So Much Hate For Microsoft's Seinfeld/Gates Buddy Ad
from the what's-wrong-with-it? dept
I wasn't going to comment on Microsoft's new ad campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates buddying around, but the response among the press and bloggers is almost universally negative -- often in extreme ways, and I don't get why there's such a virulent negative reaction. Just a few examples:- Tip for MS: Fire the Advertising Agency
- MSFT Ad is to PC/Mac Campaign as Zune is to iPod
- Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld ad airs - Apple has nothing to worry about
- Internet disses new Microsoft commercial
- New Microsoft Seinfeld-Gates ad campaign starts with a dud
- What's the deal with this commercial? No, seriously.
- Microsoft Commercial Is Anything But Funny
- Microsoft Seinfeld Ad Not Exactly a Hit
- Bill Gates + Jerry Seinfeld = What?!!???
- Seinfeld-Gates TV commercial -- vague, baffling and unfunny
- Seinfeld Vista ad is out, and it's bizarre
- First Microsoft/Seinfeld Ad Bombs
- Seinfeld & Gates: Was this ad supposed to be funny?
- First Gates-Seinfeld ad leaves us scratching our heads
Also, I'm a bit surprised that none of the commentators seem to be comparing this to the very similar efforts that American Express did four years ago also with Jerry Seinfeld. They created a series of "shorts" somewhat similar to the Seinfeld/Gates episode, and people enjoyed them. Is it just because it involves Microsoft that people react so negatively? Already Microsoft has been able to draw people into the storyline (even if negatively), and it can now use future episodes to continue to entertain and educate. That seems like a good thing, not something to be so widely trashed.
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Filed Under: advertisement, bill gates, content, jerry seinfeld
Companies: microsoft
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better than Apple's poo-flinging ads.
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Re: better than Apple's poo-flinging ads.
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Finally....
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The point
Also, does anyone think the Mac ads are funny? Annoying? Yes.
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Well....
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Re: Well....
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Hmm.
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WHY Seinfeld
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Re: WHY Seinfeld
And why the hell does it have to be a comparison to the Mac ad?
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Re: WHY Seinfeld
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I guess this must be marketed toward the elderly.
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Re:
Like others have said...this ad has done exactly what it wanted - get people talking.
And as for Justin Long - he might be the biggest d-bag in Hollywood. His commercials suck worse than his acting, which is saying somethin.
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Re:
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Re: Seinfeld hasn't gone off the air.
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Re:
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It's not supposed to be funny
That's exactly why Seinfeld became such a hit. The show initially tanked. No one watched it. However those fans that did talked about "what was that about last night on Seinfeld?" at work the next day.
People who were not used to the show initially thought, "What's the big deal about Seinfeld, the show makes no sense? There's no plot, there's no action, there's no character development, it's just a bunch nothing, and then it ends."
But after you watch it a while, you get hooked into it because it is about nothing. You don't care if Elaine and Jerry get together. You don't care if George finds true love or finds a real job. It's not that type of show. It was a show about nothing. But it made millions of people tune in every Thursday to see more of nothing.
Now, back to the ad. Think about it, this ad received more free exposure than a normal ad ever could. For that I consider it a complete success.
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Re: It's not supposed to be funny
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Re: It's not supposed to be funny
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keeps your attention
It's holds the attention for a full minute and a half. Three times longer than a regular commercial. It also has this subconscious effect where I really want to know what this is about. Even though it makes little sense, I feel like it should.
A $300 million campaign means a lot of advertising to come...
That's more than the latest batman movie cost...
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Re: keeps your attention
That's more than the latest batman movie cost..."
Wow. What a sad statement. One is a work of art, albeit a commercial one. The other is just a commercial.
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Re: Re: keeps your attention
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What the math? Apparently Seinfeld went off the air in 1998.
Here's a thought, maybe they're targetting a different demographic than 20-30 year olds. Here's another thought: maybe people know who Seinfield is even if they didn't watch Seinfeld. I never watched Friends but I sure know the name of the characters in such a popular sitcom.
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Re:
The commercial doesn't need to make sense...
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First Rule in Adv
That leaves me with two thoughts. First, maybe this is not an ad at all, but some cheesy concocted idea of some marketing teams just to get the public/blogosphere taking about Microsoft (all publicity, good or bad, is good) OR the marketing agency is completely out of their minds.
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Classic Seinfeld
Microsoft is in a heap of trouble in my opinion.
