Bill Gates is no George Costanza

The Bill Gates-Jerry Seinfeld ad series is back for its second installment and after watching the latest commercial, I'm not nearly as impressed as I was by the first.

My dislike for this commercial has nothing to do with the content. (I still think that mentioning Vista and talking about the product is a mistake at this juncture because Microsoft needs to paint itself as a more likable company.) Instead, I don't like this ad because it paints Gates as the geeky rich man that he is. And for an ad that's trying to change a company's image, that's unacceptable.

When I watch a commercial with Seinfeld in it, I fully expect George Costanza, the pudgy, bald sidekick from his show. Call me crazy, but if Seinfeld is in a commercial, don't we need someone to complement his comedic style?

A screenshot from the latest Microsoft ad starring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld.

(Credit: Microsoft, CNET)

After watching Gates for a while, it's utterly apparent that he doesn't provide anything of the sort. Instead, he shouts one-liners like it's his job (maybe it is?) and has no delivery, nor comedic sense to get him through the commercial.

And please, don't even get me started on the robot scene at the end.

I'm in full agreement that Microsoft needs to paint Gates as the "everyday man" and I even liked the idea of putting him in a home and making fun of the fact that he doesn't understand that man he's trying to live with. But the delivery was all wrong and Gates looked like an outclassed, high-school play actor next to Seinfeld and his signature wit.

The problem Microsoft has run into by using Seinfeld in commercials is everyone is looking for Gates to either be the straight man who is the butt of the jokes or the sidekick, like George Costanza. He's neither in this latest ad.

When I watched the latest commercial, I viewed it in horror. How is it possible that Microsoft can cart its co-founder to the set of this commercial and try to make him look like a buddy of Seinfeld? He isn't funny, he doesn't have the coordination to look physically comfortable in the commercial, and his "jokes" were quick one-liners that made it seem like he was reading from a script.

I applaud Microsoft for trying to make Gates more normal and portray him as "one of us," but the company shouldn't try to portray him as Seinfeld's clone.

The best example of just how poorly Gates performed in the latest commercial comes at the end when he and Seinfeld are rolling their luggage down the street. Look at how nonchalantly Seinfeld rolls it behind him and look at Bill's outstretched, tense arm rolling his luggage away. He's not relaxed, he's not comfortable, and most importantly, he's not in his element.

The key to Microsoft's ad campaign revolves around making the company and evidently its co-founder, more human and accessible. But maybe the plan to include Seinfeld in the commercials is starting to backfire. After all, if Gates can't look like Seinfeld's sidekick and he isn't trying to be the straight man that everyone makes fun of, he's Bill Gates.

And for Microsoft's purposes, Bill Gates being Bill Gates is the last thing the company needs right now.

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[Norseman]

You ain't seen nothin' yet! In the next installment, they're adding Melinda Gates as Elaine and J Allard as Kramer.

[dd13reis]

Haha. Now that's one I'm looking for. I can't wait to see that one happen.

-Don

[oarsman1]

...And Steve Ballmer as "...........Newman!"

[ofmyony]

Steve Ballmer not as Newman but George Steinbrenner now that is funny to me

[mlehiste]

I kind of liked this commercial (the long version on youtube) - nothing to do with Vista & doesn't make me go out and buy another Windows - but it's different.

Yeah - and Gates definitely does not look like a man who lugz his own luggage

[dd13reis]

I didn't think it wasn't entertaining or anything. Just thought it looked a little too scripted and a little too meh. I liked the last one though.

-Don

[cerebral_but_dull]

So they wait until Gates is retired from Microsoft, then he's supposed to become the friendly face of the company? I completely don't get this waste of time, money, and Seinfeld.

[dd13reis]

No I think it makes sense to do it, I just don't know if making Bill the comic makes sense. They need to paint a different picture for Microsoft and Seinfeld is a good way to do that. Don't you think?

-Don

[The_Decider]

Who cares?

Vista is a pig and no advertising will fix that.

[Perry_Clease]

Lipstick on that pig might help :)

[dd13reis]

I think the advertising will help. We obviously know that there are problems with Vista, but will the mainstream user figure that out before they buy it or base it off these commercials?

