Jesus, that was the weirdest commercial I have ever seen in my life.

I mean, it was a commercial, right? It wasn't some kind of actual show, was it?

Damn, Seinfeld should hang it up.

A geeky billionaire who can't buy his own pair of shoes and a geeky comedian with a shoe fetish.

Perfect match.

And that is going to convince people to use Vista?

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I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making
him carry me, and yet assure myself and others
that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his
lot by all possible means — except by getting off
his back. - Leo Tolstoy, novelist and Philosopher
(1828-1910)

Yea I saw it too... what a pointless ad.
I'm a Seinfeld fan, but he did nothing funny in it.
Bee Movie, not bad. Microsoft, just plain bad.

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Sometimes I wonder, "What would Hodor say in this situation?" - Jim Gaffigan

I'm speechless. Duh!
You can see it here [www.crunchgear.com]

Here it is for those that haven't seen it. Not funny at all from my perspective.

[www.youtube.com]

Said with your best Seinfeld voice.

"What's with this, 'Blue Screen of Death?!?!?!' "

"How many times do you have to re-start?!?!?!?"

---

I'm not a bad guy! I work hard, and I love my kids. So why should I spend half my Sunday hearing about how I'm going to Hell? -Homer.

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Huh? You're kidding, right. That's supposed to be a Vista ad? Man, I am really out of sync... The Vista ad?

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That old man - he don't think like no old man...
Now I wouldn't want to be within 400 - 500 yards of one of them nuclear bombs when it goes off! WW1 Vet Old Man
"He's pinned under an outcropping of rock. Lucky for him, the rock kept the dirt from burying him alive."
If idiots could fly, this place would be an airport. And I'd be a TSA agent.
A bonified member of The Mystic Knights of The Sea, George P. Stevens, President. Andy Brown, Treasurer, Algonquin J. Calhoun, Legal Consultant.

one word sums it up...
LAME

I wasn't expecting it to close with a Windows logo, The ad seemed to mock M$,
perhaps this would be more appropriate...

Can I sue M$ to get those 30 seconds of my life back?

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

Quote
pRICE cUBE
Can I sue M$ to get those 30 seconds of my life back?

You can apply for damages online, but you have to use Explored to submit the form.

: - /

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Of course PC fanboys are saying we're not giving it a chance.

This is one of many commercial interconnected so it's not fair to judge whether the campaign is a failure over this one spot.

Whatever.

I say...as far behind as Microsoft is with public perception of Vista being a failure; they needed to come out of the gate with immediate impact.

I don't think you get that out of Bill struggling to buy shoes at a place called Shoe Circus.

---

I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making
him carry me, and yet assure myself and others
that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his
lot by all possible means — except by getting off
his back. - Leo Tolstoy, novelist and Philosopher
(1828-1910)

OOOOOOOH! I get it! This is to make the Mojave Project commercial look better. Good job Seinfeld!

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

Does anybody else remember the 20th anniversary Mac on Jerry's desk ?

wow, that was bad.

Funniest lines? The family at the window:

"Is that the Conquistador?"
"They run a little tight".

It's gold, Jerry! It's GOLD!

Also, you have to look at it from the "Pepsi vs Coke" perspective; Microsoft is the market share leader in the OS market. They don't have to address the Mac OS at all. They already have the market share. Apple addresses the Windows/PC thing because that's the market it's trying to get the attention of.

And there you go, how about a Pepsi Challenge kind of thing; two monitors side-by-side, and then you get the people to play around on each, and ask them which OS they prefer. Kidding.

Or get Olivia Munn to lick a Mac OS computer and a Windows PC computer, and tell us which one tastes better. Not kidding.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2008 09:43PM by Zoidberg.

An this nonsense is supposed to sell Vista? The commercial doesn't make sense. Pointless....What has happened at MSFT? are people at the top too old? where are their heads? DON"T ANSWER THAT! this is a clean Forum.;)

It's "The commercial about nothing".

I just saw it, and thought I had to miss something. Seems everybody did, expect the hipster dufuses M$ hired to create these spots

That made me want to ditch my Mac & buy anything that'll run Windows! Truly inspired advertising.

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I though it was pretty... pretty... pretty

















lame.

But I hate most ads.
I even hated the first few Mac vs PC ads at first, but the John Hodgeman fellow grew on me.