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Re: Classic Seinfeld
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Re: Classic Seinfeld
Why does Microsoft have to be in a heap of trouble to do advertising? They do advertising every so often and yes Vista hasn't been a success and I'd assume they want to work on public image. But to think they're in a "heap" of trouble is ridiculous.
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Now all they need is larry david
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Good Ad vs. Bad Ad
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I absolutley Got It
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Re: I absolutley Got It
Yep. That is true.
There is nothing that Microsoft can do that will regain my trust.
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Re: Re: I absolutley Got It
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Re: Re: I absolutley Got It
BTW, they run the company as a stalinist dictatorship: secrecy and top down orders. Techies with a brain should hate that.
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Re: Re: Re: I absolutley Got It
Seems all the Apple fanboys can't see the light. Apple does horrible things much like any big corp does, yet the fan boys let it go and eat it up and come back for more.
ex. Sony used to require proprietary software to run their PMP's, gee...what's iTunes? yet no one complains?
ex. Apples and their warranty on ipods/touches/etc... send it away and get a refurb?? how many were returned? any other product, the customer would flip out at that type of product warranty. But Apple does it, mmmm yum! give me some more!
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I saw it...
a Microsoft product. It was a little funny, if not campy. The Conquistador reference only made me think of Konqueror. All in all, it wasn't a bad commercial. It was just very, very vague. Clown Shoes Discount? What the?
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This is not trying to sell something yet
They've already got the buzz with this initial ad. Probably the most buzz Microsoft has had in years. Now, the follow-up ads are important to wipe out the negative feeling right now.
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mmmmm
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Walk the Talk
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It's cool...
But I like this ad, Seinfeld has a natural delivery that amuses me. Also, I've never seen Bill Gates look so human.
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The Point
Microsoft took themselves way to seriously in their advertising in the past, this is a total 180 on their part, and that is a very good thing. Spending their ad money on this is far more meaningful than "the wow starts now" crap they did in the past. People buy apple and google wholesale. To compete people have to want Microsoft before they can change their downward slide.
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Re: The Point
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Who Cares...MS ruined themselves
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Hilarious!
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There are buzzes, and then there are buzzes.
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This commercial goes from slow to bizzare to vapid in a minute and a half. Shoe shopping? Moist? Delicious? Middle Age Fanny Waggling? Spanish speakers peering through the storefront window? WTF? For the human brain, which craves patterns and themes and wants desperately to grasp onto something of substance, this commercial doesn't even leave us with questions. It is random in the most absurd and unfunny way possible, and leaves us wondering whether we just emerged from a dream in existential crisis brought on by too much pizza before bedtime.
Maybe Microsoft's advertising jockeys have a plan to build a framework of... something... around this weirdness in future commercials. I hope they do. If they release anything short of genius after this the public is going to just ignore them and the geeks will skewer them.
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Seinfeld - Microsoft Ad
It will come... Everyone likes kids.
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Explanation Please
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Re: Explanation Please
If you don't like Microsoft, don't use Microsoft products. I liked reading that 20 year olds wouldn't know who Seinfeld was ... Would that also mean they wouldn't remember what a charmer Windows Millennium was to use? (ROFL!) ... I used to have a subscription to PCWorld magazine, which I cancelled for much the same reason I have cancelled my membership with most of the IT sites I was affiliated with ... Non-constructive hype and criticism. They ignore, or forget 'why?' Windows works.
It doesn't require a 'genius' to operate it and that's what I take away from the Gates/Seinfeld ad ... It's a comfortable fit, though sometimes it might take a little work to get it to thet 'just right' state of comfort.
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I'm Sorry, but this is Crap
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Re: I'm Sorry, but this is Crap
Now, I despise Seinfeld, and Bill Gates is a marketing genius, not a technical wizard. It's been marketing the lifting M$ up so high, and the same thing that has brought it crashing down. Whups. Looks like he can make mistakes! Gates is not a Vaudville villain. He's a man who made mistakes. Big whup.
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That's a thousand times funnier than the ad.
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Because he would make it funny.
Unfortunately, no Don. So it sucks.
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I feel the same way
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Sucks In Its Own Void
I don't think the actual campaign can be judged until it actually plays out. Who knows, there may be something brilliant hidden inside this campaign and the first ad – the one we're talking about now – could end up being absolutely brilliant in retrospect. It's just too early to tell right now, and it isn't fair to judge it standalone, assuming it's part of a greater picture and larger story.
