Comments on: Reality Check: The Seinfeld ad was superb

Although most think the new Microsoft ad with Jerry Seinfeld failed on most counts, Don Reisinger thinks it was superb. Who's right?

[Timothy Bandy]

How about this add?

"From now on Microsoft will offer only two version of Windows: Desktop and Server.

Windows. We know some decisions in life are difficult (like finding the right shoe size) but we're here to make life easier."

There, something that would actually benefit the consumer and relates to the ad.

Wasn't that easy? And Microsoft could actually fix one of the stupid things about Vista and start creating a little goodwill in the process.

[Vegaman_Dan]

The problem is that nobody would watch, let alone remember the ad as you have laid it out. It certainly wouldn't generate this amount of discussion either.

[Vegaman_Dan]

From an advertiser's standpoint, having all this discussion about the ad is a success. You folks ARE talking about it, which brings Microsoft's name up time and time again. You're making other people curious about the ad and go out to see it. How often does an advertiser have people seeking them out to see their ads? This doesn't happen too often, so this may be a highly successful success.

The 1984 Apple ad wasn't about Apple either- and yet people remember that one too.

Let the entire ad series run and then make up your minds. Right now you don't have enough to go on.

Perhaps they were going intentionally for a *** sort of reaction because it gets you folks thinking instead of just ignoring it as just another ad for a dull and boring business company. It's a fresh wake up call.

[Penguinisto]

Point of Order: the Apple 1984 advert specifically had the 'hero' woman wearing an Apple Logo right there on her bouncing chest. There was a narration at the end of the ad that pretty much put Apple's name all over the ad, and pimped Apple's superiority over the perceived bland and boring PC world.

Trust me - it was all about Apple.

[brainstrained]

"it was meant to recreate Seinfeld and his "show about nothing" and bring Gates into that world. Sure, he may not have been Kramer, but Gates did an admirable job in a role that doesn't suit his personality all that well."

This is why the ad failed. It's not the Bill Gates we know, love or hate that appears. It's a pseudo one that attempts to be one of the likable quirks in the Seinfeld universe. Everyone knows that's not Bill Gates, so the humanity MS so desperately needs to convey to buyers fails to come through.

It's a commercial that shows a giant, insensitive, bumbling conglomerate failing again to understand consumers.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Do you know Mr. Gates personally? How often have you talked to him? Have you hung out at his house to know what he is like? Or are you just making assumptions based on public appearances? Realize that people can be completely different in and out of the camera. How many actors portray characters that are loved by the public but once the cameras and lights are off turn out to be obnoxious people in reality?

The point is that we only know what was presented before- we may not know what Mr. Gates is actually like at all.

[Flip_City]

Hmm. Does anyone remember the Burger King 'Where's Herb" ad campaign from way back whenever? This is the modern version of that ~ clever, expensive, but... SO wrong somehow. (Good luck, guys!)

[Rawnchie14]

People always talk about how broken Vista is.

You drones don't even know what a broken OS is like, you just like to sound smart by saying Vista is broken like everyone else who doesn't know how to have their own unswayed opinions about anything. Vista functions without issue for me, it is not broken, the only thing that's truly broken is Microsoft's image.

The iPhone underwent a Vista like launch too except, its definitely not stabilized like Vista has yet. But man, you see all the iPhone defense articles because of Apple's positive image in society. Lord Jobs can do no wrong, while STILL - Vista, and even the XBox360 are getting dragged through dirt by people who are holding a grudge against them.

Microsoft gets burned, even if they fix their problems, as they have been doing. While people allow companies like Apple, to take their sweet time and customers' money, without a second wind of argument from the public eye.

Hypocrisy is lovely isn't it.

[lsands01]

This is so true. Everyone talks about Vista like they know what they are talking about without even owning it or even trying it at all they just go along with the norm. Also the iPhone launch was a joke and everyone that "ahem" sucks up to Apple tried to say it was ok but it really wasn't. Now Apple is starting to control the iPhone not letting you have programs they want...hmmm...sounds like the new "old" microsoft to me.

[Vegaman_Dan]

People who use Vista on a daily basis don't have time to hang out and complain about it- they are too busy just using it for what it was meant for. It's like any product. There will always be those that hate it simply because it isn't the right color or have the right ancestry. It doesn't matter at all what the product itself has to offer.

[curtis38]

CP+B is a great, brilliant agency. I think that if anyone could change people's (gen-x/y) perceptions it would be them. The first ad was odd, but got people's attention. It's kind of like going "ahem" before you start speaking. We'll have to see where they go from here. It's clearly a larger (more drawn out) strategy.

[The_happy_switcher]

What I got from it was that Vista is a like wet pair of shoes.

[SheldonRampton]

The only thing I can deduce from this commentary is that someone at Microsoft must have bribed Don Reisinger into saying this ad was "superb." By his own admission, everyone else is saying the ad is a failure, so how can he pretend it was "superb"? An ad that everyone hates is a failure by definition.

