New Seinfeld, Gates Microsoft ad kinda sorta makes sense

When last we saw new friends Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, in the first installment of the new Microsoft ad campaign, they were leaving a shopping mall where they'd run into each other at a discount shoe store. Now, a week later, the second "episode" from ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky has arrived, and Jerry and Bill have ventured farther into the featureless heart of suburbia: They've moved in with a deeply average family.

Between the two ads, we can now see that the "series" is about Seinfeld and Gates' adventures trying to connect to normal folk -- a kind of super-"Simple Life" setup, where men of historic proportions are shrunk down to earth and inserted into the plodding routines of the workaday masses. Whether or not these commercials do anything to vivify Microsoft's bland public image, the campaign is settling in as a watchable, much-discussed piece of Web entertainment. Over 600,000 people viewed the new one on YouTube, and hundreds of comments poured in all day.

The mall ad was slammed with a tidal wave of diss by commentators--including me--who couldn't make sense of its meaning-impaired narrative and unfunny details.  But this time, the critical seas are calmer. Nobler souls are even considering forgiveness for the original ad's sins.  And for sure, the sequel, twice as long as the first, rolls amusingly along.

The new ad jokes about why Seinfeld was chosen as the face of the campaign, which after the first episode was still a mystery: Like both Microsoft and its charisma-lacking founder Gates, Seinfeld needs an image revamp. As Seinfeld says to Gates while lying on a kid's bed in the suburban split-level house, "You and I are a little out of it. You’re living in some kinda moon house hovering over Seattle like the mother ship. I’ve got so many cars I get stuck in my own traffic. We need to connect with real people."

As in the first spot, where Billy and Jerry try on shoes as a Latino family looks on from outside the store window, this ad shows that "connecting" is not their strong suit. After having annoyed the family's teenage daughter by clipping his toe nails in her room, Seinfeld finds that he and Gates have been mysteriously framed for the theft of a family heirloom (a leather giraffe from Cabo San Lucas).  The duo ends up being thrown out of the house, and when they find out it was the daughter who set them up, it's too late.  "You're not so real," Gates growls at their young antagonist, nailing the funny moment. Jerry and Bill hit the road once again, pulling wheelie suitcases behind them.

"I think we connected with them," Seinfeld says. "In a way," Gates answers. Then comes the segue to Microsoft: "Bill, you've connected over a billion people," Seinfeld says. "I have," says Gates. "Perpetually connecting" reads the final screen, with the Microsoft logo.

But just chanting "connect" like an incantation, isn't going to make Jerry, Bill and Microsoft's wish for a new image come true. Unless -- has Microsoft become an adherent to "The Secret" (see Oprah explain how if you wish for something hard enough...)?

I was accused of "overthinking" my post about the first commercial. Well, yeah. These ads, with their elliptical tone and unmoored, dreamy details seem designed to be scrutinized and puzzled over.  It's as if they have a subconscious of their own, and it's always veering just out of control: Why do they keep reminding us, for example, about how much money Seinfeld and Gates have compared to ordinary people?

So as close as I can figure it, the ad is meant to show just how hard Microsoft is trying, at least, to connect emotionally, and just what rough going that is at first. They're asking us to be patient, to laugh with them at their rustiness and general failure to be "with it." I found myself willing to do that, after this one.  But while it was fun to watch Bill and Jerry's stint as house guests for  a week, I don't feel any closer to pre-ordering Microsoft's next operating system, or switching back to PC.  Not sure if that means the ad worked or not ...

--Maria Russo

Comments

[bob doug]

The new ads are about "nothing". Get it?

[Dennis]

The comments posted so far precisely mirror the necessity for Microsoft's new ad campaign: Having trouble using a Microsoft product? It's Your fault. Critical of a Microsoft ad campaign? Something is wrong with You.

[Anti-attackAd]

I feel the problem with most web bloggers is that they're rabidly anti-establishment, and since Microsoft happens to be a big juicy(successful) 'corporation', and thus gets targeted by people who want to be 'edgy' and 'cool'(i.e., an annoying mac user,( no offense, all regards).

