In an effort to combat the hugely popular “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ad campaign by Apple, Microsoft reached into its deep pockets to hire funny man Jerry Seinfeld. Pairing him with founder Bill Gates, the advertising gurus up in Redmond have created a pair of commercials that barely even mention technology.
The majority of the blogosphere seems to dislike these new Microsoft ads, which is why I chose to write about them. I think they’re pretty good. Most video advertising these days is so predictable the only real difference is the logo at the end. These ads, while not pitching a particular product, do make the viewer stop and watch, either due to wonder or bewilderment.
The First Two Episodes
Here’s the first ad, Shoe Circus:
Here’s the second ad, New Family:
There’s probably two main reasons the ads haven’t been popular. First, I think you have to be a fan of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm styles of humor to appreciate these ads. That style of humor isn’t as popular as it once was. Second, I mentioned earlier that many blogs have panned these ads. This is partly due to the fact that a large portion of popular bloggers are Apple enthusiasts. Even had these ads been Oscar-worthy they wouldn’t have met with that crowd’s approval.
More To The Point
There were some rumors that Microsoft was canning the Gates/Seinfeld ad campaign due to strong blogger disapproval, but those reports seem to be false. However, that has not stopped Microsoft from releasing another new ad that does not use Seinfeld. This ad says “I’m a PC” and proud of it:
Again, I like this ad. I even agree with its content. I’m a huge fan of Apple products (though, admittedly, I’ve never owned a single piece of Apple hardware), but I think Windows PCs are stereotyped by the Mac elite as being these completely useless machines. There are three major things that a Windows machine has going for it that a Mac currently can’t touch: price of hardware, software and hardware options, and Windows Media Center. A Windows PC is still the right choice for a large piece of the computer-using population.
What Do You Think?
I want to hear what you think of these three new Windows ads. Do you think they’ll help change the perception of Windows and/or Microsoft? Do you think the two with Seinfeld are funny or lame? Would you declare “I’m a PC” with pride?
