Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor
Farewell, Jerry, we barely knew ye
It's an open question whether TUAW readers really care about the inside-baseball, schadenfreude-laden story of an expensive ad campaign for another technology company that left many in the audience scratching their heads, wondering "are these ads about nothing?" Most of you probably took passing note of the commercials and moved on to your game of Spore.
Nevertheless, the word tonight via Valleywag and Engadget, among other sources, that Microsoft will be dumping Jerry Seinfeld from its upcoming TV spots (and bringing in a John Hodgman look-alike to directly target Apple's "I'm a Mac" campaign) is making us think. Why lose the Sein? He brought a slightly cranky, slightly spacey vibe -- not a bad matchup for Bill Gates, when you come down to it. There must have been more to it than simply "people didn't like the ads..."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Corey said 10:45PM on 9-17-2008
Wow. I really liked that series too...
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stan said 10:47PM on 9-17-2008
C'mon TUAW!! This is an APPLE blog, not a... Macrosoft blog! Can someone please tell me how this is Mac related in any way?!
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(01) said 10:52PM on 9-17-2008
Because what the direct competition is doing IS news?
I admit, I was a little confused by the whole thing...An ad campaign about nothing? Sure, it's "refreshing" in a way, but if there's nothing there, there's nothing there.
Jeff Brown said 10:59PM on 9-17-2008
A John Hodgman look-a-like? Quite an interesting choice for a company that has made a living by doing a 2nd rate copy of Mac OS. "Here we are doing it again - 3 years late and not as good".
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Brian W said 10:59PM on 9-17-2008
"Redmond, Start Your Photocopiers (video recorders)"
Copying the OS, copying their mp3 player, and now copying Apple's advertising? What's next?
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Quix said 11:07PM on 9-17-2008
"and bringing in a John Hodgman look-alike to directly target Apple's "I'm a Mac" campaign"
Microsoft: The Freedom to Innovate (TM)
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Victor Agreda Jr said 11:10PM on 9-17-2008
I kind of liked the ads too. Well, the second one (director's cut).
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Ryan Trevisol said 7:35AM on 9-18-2008
"You're living in your moon-house hovering somewhere over Seattle, and I've got so many cars, I get stuck in my own traffic!"
Plus, Bill Gates doing the robot was classic.
MB said 11:16PM on 9-17-2008
Chemistry.
The first two MS ads were plodding things featuring too much talk between two guys who have no chemistry.
Apple's ad success is built on two actors with chemistry and a fairly light touch. They get on, make a point, then exit.
Kind of like the difference between MS and Apple - one plodding, the other fun.
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Diego said 1:44AM on 9-18-2008
Actors? Chemistry? I've seen better acting in grade school...
kinto said 12:27AM on 9-18-2008
honestly, as much as i disdain microsloth i really liked the ads... (that being said i've seen every seinfeld episode about a gazillion times, so maybe that's why...)
but seriously, i dug 'em to the point that i was worried they might actually be serving their purpose and making ms appear warm and fuzzy... unsurprisingly they failed as usual ;)
and new ads copying apple? wow, edge of my seat...
*yawn*
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Frank said 12:28AM on 9-18-2008
well, them saying "this was our plan from the beginning" is pure advertising-speak. it's the equivalent of saying "i *meant* to do that" when wiping out on your bike in front of the other kids.
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Small Business Entrepreneur said 12:31AM on 9-18-2008
These commercials were bad...so bad I devoted an entire blog post to them as a case study in what not to do when advertising your product/service/company!
Matt
http://smallbizbee.com
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nanodalek said 2:03AM on 9-18-2008
Focus groups said that the commercials were more pretentious than the Apple ads. It is all very symbolic of the general Windows experience; hokey, confusing and convoluted.
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bl8ant said 4:36AM on 9-18-2008
I find it hilarious that microsoft can't do any better than to copy apple with their newest ads. copy apple. copy apple. that's all they've ever done. and funnier still, those "i'm a PC" ads they're doing were made on a mac. ask anyone who's ever worked at crispin porter, it's an all-mac office.
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Zimzim said 5:51AM on 9-18-2008
These ads, if they'd been allowed to run, could and should have been among the most anticpated new episodes in TV history - instead MS have caved in to some focus group report rather than stand by the courage of their convictions and see it through.
The last time TV had a series "about nothing" it gradually grew to become a nine season blockbuster, possibly one of the largest shows of all time.
Good luck with the stupid Apple parody.
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basscadet said 11:13AM on 9-18-2008
amen to that.
I was never crazy about Seinfeld but these ads are something that creates a buzz and would make a better image of MS, would they let them go through. The ad isn't about Vista, it's about MS and it's trying to create the impression that MS can be a part of everyday living.
Oh and for the 1000th time, MS is not a "direct competitor" of Apple. Some sectors align but MS's lack of computer hardware products is a key element in what I'd consider as a "direct competitor". It's easier to oversimplify and generalize but things are a lot more complicated.
Michael Rose said 11:21AM on 9-18-2008
well, MS does sell hardware products -- keyboards, mice, webcams -- but your point is taken. In the OS space, however, for both mindshare and customers, they do compete.
Andy S. said 10:15AM on 9-18-2008
Seinfeld was probably the only thing about those ads that was even remotely entertaining. Bill Gates has the personality of a block of tofu, and can't deliver even a solidly-written line to save his ass (which, coincidentally, is kind of the point of these commercials, eh?)
As many have pointed out, bringing in a John Hodgman lookalike is just going to fuel the "MS copies Apple!" fire, and on top of that, the odds of MS finding a Hodgman lookalike that is actually *as funny as* John Hodgman are infinitesimally small.
You know, I think I'd feel a lot better about buying a Microsoft product if I knew that they were spending their money on R&D, and not dumping $300m into beating a dead horse.
Vista's ship has sailed, Bill, and it turns out that it was the Titanic. Oops. Accept it, move on, and build a better ship.
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ChrisM70 said 11:26AM on 9-18-2008
Nothing says FAIL more than starting a new ad campaign and abandoning it at the first sign of trouble. Perhaps Microsoft should try to actually STAND FOR SOMETHING. Create a focus and a message and then push that message in their commercials.
Instead, Microsoft chases trends and runs commercials out of fear. Ending the Seinfeld commercials shows that Microsoft doesn't have anyone in charge who knows what they are doing and makes them look indecisive and foolish.
If Microsoft can't control the quality of their commercial message, how can they control the quality of their products?
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