I think what most critics of these ads(and mac users) need, is just a bit more sophistication and intelligence. Mac Users like to portray that smooth,suave,just out of college look that I find frankly offensive and arrogant, without looking under their cheap plastic Steve jobs present wrapping.

The first commercial was a teaser.It was meant to make people talk. It shows that no matter how big Bill gets, he's still jsut a computer nerd, and even with his Millions of dollars, He's buying a pair of shoes from Shoe Circus(a pay-less type store). Thats why Seinfeld repeats the store's name and logo over again.

The reason he has a spanish-speaking family there is because they know hte 'conquistador' shoes, which are most likely cheap,tight shoes. They aren't billionare bill gates-esque buyers,yet they can appreciate the difficulties of fitting into a new pair of shoes.

It all ends with a poignant little remark by Jerry about Microsoft's accomplishments, and unlike Apple which practically shoves all it's minor innovations down your throat, Microsoft is just downplaying itself.
It says 'we're Microsoft, and we're So Damn big and good and innovative, we don't need to make an insulting smear commercial to do it.'

Instead in both commercials they appeal to their base, intellectual,intelligent computer users that know what they want, and don't need a flashy cheap-plastic Ikea look and an insult Advertising strategy that appeals to the base instinct of 'you suck,I'm awesome you old fart, nanner-nanner-nanner'

We see this in the second commercial as well.
Microsoft wants to show that it is in every home. The kids act a bit odd,the Mother is bad at Ping pong, the Grandmother does all the work,yet the rest of the family can't stand her.
They are greedy,and eat Jerry's mustard, and they put enormous importance on some stupid leather giraffe.

All in all,the commercials aren't meant ot 'make Windows cool', they're to show that Microsoft Doesn't NEED to be cool. It's Microsoft god dammit, and like a child calling an adult bad anmes cause it's spoiled and coddled, Apple's annoying ads seem flat, stale,and as intelligent as 'You're a boogerhead Bill'

All in all, kudos for Microsoft for not pandering to the low level garbage that plagues todays advertisements, and still dominates a market despite so many people hating them.

[Tommy]

You report on "connected culture" and provide lots of links to things related and unrelated to this new Microsoft commercial, which is the subject of the blog post. But you DO NOT provide a link to the commercial itself. In the semantic web, this is a crime. Why do you not do this? When is the LA Times EVER going to get it? Why does Bill Gates still think it's the 1990s? Seinfeld isn't funny anymore. Neither is Kramer. And neither is Microsoft. Whatever they want to sell us, it will be nothing more than a mushier version of Vista, and the platform will still be closed and it will be a dead-end (much like this blog).

[Assistant Village Idiot]

Those who do not understand the ad, or add for that matter, need to do the following:
1. Run Windows Update -ads become clear after updating - but your printer stops working.
2. Sign up for the focus group so you can watch a video about the commercials. You will be tricked into understanding them.

[david velazquez]

Microsoft needs to ask Jerry for a refund.

[bv]

This 2nd add I at least "get' yet still I am still not amused.

Perhaps its time for Microsoft to hire a new ad exec from a lame credit report, insurance, and mobile phone company, so they can get some catchy little adds. Then again apparently stupidly high salaries and stock options lead to extremely dull taste.

[Chuck P.]

Oh, I get it! $300 million for "nothing". Way to go, Microsoft.

[BillyinJava]

Mac and Unix are NOT the same. The Mac OS runs on a version of Unix, but it is possible to have a Unix machine that is not a Mac. Maybe YOU should only make arguments about things you know.

I have spent many years using Macs, and many years using PCs. My preference is for Macs, and that is based on a LOT of real experience. They just work better, and that's the end of it.

[Carlos]

Ok...they are just funny adds...sure they miss a little compared to the pc-mad advertisements, but they are just funny, new look for microsoft. Give it up, don't over analyze so much, and just enjoy the add...if it makes you pre order the next windows os....GOOD, and if it doesnt...welll...GOOD.