As for his gratuitous swipes at Mac users, that just proves my point. Most people still use Windows. I happen to use a Mac, but that puts me in a minority. I think the market share for the Mac OS vs. Windows is still less than 10 percent. If everyone who is talking about this ad (other than Reisinger) thinks it was a dud, either Mac users are the only people who express their opinions, or 90% plus of those opinions are coming from Windows users.

The main thing, though, is that I don't particularly need an advertisement to "humanize" the company. I make my computer purchase decisions on the basis of whether the stuff works to suit my needs. If I were doing accounting, I'd buy a PC. I don't particularly care whether Bill Gates or Steve Jobs is a nice guy. (From what I hear, Jobs is a bit of a jerk, but so what?) The ad is completely pointless as a means of telling me whether to buy Microsoft products.

Of course, it's vaguely pleasant to see Seinfeld again, but his old TV show was a lot more entertaining than anything in this 90-second spot. If Microsoft just wants to buy my appreciation by entertaining me, they could get more bang for the buck by doing something other than a 90-second ad. How about sponsoring a reunion episode of the entire TV show? I'd even enjoy seeing Kramer back. He's done enough time in purgatory for his racist rant. I forgive him. Sponsoring a reunion episode wouldn't particularly motivate me to buy any Microsoft products either, but it would be more fun than this silly ad.

[dd13reis]

If you're going to comment, speak from a place of understanding. To say I was "bribed" is ridiculous. Show me some facts and I'll consider your opinions.

-Don

[Vegaman_Dan]

Making accusations of bribery is a bit low, especially without any evidence. It derails any credibility your post may have otherwise had.

[gplauche]

Gates wasn't the weakest part of the commercial for me. It was the storyline and Seinfeld's dialogue.

[sting7k]

Wow, finally some who understands the commercial and that it wasn't an ad for Windows at all. It was a commercial about nothing, and a funny one at that. Gates was almost to strange in it and at the end its the pay off of something very strange probably something people would not expect from Gates and MS. To shine them in a different light, not the big mean evil company everyone for some reason thinks they are.

[bigpicture]

Hey, it's the frog and scorpion story all over again. The moral being "don't give a scorpion a free ride across the river because it will fatally sting you". A scorpion is always scorpion, and will a leopard ever change its spots? Both do what they always do. Anti-trust case losses in US and EU, and now threatening anti-trust cases from Poland, China and maybe India. Then the threat of 6 countries to withdraw membership from ISO participation, because, you guessed it, MS interference with the process.

Why doesn't MS address some of these REAL WORLD issue in their advertising?

[Vegaman_Dan]

And that's when the Borg take over the ship.

[otte-o]

I think the ad worked perfectly. You may not think it did, but you are all here talking about it. An ad doesn't have to make since to be successful. I bet you all watch the next one that comes out too.

[knack4]

Don Reisinger, if you aren't a paid shill for Microsoft, you're something far worse: clueless.

Something you just don't seem to GET: No amount of ad campaign is going to fix the Vista debacle. No amount of TV advertising -- especially such dreck as this latest -- is going to convince a world full of increasingly savvy computer users (who increasingly, do not watch TV) that Microsoft is somehow cool and special.

Only, and I mean ONLY good products will EVER do that.

Vista probably can't be fixed, but if they even made a genuine effort, say something as meaningful to Vista's usability as Service Pack 2 was to XP's security... but no. Too many of Microsoft's predatory agendas are tied up in the "features" of Vista, and clearly, as evidenced by this insane ad campaign, they have yet to buy a clue despite all their billions.

Those billions won't last forever under such management. Which fact suggests there may be hope for consumers after all.

[dd13reis]

Yikes. Looks like someone didn't have their dose of Steve Jobs today. I'm a shill for Microsoft or worse! clueless? Please. You don't agree and you resort to childish insults. Try again when you have something constructive to say.

-Don

[Vegaman_Dan]

Perhaps MS isn't trying to 'fix Vista' as you put it. Perhaps they are moving on. Are you going to doom a company because Vista didn't live up to your expectactions? That is indeed your option- but please don't speak for others who use it every day without any trouble at all. Right now your comments are just loud and obnoxious and that doesn't help your point at all. Anything significant you had to say is lost in the noise of your rant.

There is someone clueless here, but it isn't Don.

[GadgetDon]

It's the first ad in a series. This ad was pleasant enough that I'll watch the rest of the ads, and it's quite possible this should turn into a great series. But at the moment, all this ad is, is an ad for the rest of the ads.

Compare that to the ad series by Apple in recent time. Yes, they built on each other, but each one, even the first, made the point of the series. The first "here's to the crazy ones" ad, did the job, and was sufficient in itself. The first "I'm a Mac...and I'm a PC" ad drove home distinctions between the two. The first ad done by Jeff Goldblum, there is no step 3, made the point. You do have to go back to 1984 for an ad that was all teaser and no ad...and as enjoyable as it was seeing Jerry and Billy interacting (and it was enjoyable), this was no 1984.