I'm not sure why MS needs to always attempt to appear to be "hip" and "cool."
They make a mint forcing their OS and Office Suite down everybody's throats, but they seem unhappy with that, acting like the high school student who gets good grades but wants desperately to play football, even though he is 5'3" and cannot pass, kick, run or punt.

Not saying they should rest on their laurels, just they should know their strengths and embrace their advantages. If they had concentrated on improving their software instead of chasing Apple in music and Google in search, they'd likely not have these problems.

Vista, makes your 'puter moist and chewey!

---

In tha 360. MRF User Map

The truly amazing thing is that there are people out there who were paid actual money to come up with that pathetic utterly infantile dreck. What makes it even funnier is that Bill Gates doesn't even work at Micro$oft anymore. Micro$oft should have died years ago.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

Did Gates drop a load in his pants towards the end?

He's kind of twitchy in the shorts...

Quote
MacMagus
Did Gates drop a load in his pants towards the end?

He's kind of twitchy in the shorts...

Listen to the dialogue.

BGnR

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"Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!"
"If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster."
"Near the day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky."
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

Quote
MacMagus
Did Gates drop a load in his pants towards the end?

He's kind of twitchy in the shorts...

It was Ballmer dropping out if his arse.

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

Quote
Zoidberg
Funniest lines? The family at the window:

"Is that the Conquistador?"
"They run a little tight".

It's gold, Jerry! It's GOLD!

Also, you have to look at it from the "Pepsi vs Coke" perspective; Microsoft is the market share leader in the OS market. They don't have to address the Mac OS at all. They already have the market share. Apple addresses the Windows/PC thing because that's the market it's trying to get the attention of.

And there you go, how about a Pepsi Challenge kind of thing; two monitors side-by-side, and then you get the people to play around on each, and ask them which OS they prefer. Kidding.

Or get Olivia Munn to lick a Mac OS computer and a Windows PC computer, and tell us which one tastes better. Not kidding.

Zoidberg is the closest to getting this commercial, which could very well be the leading edge of a pretty damn good campaign.

It sounds like the geeks are once again completely buffaloed by an ad that isn't aimed in any way, shape or form at them. This is image advertising aimed right between the eyes of Joe and Jill Sixpack.

Right now, Microsoft is "that company that everybody hates" and "the company that makes "the Microsoft" that I use on my computer".

The *sole* purpose of this ad is not to be hip or cool, and certainly not to promote Vista. It's to get a larger segment of the average consumers to get a smile on their face when they hear the word "Microsoft" instead of the blank stare or even frown that's most likely now. They just want that purely associative reaction. Microsoft -> Weird Seinfeld commercial -> Smile. And no, that's not the same as people laughing at Microsoft as being a joke; it's about a positive association versus a negative association.

That's why they got the guy who everybody knows, not the guy that's the latest and greatest for this five minutes with the hipsters. It's a little talk heavy, but I bet it gets them where they want to go in the end. Microsoft -> Goofy smile. If they mange to tighten the rest of the spots up they could have a very successful shot at beginning to revamp their image into something better than the software behemoth that "everybody" hates.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2008 04:09AM by Blankity Blank.

Quote
Blankity Blank

Quote
Zoidberg
Funniest lines? The family at the window:

"Is that the Conquistador?"
"They run a little tight".

It's gold, Jerry! It's GOLD!

Also, you have to look at it from the "Pepsi vs Coke" perspective; Microsoft is the market share leader in the OS market. They don't have to address the Mac OS at all. They already have the market share. Apple addresses the Windows/PC thing because that's the market it's trying to get the attention of.

And there you go, how about a Pepsi Challenge kind of thing; two monitors side-by-side, and then you get the people to play around on each, and ask them which OS they prefer. Kidding.

Or get Olivia Munn to lick a Mac OS computer and a Windows PC computer, and tell us which one tastes better. Not kidding.

Zoidberg is the closest to getting this commercial, which could very well be the leading edge of a pretty damn good campaign.

It sounds like the geeks are once again completely buffaloed by an ad that isn't aimed in any way, shape or form at them. This is image advertising aimed right between the eyes of Joe and Jill Sixpack.

Right now, Microsoft is "that company that everybody hates" and "the company that makes "the Microsoft" that I use on my computer".