[big deal]

its certainly a big deal for bill gates to go this far to try to help MSFT. I would recommend spending some time in just fixing the UI of IE and pushing silverlight. Also, He needs a new VP for zune team.

[David]

agree that it is sad that the PC and MAC differences turn into arguments based on meaningless dichotomies. I use both systems and both have merits. You need to control as much as possible yourself with both.
Some writers wonder why the anti Gates sentiments. It is not anti establishment or because of his success. The legacy software he has given the majority of computer users is such a terrible foundation for the world to build a technological system that I personally believe Microsoft is responsible for holding back innovation in computer technology by at least 10 years, maybe more.
The sadder thing is that when Gates poached the original DOS he did not bring along the original inventors meaning nobody really knew the core idea and Microsoft was well aware that DOS would create interaction problems in the future. Or connectivity issues between programmes. This is why the ads are trying to suggest Microsoft is good at connecting. They are not and have refused to open up the inner workings of a critical system. I know this was to control the income but they still would have made billions and given the world a true technological future if ethics had been as important as success.

[Mike]

I sat thru the first thirty seconds of each ad. They had not yet said anything. The second one was beginning to make me feel uncomfortable, and the first one just seemed lame.

I had a choice between watching both ads completely and finding out what the point for each was, or stop watching them and go onto the next thing in my day. There was no question in my mind, they both left my screen and on I went.

For an ad to not get to the point inside of the first thirty seconds is presumptuous. These things were painful!

[Gjuro]

"Why Macintosh? Let's put it this way, a PC is a Chevy, a Mac is a Mercedes. You like the Chevy just fine, content with what it does, until you drive the Mercedes. Then you know why people pay more for the Mercedes. Only now, the Mac is only a teensy bit more expensive. Mac user since 1986 - no ad convinced me to buy, but I loved the one where the woman threw the hammer thru the huge screen as corporate zombies looked on. It aptly captured the difference between Apple and PC".

Man, you're SO wrong... if you do insist on computer-car parralel, PC could only be very fast, comfortable, economical, and utterly reliable do-it-all japanese caravan. On the other hand, Mac is one of those beautifully looking but overall useless Smart cars, which you can't do $hit with.
What games do you play on your mac? Is there any thing you have that PC users cannot do on their computers (much cheaper than you, that is)? Face it, youre just another victim of Jobs' metrosexual terror ads...

[Steve]

I view these "commercials" more as Bill Gates' re-introduction to the public than as any attempt to sell Microsoft products. Microsoft has hardly ever advertised. Their business model for operating systems and office software doesn't really require it. Microsoft can count on PC makers to do all the marketing; Microsoft's products come in the box.

I think these ads are an attempt to introduce us to Bill Gates, one of the most successful businessmen in history. Since he just stepped down from running Microsoft, these ads serve as a way of saying "hi, I'm not who you think I am".

On the whole PC vs. Mac flame war, whatever. We're a free society...free market. I'm just glad we have options.

[Regulas]

I built a new rig several months back and put Vista on it. It crashes about as much as XP did (No over-clocking either). I only use it for games and only went with Vista because of DX 10. Now I wish I would have bought a 24" iMac instead and bootcamped it with XP instead.
As for my maine computing (Everything but games) I use my trusty old G4 Powerbook and have a Eee PC I put Ubuntu Linux on to try out.

[stevenson]

I don't even think the 300m figure is correct, could be part of the mastermind ad campaign. The Apple ads look pretty but just attack PC's and their users... I've been in graphics for 15 years and officially switched to WINDOWS for production computers. Employees don't like it too much but in all honesty Apple computers are just expensive desk ornaments. For about the same price as a new G5 I have a 32GB (up to 64GB) RAM, 5 Terabyte (5000GB) harddrives, 64bit OS (Vista). Office works like it should, the computers hardly ever crash (maybe once every 4 months). I even find that Adobe runs better on a Windows machine. This coming from a Apple cult member (or used to be, I had an Apple sticker on all my cars).