Time will tell.

-Don

[dude7895]

Let me guess, you've never used vista, right? You are only making that assumption based on the stupid mac vs. pc commercials.

[gabeheim]

This is in reply to Perry_Clease:

Don't you dare insult Sarah Palin like that!

(Sorry, had to do it)

[The_Decider]

Who cares?

Vista is a pig and no advertising will fix that.

[cbmassey1]

I happen to think that the ad's are genius. The point is that Bill is disconnected and they are working on changing that.
I have been reading CNET for years and never placed a response till today. Every one is attacking these ad's and saying that they are not getting the true message across. Microsoft doesn't want to come out and just do a media blitz on Vista. It's almost like they are warming the crowd up before the headliner comes on


Lay off a little bit...I think that you are missing the point.

[The_Decider]

Bill is disconnected?

He has always been.

He is also semi-retired from MS.

[joedid]

If there even is a point to these right now, isn't it to "warm up the crowd" with Seinfeldian humor? These ads are not funny, so they're *missing* the point.

[Norseman]

And the headliner in this case is........who/what?

[dd13reis]

I liked the first ad, but this one fell flat on its face for me. I'm hoping subsequent ads get better though.

-Don

[pj4614]

The point of commercials should be the product - except in cases like Vista where the product stinks. Spending a fortune to attempt to advertise Microsoft and its "retired" founder as human and accessible is a waste; they aren't... and neither is Vista. I've gone Mac and will not go back; surely many, many others will follow. This commercial is simply a waste of time and money better spent on product development.

[catch23]

But people like you that simply hate MS are a write off anyway.
Face it, regardless of what MS says, regardless of facts like
1- Vista has 2x the users the Mac does
2- unlike OSX it wasn't years before its creator thought it was good enough to ship as the default
3- You can run a business on Vista now. It was 2 paid upgradesand years of development to get there with OSX
(just to name a few) people like you will dislike it and make up stuff about Vista, even though you don't use it.

Your opinions are not important, because you start with the conclusion (MS sucks) and work whatever you can make up to point it out.

[dd13reis]

I don't think that's true in this case. The point of the commercials is to change the perception of Microsoft first and then worry about the product after that. I think it's doing that right now.

-Don

[stigmattaman]

Well, there are different types of commercials - products, and brand. This is definitely a brand one. If it's succesful, who knows, we all seem to be yammering about it.

[Norseman]

Oh, I get it. So Microsoft is spending $300M to make the 3 people in the world who have never heard of the Microsoft brand aware of it. As Elaine would say, "GET OUT!!!"

[bugm3n0t]

LOL Well Mr. writer nobody gives a hoot of your opinion, it clearly needs work.

1st Bill Gates has more many than you ever will. Who are you to criticize him? I mean really?

2nd I LOVE these commercials. They are great!!!

[dd13reis]

Yikes, thanks for that Mr. Commenter.

I don't think money should come into play at all. Yeah, he has more money than I ever will. That somehow means that I shouldn't have an opinion?

I don't understand your logic.

-Don

[gabeheim]

Trying to picture what more many would look like....

Just can't seem to put it into a picture in my mind...

[David Gerard]

Bill Gates' new role is clearly to be Colonel Sanders. (Harlan Sanders on 1970s KFC: "Son, I wouldn't eat that sh*t if you paid me.") Perhaps they should get W.C. Fields for the next one. http://tinyurl.com/5c3r6y

Or maybe they could try a different tack. "Vista's slow, fat, took two hours to copy a megabyte file and my network slowed when I played an MP3! What do you call that?"

"... The Aristocrats!"

[denzbhoi]

yes, Vista is slow if you are using a slow machine. However, I have to say that it does slows down the system when using applications that uses audio.

im using vista at work and at home. im doing fine with vista and i love it. i now hate to go back to XP i just love vista.

im getting a new machine with 4GB RAM and see if audio issue will be resolved.

RAM today is cheap so getting an 8GB doesn't is nothing compared to getting a single MAC machine. I dont hate MAC i even love them but it is too expensive for me and most of my business application doesn't run it anyway.