The *sole* purpose of this ad is not to be hip or cool, and certainly not to promote Vista. It's to get a larger segment of the average consumers to get a smile on their face when they hear the word "Microsoft" instead of the blank stare or even frown that's most likely now. They just want that purely associative reaction. Microsoft -> Weird Seinfeld commercial -> Smile. And no, that's not the same as people laughing at Microsoft as being a joke; it's about a positive association versus a negative association.

That's why they got the guy who everybody knows, not the guy that's the latest and greatest for this five minutes with the hipsters. It's a little talk heavy, but I bet it gets them where they want to go in the end. Microsoft -> Goofy smile. If they mange to tighten the rest of the spots up they could have a very successful shot at beginning to revamp their image into something better than the software behemoth that "everybody" hates.

Nope, I am not buying this. The commercial was a load of crap, not an "image campaign!" Look how quickly it appeared after Seinfeld was signed. No thought, just get something out there, quickly. Something, anything. There you go!

---

Bill
Flagler Beach, FL 32136

Carpe Vino!

Fermentation may have been a greater discovery than fire.
— David Rains Wallace

I saw it on tv last night and just watched it again. I agree that it's a load of crap, but then again, I spent too much time on a new computer in a classroom yesterday looking at Vista and the new Office suite. Now, that's a load of crap!

It just goes to show that even the best ad agencies can only polish a turd so much. Weiden & Kennedy, famous for their ground-breaking Nike work, fell on it's face trying to market Microsoft back in the 90s. Now, Crispen Porter Bugosky, famous for just about anything interesting this decade, is giving it a shot. I'm not going to write them off just yet, but they have a tough assignment. At least Seinfeld got $10 million out of it.

Quote
DaviDC.
That made me want to ditch my Mac & buy anything that'll run Windows! Truly inspired advertising.

I understand you can still get BROWN Zunes. But you had better rush.

PC users want something moist and chewy?

TAKE A BITE OF THIS- [www.apple.com]

We did- and man is it good.

Duh.

If this is where M$ wants to spend its money instead of trying to sell its products, I would be very concerned if I owned any stock outside of mutual funds.

I don't get it. Does Vista now include an application to properly determine shoe size?

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Odd.

I did like the part that went,
"Is that your toe?"
"No."
"What is it?"
"Pleather."

I had read that Michel Gondry was going to direct these ads. His work is genius, so I won't count him out just yet, if it is true.

The reason why Bill was squirming at the end.

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

Blank is right. MS is going to pay a boatload of money over the next year, just to get a positive association in regular people's minds. I agree with him that it will work if the agency has a good overall campaign planned. MS certainly has the money to do this and it is critical to their future that the OS transition gets done with as little blood loss as possible.

By leading the series with an obvious bad spokesman and a lame skit, they have every Mac fan howling in derision. A year from now when all Windows users have a warm felling about the series, they can be subtly reminded that Mac users hated it. This could be used to imply that Mac users just hate MS as a knee jerk reaction.

Many (most) MS users have a negative image of MS right now. You can't change that by launching into a/b comparisons and lectures. First they will spend millions and millions just to get that smile and to appear as regular friendly folks. This is what the lame start is designed to do.

As an adman myself this going to be fun to watch. Can a good well funded campaign overcome a pervasive negative perception. I think they will succeed, but there will still be a lot of bleeding. Most of it will wind up as new Mac blood which will be very good for our community.

I'm not an MS fan, always has Macs since the Mac Plus, but I believe in the power of advertising when done by the very best.

A *good* campaign will have a good start.

That wasn't it. It will be a matter of pulling the "campaign" out of it's current tailspin.

A "Leading Edge" commercial would have you at least interested, waiting for more info, for the other shoe to drop, instead of scratching your head and reaching for the remote, wondering what's the cable channel with the classic commercials.

I've seen Leading Edge and that was NOT Leading Edge.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I got your leading edge right here.

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

I remember when Nissan was rolling out Infiniti and Toyota was intro'ing Lexus.
Infiniti has these really obtuse, annoying, pointless, "artsy" commercials that had nothing to do with selling cars.

Lexus had a straight-forward car-selling campaign explaining that Lexus was a new luxury brand of car whose tagline was "relentless pursuit of perfection."

Guess which brand took off faster?
(Yes, I know, Infiniti is still around today, and Toyota was always the bigger company. But at the time, Lexus whipped the pants off of Infiniti so bad that the story became a case-study in brand-building, specifically Nissan as exhibit A for how NOT to do it.)

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I am not Ryan Seacrest, and I do not approve this message.