As you probably know, Microsoft has launched a series of high-profile ads, starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, hoping to re-energize the image of the corporation as a whole and Windows Vista in particular.
The first ad, recently aired, went over like a lead balloon. If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it at my earlier post, here. There was quite a bit of criticism (no kidding) over the ad, which seemed to be more like a Seinfeld episode: an ad about nothing, except perhaps for Bill Gates and shoes.
Now, compared to the Apple ads, which are clever and engaging to the point that I will stop my DVR in mid-skip to watch them, while the Microsoft ad was somewhat humorous in parts, it sure wasn’t anywhere near the level of the Apple ads. If it wasn’t for the hype, I probably wouldn’t have watched it.
Brad Brooks, corporate vice president for Windows consumer product marketing at Microsoft, explained the aim of the ad in a video interview posted on Microsoft’s site. In it he said that the ad was merely a “teaser of things to come.”
Microsoft is starting the campaign with some national teaser ads. It will start with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld to engage customers in a conversation, in a dialogue, in a very humorous (?) and intriguing way, to get the conversation going again about what Windows means in people’s everyday lives.Now it’s time to tell our story, our story through our employees, through the products that we’re building around Windows and how it connects the software, online services and the PC experience in a way that people don’t know, in a way that’s new for consumers.
You know, Microsoft really has a couple of goals, end goals, with this campaign. Number one is to re-engage emotionally consumers around the brand Windows and actually create that emotional connection again, a connection that we’ve had and we want to have again. It’s also to actually drive a great customer experience for our customers at all levels and all touchpoints about how they experience the Windows brand today.
Fade to Microsoft logo. While I’m no expert, and neither are the majority of those chiming in with opinions of the ad, some experts have critiqued the ad.
For example, Barbara Lippert, a critic for AdWeek magazine, said:
Give Gates extra platinum Big Top Points for being able to make fun of himself (and his reputation for being cheap).At the same time, the spot shoots itself in Bill’s size 10 Conquistadors several times — and there’s a lot wrong with that.
And the word bizarre was mentioned — with reference to Gates’ adjusting his shorts (watch the ad), which was indeed, bizarre.
Meanwhile, the LA Times called the ad a “misfire.”
If this was indeed a “teaser,” then perhaps future ads can hit their stride. Personally, I really thought Microsoft’s “Mojave Experiment” might have made a great ad campaign, but although I’ve seen a few ads, the focus is still on the Seinfeld ads.
I’ll give the ads a chance, but they’d better get some better writers. And as I said earlier, loosen up Gates; he’s no actor and it shows.