[Uilleam]

Really? Don, lighten up. The commercial, skit, or whatever you call it was amusing. No lies, no false promises, no attacks, just a little fun with some simple truth dropped in at the end. And, quite frankly, since I sell computers, I can tell you that the only people Microsoft needs to improve their image with, is the 'geek' crowd, and what's the market share on 'geeks' vs. everyone else? Lighten up.

[dd13reis]

Point taken. But don't you think it's a little more important than that considering Microsoft is a public company and it's relying on these ads to increase shareholder value?

I don't think they're as unimportant as you believe.

-Don

[gohenderson]

Bill Gates needs to reprogram his social thinking (during the commercial anyway). He should get drunk, that'll do it.

[dd13reis]

Ha! It works for me!

-Don

[gagahput3ra]

Oh man.....the ads is disgusting. The robot thing is insanely annoying. Come on, Microsoft. Hire Steve Jobs to replace Gates on that ads, and you got an ad.

[Fesdon]

"I don't like this ad because it paints Gates as the geeky rich man that he is. And for an ad that's trying to change a company's image, that's unacceptable."


Um gee, so you mean you don't like the ad because it doesn't lie to us... that's really a new and fresh perspective, Ron. You would rather be lied to... *scratches head*

[dd13reis]

That's a gross misrepresentation of what I said. I don't like the ad because it paints him as who he is and it's abundantly clear that MSFT wants us to forget who he is during the ads. It's not effective is all I'm saying.

-Don

[forrestcupp]

Why do they need to make Bill Gates look like "one of us"? He doesn't even work there anymore. To me, it would be more necessary to make Steve Ballmer look less like a buffoon.

[dd13reis]

Ballmer isn't the face of Microsoft. Bill is and he always will be. Microsoft knows that and wants to use that to help the company. And he's more than happy to oblige.

-Don

[gabeheim]

Actually, I could picture ballmer in a parody of "serenity now". This time, kramer/ballmer takes a chair to all the computers george bought...

[gadgetgerl]

Oh come on you guys! I love it! I makes me wistful to have our old "jerry" back. They were brilliant! I have a new found respect for Bill Gates. He is incredibly not funny, but apparently has the ability to allow us to laugh at him. I especially loved the Shoe Circus episode and the mustard...was pure Seinfeld.

Bill has found the medium to throw Apple's wildly successful ads back in their faces, despite the fact that I have in fact, dropped serious coin this year on apple product. I will forever be grateful to Bill gates for changing my world. Bravo to him for allowing us to laugh at, as well as with, him!

KO

[dd13reis]

I totally agree with the main point of your comment: he's OK letting us laugh at him. For years, Bill was upset when people laughed at him and took offense. It's nice to see him not take life so seriously anymore.

I'm happy about it.

-Don

[conobs]

almost a waste of money but if you just have to make a comericial this one isnt that bad
sometimes a comericals main value is to give the customer an excuse to do what they already want to do
the biggest problem they face isnt vista but the growing fad "its cool to hate MS"

not the way i would have approached it
when you have an american icon such as gates or jobs you dont have to buy a commerical for them to star in, wast of money
simply agree to show up, give the "only in america" speach hightlight the great things this company can do because its in america. Then move on to the next free commercial called news and entertainment
how many controlled fluff pieces would the media agree to in exchange for one in depth interview with the like of gates?

[oarsman1]

...and Steve Ballmer as ".......Newman!"

[bayreaman]

This writer has several preset notions about how things should be. Gates is clumsy and awkward and that is exactly how he is. No fakeness here. wysiwyg. Gates will always be the face of MS and i think pairing him up with Seinfeld was brilliant. The "get connected" theme of these ads is portrayed hilariously. They dont need to talk about Vista or Mac like those ever-insecure apple ads. How many news columns have you seen written about the Apple ads?.... Exactly. The point of any ad is to get people's attention and this ad has done exactly that. I can't wait to see their next installment.

[EricTetz]

Anything is better than their "Windows Mojave", which communicates the message that Windows customers are contemptible morons: "The only reason you don't like Vista is that you've *heard* it sucks -- it has nothing to do with bloat, driver issues, etc. -- you're just a bunch of ill-informed sheep."