explains why I like this Bill Hicks routine so much: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo

2

Andrew Hendry

Fri 12/09/2008 - 15:40

No vista for you!

If these ads are supposed to in some way make me reconsider Vista then they have failed miserably. how have they informed or convinced me in anyway that Vista is worth adopting?? or are they supposed to be a generic microsoft ad? quirky and enjoyable to watch, but a dismal failure if the goal of marketing is to get people to buy your products...

3

Anonymous

Fri 12/09/2008 - 15:41

Gates, Seinfeld and Beverly Hills

The commercials are rather entertaining and next I would like to see Gates and Seinfeld take on the teen dramas of 90210! A little bottom wiggle down the corridor of West Beverly High would certainly turn some heads!!

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