Microsoft debuted its new Windows ad Thursday night, changing course in the wake of collective head-scratching in response to the first offering in a $300 million media campaign that originally featured comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
The new ad features a “PC” character reminiscent of the hapless Microsoft foil in Apple’s popular Mac campaign, as well as a cameo by Bill Gates. The ad tries to convey just how many different kinds of people all over the world can say, “I’m a PC.”
You got a problem with that?
Written by Lonnie Lazar on September 18th, 2008 with no comments.
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Microsoft’s $300 million Vista ad campaign has ditched comedian Jerry Seinfeld in favor of a John Hodgman-alike Microsoft engineer who says: “Hello, I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype.”
Microsoft on Thursday is set to air several new ads, according to the New York Times, including one starring a lookalike of the bumbling but lovable PC character in Apple’s Get a Mac ads, played by Daily Show correspondent and author John Hodgman.
The Times says the ad is an “audacious embrace” of Apple’s Windows-baiting, and typical of MS’s new agency, Crispin Porter & Bogusky, which has a history of turning negative perceptions into advertising counterstrikes.
Apple has been “using a lot of their money to de-position our brand and tell people what we stand for,” Microsoft brand marketer David Webster told the Times. “They’ve made a caricature out of the PC.”
Other ads in the series will include musician Pharrell Williams, actress Eva Longoria and author Deepak Chopra, the Times says.
Written by Leander Kahney on September 18th, 2008 with no comments.
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This is a test. Apologies to RSS readers
Written by Craig Grannell on September 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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When Microsoft’s in a bind, this is the kind of advertising it comes up with. Something really risky and new.
Microsoft’s second ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates is trying to get attention based entirely on the idea that it makes no sense at all. There’s something about the Seinfeldian rhythm in the ad, and it’s definitely building upon the original, but where is this going? Impossible to say. It makes no sense.
I can just imagine the pre-game speech Seinfeld gave ol’ Bill:
“Alright Bill, we’re gonna go in, we’re gonna start this one out with about thirty seconds to introduce the situation. It’s you, it’s me, it’s the average American family. And their cranky, sort of manly grandma. We’re gonna establish a premise. We’re gonna establish it until there’s no more to establish.”
“Mustard?”
“Yes Bill. Mustard.”
“Toe nail clippings?”
“Bill, you’re losing focus. We’re gonna hit them with the premise for almost four minutes, then we’re going to get framed for a ridiculous crime, sand a door, insult a little girl and make with the exit strategy.”
“Non-sequitur to a silly futuristic computer idea with an animal and a ’signal’ of me shuffling my legs around a bit. Got it.”
“Ready? Break.”
Written by Dean Putney on September 12th, 2008 with no comments.
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Check out our gallery of original artwork from Swedish painter Erik Saxen, who painted the work in 1987 for a huge poster campaign and newspaper run promoting the launch of the Macintosh SE in Sweden.
Saxen is seeking a serious collector for the set of oil paintings (some with mixed media), which are currently in climate-controlled storage in Florida. For additional information and contact links see My Old Mac.
Written by Lonnie Lazar on September 5th, 2008 with no comments.
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