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Bill Gates = McCain ; Steve Jobs = Barack Obama
I really wonder why Microsoft still thinks with its undies on, I mean seriously -- do we need an ad to tell grown ups and smart people how to choose a PC Vs Mac? Seriously, what are we?
This is not Politics. Its brains. And people, especially who are going to use a computer at home & work , have a lot of it.
Wait for a decade, MSFT is gonna sink like Titanic.
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Re: Bill Gates = McCain ; Steve Jobs = Barack Obama
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Re: Re: Bill Gates = McCain ; Steve Jobs = Barack Obama
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Re: Bill Gates = McCain ; Steve Jobs = Barack Obama
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Good advertising
Of course people will talk about any turd/diamond to come out of Microsoft, people talked a lot about Vista and it's still a turd (so I've heard - I use a Mac, just like Microsoft's advertising agency)
I don't think the ad is awful, I just think it's a bit like any other celebrity endorsed ad. The sheeple will love it.
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Re: Good advertising
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I liked it
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Cluelessness abounds
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An Ad About Nothing
If the whole intent is getting attention and getting us talking, it has succeeded and I guess Microsoft must subscribe to the theory that any attention is good attention. I'm not so sure. Can all this negativity be forgotten as new spots are aired or has this set the tenor that Microsoft will find itself fighting through? By the time Microsoft gets around to telling me why I should install Vista on top of my already just good enough WinXP, am I really going to care what Jerry and Bill are telling me? I'm thinking not. But Microsoft, surprise me. That's the one thing you've failed to do in the last 20 years.
Microsoft cannot avoid being compared to Apple - that is how Microsoft and Apple have framed the conversation for years. And look at the reality. Apple has an application store for the iPhone, Microsoft is now building an application store for its phones. Apple has a media device, Microsoft had to make one. Apple has a song and video store, Microsoft has one. Apple has created brand recognition through the use of human story tellers now Microsoft looks to be going the same route. And now we learn that Microsoft is even putting WinGurus in stores. How Apple! That all being true, is this spot really how Microsoft should have started?
I don't think so.
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Re: An Ad About Nothing
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Actually, Seinfeld *is* the problem
The problem is SEINFELD! He's lost it. Bee Movie was pretty bad, but the promos for Bee Movie were even worse! The special promos on NBC were absolutely pathetic.
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Kinda like it
Still, I think this ad suffers only in the comparison to expectations in the tech blogosphere and in places like ZDNet or CNET who seem to have been looking for a mea culpa for Vista.
(Not that one isn't needed, mind.)
It's a good ad. It holds your attention. it takes it away from both Sienfeld and Gates and onto the situation. It's light and breezy; if not funny it is amusing.
It's gonna be interesting to see where this all goes.
Far more interesting than politics! :-)
ttfn
John
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have some guts and say what you mean...
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Not your demographic
I'm currently 22 - and Seinfeld is one of my favorite shows of all time (only behind Arrested Development and The Office). Ever think what these three shows have in common? Extremely absurd humor. Who do they generally appeal to? Not old people. I think all these critics really showed their age with this raining down of criticism. They showed that they aren't in touch with what's new and going on in the world, and this advertising company showed just how intelligent they are. It's a funny ad - it keeps you interested - and in the end you think "Wow....Bill Gates isn't some ancient weirdo locked in the basement still working on DOS." Instead I'm left thinking - Bill Gates is a pretty quirky funny guy....and I think I like that. It makes you feel better about Microsoft - and thus their products. It's not trying to be hip. It's not faux hip. You don't even know what hip is. This ad is quirky, intelligent, and funny. That's what they were going for. It's all win.
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you all are so DUMB
As people have stated, it holds attention and piques curiosity, and thats ALL it needs to do. It DOES NOT NEED TO SELL YOU ANYTHING. There are ads that SELL you products or good deals (JC Penny 1 day sale! or Kennys Used Cars!) and there are ads purely to build the BRAND.
Which is more valuable to Microsoft??? I'll help you dumb fucks out. The latter.
The fact that everyones bitching about it just shows that they are bitchy nerds that have nothing better to do AND that it obviously worked very very well.
If this ad sticks in your head, it achieves its purpose. Honestly... sometimes I wish this dumb diggers would think before running with their first instinct (BASH MICROSOFT!!)
Peace.
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Re: you all are so DUMB
However, the person at Fry's looked at me weird when I asked for the Microsoft Calming Teas.