Do teaser ads pay off when everyone knows the product and knows the company? Yes, this ad will introduce us to the next ad that suggests that Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates have an everyman kind of friendship, down to earth, non-techy. But my guess is that once they get to the meat of the series...those who never saw the teaser will be about the same as those who did. And if that's so...then yeah, this was a wasted ad. Which makes it a bad ad. Not the worst ad ever, those are the ads that turn people off instead of attracting them. But an ad that might as well not have been made.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Good point. It is the first ad in a series. And how many people both pro and con MSFT will be eagerly waiting for the second one? Now that's advertising that is effective. Kudos on that to the ad agency.

[brainstrained]

There's a lot of Apple bashing here, which is fine, but it's misdirected.

MS's problem isn't Apple or its fanboys taking shots at it. That's a pretty small, though loud, part of the market.

The problem is Windows users taking shots at MS, and the solution has to include rebuilding the relationship between the company and its customers.

[kyleco]

I just caught the add today. All I can say is WOW. I was embarrassed for Microsoft. It was like watching one of those odd moments when something is supposed to be funny but it's not. And this on the heels of the Mojave Experiment (oh it's really Pizza Hut pasta or that burger is really from Carls Jr's or it's really Vista).

I hope MSFT can turn their image around or they will have bigger problems down the road. Unfortunately if this is any sign of things to come I don't see much in the way of change.

Maybe in the next commercial Jerry will 'squirt' Bill some 80's power ballads from his brown Zune.

[Lerianis]

Hey, most of the "MIcrosoft Image Problem!s" are coming from perpetual whiners who, if Microsoft were to find the cure for cancer or the gene for immortality, would STILL be complaining because it was Microsoft who found it.
Vista is a very good operating system, once you discount the driver problems which should have been blamed on the manufacturers of those devices that were not compatible with Vista for not getting off their butts and making a driver for it. The only other issue I have heard were "Some applications don't work with Vista!" but most of those applications they were whining about, when I checked them, they actually did work with Vista with a small update or non-paid upgrade.

[ToeKneeF]

I am certainly not a Microsoft apologist, as Mr. Reisinger appears to be, but I am willing to see where this campaign goes. I am even willing to concede that this first ad had a few funny bits that may have been too subtle for most viewers. When the Spanish speaking family looks into the shoe store, the wife asks isn't that the Conqueror (is she referring to the shoe model or Bill Gates?) the husband replies, "they're a bit tight." (again, is he referring to the shoe model or Bill Gates?). Humorous? Yes! Self-deprecating? Yes! Effective? Let's wait and see.

However, I feel that the critics make several valid points that Mr. R ignores. In a head-to-head comparison of the effectiveness of their ads, at this point, Apple is head and shoulders above Microsoft. Microsoft's ad campaign better not be like their product releases, release a product that isn't ready for prime time, then fix it as the reviews come in. That will be a sure recipe for disaster.

[gminetos]

An Ad about Nothing

Great, an ad about "nothing" just like Seinfeld's series. And without a laugh track you're forced to witness just how un-funny Seinfeld is, especially in this, and presumably future ads. Doesn't help M$ a bit and I'll give a week before the Apple ads make fun of this too. This is so sad and pathetic. And WTH is Gates doing in it anyway ?! He's retired and gone! It's Balmer's puppy now.

[bsharkey]

Seinfeld didn't have a laugh track... it was filmed in front of a live audience. hope that helps

[digiguy23]

How many people will will analyze the commercial like the author of this article. lol. This commercial makes me want to buy nothing.

[lolillo0110]

I read this article and went to YouTube to see the ad. After doing so, I realized that the only reason I kind of got the ad was because I had read the article. Shouldn't an ad speak for itself in terms of purpose? I believe it should. I used to be a Windows user for everything, tried Linux, but spending an entire week configuring the system just to make the hardware work was not for me, then I started visiting Apple's website and found the ads, they were very appealing and somewhat funny. I read some reviews and switched to a Mac. I still see Apple's ads just for fun! And would not move back to MS Windows at home for any reason. I still have to live with MS at work, and clean out viruses, malware, deal with supergeek guys who just hate MS and develop viruses specifically aimed at their products, system crashes, etc.

Back to the ad, I don't believe MS has to show the human side of Bill Gates, everyone knows about his foundation and how he supports the needed, or how he has technology oriented programs for countries in development (there may be a catch there, but still make him look good).

MS has to be able to design products that do not let down its customers when they need them the most, like when you're writing a term paper, Word crashes an you forgot to hit Ctrl+S every five minutes.
Once they do, they can come up with an ad showing Jerry Seinfield doing something meaningful related to the MS product. In the meantime, I'll keep saving money for when I have to replace my macbook... it'll be a while before that happens!

[bsharkey]

"MS has to be able to design products that do not let down its customers when they need them the most, like when you're writing a term paper, Word crashes an you forgot to hit Ctrl+S every five minutes."

that's funny it never does that for me... ironically, one of Apple's big selling points for their Macbook is that it runs MS Office. watch the latest AAPL ad.