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For those who haven't seen the video, you might want to skip the following paragraph:
-- Begin Spoilers --
The commercial starts with Seinfeld eating a churro when he just happens to stumble upon Bill Gates in a shoe store. About 30 seconds of comedy (some may debate that description) follows in which Seinfeld is helping Bill try on the "Conquistador", which is supposed to be funny because you don't picture an unobtrusive geek like Gates to be wearing something called a "Conquistador".
Anyway, when the completely irrelevant comedy is done, Seinfeld asks if Microsoft is ever going to come out with something that's moist and delicious so that people can eat their computers like cake.
-- End Spoilers --
The thing that makes the Mac vs. PC ads so "sticky" is that each one of them stands on their own. They are their own piece of comedy. Sure, they get funnier because we've seen other ones, but each one has its own standalone punch line. I don't get that impression from this commercial. It seems more like a serial to me. I'm trying to think of a recent example of a "progressive reveal" advertisement where you know something more is coming, but I can't.... the cloverfield movie trailers come to mind, but, that's something entirely different.
Taken on its own, I thought the commercial was mildly entertaining. Thankfully Seinfeld didn't get up into his high pitch ranting voice that I find so annoying. The general public at large (unlike us Geeks who have seen that damn Gates retirement video a million times) has never really seen Bill Gates letting loose and being funny, so I think this first commercial might actually be well placed. I figure the goal is to use it as an ice breaker to get "joe public" talking about Bill Gates actually showing up in a commercial, and that he shook his booty with no sign of hesitation...
Will it work? Maybe. I think people aren't giving the ad company enough credit. If Microsoft launched this campaign with a commercial that immediately started talking about the features that make Vista awesome, the public would be crying bloody murder... they would lose credibility and the ad campaign would backfire. With the "icebreaker" in place, the public has something soft to chew on before the main course arrives... the theory being that they will be more receptive to subtle injections of propoganda hidden beneath the humor and (potentially) continuing storyline of the commercials.
For Microsoft's sake, I hope it works. They need a shot in the arm of good will and positive public opinion that they haven't had in a long time. The thing I find interesting about the ad is that to a geek like me, I found it devoid of content and lacking everything I wanted to see... but I feel compelled to hit the 'tubes as soon as the second ad comes out to see whether the next commercial will be great or whether it will be a train wreck. If a weak ad like this can get _me_ to anticipate the next one, I can imagine it might actually be serving its intended purpose on the general public.
Here's to hoping the next ad is a blockbuster, but I'm not holding my breath.
no, I think you got it backwards. It is exactly because we're geeks, that's
why we still anticipate the next. The general public will not recognize him
by face. And with the ad being weak, they'll not remember it and follow the
storyline.
I don't know.. I think the general public knows what Bill Gates looks
like... don't they?? I know that my wife is more likely to recognize Bill
Gates than she is to recognize Steve Jobs.
So I ran this commercial by my wife, looking for a non-geek perspective but
still one of a current Vista user... her response was, I quote, "ummm...
HUH?". She positively did NOT get any of the humor in the commercial, nor
did she get the point of the commercial. I venture to say not very many
people will, unfortunately. If the commercial doesn't pass the "does my
wife (or mom or whoever) get it?" test, it's a failure. Why? Because my
wife thinks the Mac vs. PC ads are hilarious, and she understands them
perfectly, and she understands the message being conveyed.
I know Gates, I know Seinfeld and I understood some, not all, of the jokes.
But I really did not get what the advertisers were after. Some kind of
better image for Microsoft, I would guess but something was lost in the
making.
I expected the ad to be lame, but it went beyond my wildest imagination.
There was no clear message to it. MY wife had the same reaction...she kept
asking me to explain it to her....I replied there was nothing to
explain....it had no meaning that I could discern.
When I saw the ad, my mouth hung open. I said, "THAT's the Apple killer?
Microsoft is SO screwed..."
The new Microsoft ad campaign reminds me a lot of Apple's Think Different
campaign. Warm and fuzzy, low on specifics, no direct reference to any
products. More specifically the campaign seems to be designed to
re-establish the company's tarnished brand, much as the Think Different
campaign succeeded in doing for Apple.