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Re: Re: you all are so DUMB
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Re: you all are so DUMB
Thank you for the outstanding summary.
It is a shame that myself and other here have insulted your vast intelligence, please have pity and refrain from smiting us with your far superior intellect.
Oh, and one more thing. What is the secret to Marketing ?
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Very medium!
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Very medium!
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> their market share from all sides. They seem to
> be sitting around and not quite sure what to do with
> themselves.
Microsoft and Apple are old and boring. No one I know cares about Microsoft or Apple. Yeah we're 19 and 20 year olds, but I gotta say this commercial and the idea of using a Zune or Vista is totally uncool. It's like, pfff, who cares what these old white guys do.
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Re:
I wonder when Microsoft will open up a chain of Comedy Clubs. Apparently they don't write code anymore.
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Dumb ad
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.
Dumb.
Dumb.
No more. Please.
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Excellent Ad
I'm 16, and I love Seinfeld. I didn't see the show when it first aired, but I've watched the reruns on cable. I watch it every night. Probably seen each episode at least 5 times.
The ad to me is clear what it is meant to be. As others have said "It's an ad about nothing." It's one of a series of ads. The later ads will be in the same vain - another ad about nothing.
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A.
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Gates Seinfeld Ad
As far as the ad goes, the only winner is Seinfeld. He's laughing all the way to the bank as the ad makes a jackass out you Bill Gates.
Best Regards,
Bill Bates
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No, that was funny
Gold!
Conclusion: Funny ad.
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Vista ad
No wonder all the hi-tech jobs are going overseas. There's no one here who can think.
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Microsoft's Latest Ad...
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This seems backwards, has Microsoft Rickrolled the Net?
The sheer volume of negative reports from BIG Media Outlets does seem backwards. Usually it's the small blogs that are critical of things, and then it flows UP to the bigger outlets. This is real BACKWARDS.
It seems fishy, and I wonder if Microsoft even gave advance copies of the ad to the reporters so they could have a negative commentary posted within HOURS of go-live of the ad.
SHAME ON YOU MICROSOFT!
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The second time I saw it I just felt embarrassed that Seinfeld (who I like) and Bill Gates (who ought to have better things to do) should be part of this turkey.
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Eh,
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They made a misstake
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sociologist's dream
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Left me confused...
So with that, the Microsoft commercial left me confused. I haven't studied Marketing, but my basic understand is that a) want people to know you have a product and b) make the customer believe they want it. The presence of Bill Gates and the Microsoft blurb at then end clearly announced the company. However, the best I could figure out is that they were suggesting something big in the future. And while they seem to be linking choosing a computer with buying shoes, most average computer users aren't going to buy this.
I can only guess this is a lead up to other commercials that would clarify the message.
I think this is where Apple's commercials are so much better. They push the message clearly that you can save your pictures, make movies, do homework easily on a Mac.
I do have to say the platinum card was a genius move for anyone who got the joke.
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Seems familiar...
Microsoft just succeeded in further cementing what I was already suspecting, that all the people who had a clue at Microsoft have gone elsewhere.
At least Apple's ads have a point. Apple does X or Y feature better than Vista. They have humor and are cool, but without missing the point that computers are tools that get a job done.
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Despise Seinfeld.
...In the commercial, it takes WAY to long to get to the point, that it was for Microsoft and not for shoes.
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Microsoft (s)ad
This didn't make me want to buy Vista, or even find out more about Microsoft, it just made me want to turn off my TV and never turn it on again.
I must say Microsoft could save the money wasted on these ads and use it to fix things in Windows, if they can find anybody that still has a copy of the commented source code.
Microsoft - too inept to know its inept.
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Jerry/Bill Ad
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umm what?
I thought this ad actually captured the essence of Windows perfectly... lets put some gloss on and make a terrible version of something that actually does what people want/like.
Pathetic.
I was actually embarrassed for the two multi-billionaires if that is possible
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Seinfeld gets the boot
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The negative reaction is part of the plan
First you affirm people in their believes, while getting an amazing amount of attention. And then you open up the second part of the campaign (this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZdkHylJ3w ) showing people that in fact Microsoft is not Jerry Springer and Bill Gates trying to "get in touch with ordinary people" - in fact PCs are used by all kinds of smart, trendy and young people and thus are very much in touch with everything.
It will be interesting to see what happens on this.
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MS ad makes perfect sense
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