People have to face it, Microsoft does have the better OS when it comes to desktops. For production servers, I'm running Debian Linux. My local testing server (and intranet) is a Vista machine running WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP)... Thing works like a charm! I'm soon going to upgrade that into a real Windows server with Exchange, Domain controller and etc... The only drawback is the price of all this. But when you're running a business Microsoft makes sense. Why use OpenOffice when your employees will waste half their day trying to make up documents. Switch everyone to Linux and it will be even worse... Apple's OS is easy to use however I find it's more for looks than anything else and the new Apple desktop is a waste of money in my opinion.

My company codes mostly with PHP, an open source scripting language. I didn't choose ASP simply because ASP programmers are too expensive and PHP can be used on 99% of servers on the cloud. lol I honestly think Google is about to release their own web scripting language and that will be the PHP killer, not ASP.

Anyway OS fan battles are pretty funny to me. The only thing that annoys me is all the bad talk about Vista! I have about 12 copies (legal) of it and they all run fine. The people I've heard complaining about Vista are the ones with downloaded copies trying to install them into P4 machines with 512mb of Ram LMAO! Or kind of like the Windows95 introduction! Remember the Rolling Stones commercials "Start me up"... I remember people hating it because of the recycle bin. "Files aren't deleted"... Files are never blasted from your hard drives... the pointers are deleted. The files are still on the hard drive but can be re-written. Only when you save a new file on that cluster is when it's truely deleted. Just to point out the stupidity of the average joe computer user.

I say "way to go Mr.Gates" he is one helluva business man!

[SuperNormal]

"...It says 'we're Microsoft, and we're So Damn big and good and innovative..."

Well, you got one out of three right.

[fred]

I suppose there must be some merit in portraying Bill as harmless and worthy of the same kind of gentle ribbing you might direct at your goofy uncle. (As a businessman, Bill has never been anything close to harmless or goofy. It should also be noted that in terms of charity he has been very worthy.) I don't get what's in it for Jerry. Jeez, didn't he walk away from a ton of bucks 'cause he already had more than he could ever spend? So far these ads sure aren't doing much for his image.

XP vs Vista vs Tiger. I use one at work, the other two at home. I find them competent vs annoying vs intuitive, but I can do what I gotta on anyone of them. Noted that many video games don't come out on the mac, if that's your mo.

[hank]

To me MAC is like a condo with a stack of HOA rules. Grass seems green until you need to do something to suit your needs.

[Jack]

I like it... I think most people are missing the point of these commercials.

[MacGuy]

Microsoft has 500 customers they care about - the big corporations. The product is designed exclusively for them; particular attention being paid to hierarchal control, ie the network managers ability to limit what you do, keep tabs on your web browsing, keep copies of your emails, etc. Microsoft DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN about how it is to use their product, how painful and difficult it is to do the simplest task, like add a new network connection or whatever. You are expected to buy it because its what you have at work and you don't know any better.
Now they come along with these ads to put some lipstick on this pig. And what are the ads? Bill Gates and his hired hand celebrity of the moment condescending to lower themselves to the 'ordinary' persons level?
Their product is crap, their attitude is crap, their arrogance is offensive, and their badly dressed, overweight, bad-haircut 'ordinary' family is an insult.
I freed myself from Microsoft two years ago, and I see absolutely nothing in them or their products or their attitude that makes me want to come back.

[Assembly Wizard]

dumb ... no more needs to be said ...

[DCzar]

Gjuro said, "Man, you're SO wrong... if you do insist on computer-car parralel, PC could only be very fast, comfortable, economical, and utterly reliable do-it-all japanese caravan. On the other hand, Mac is one of those beautifully looking but overall useless Smart cars, which you can't do $hit with.
What games do you play on your mac? Is there any thing you have that PC users cannot do on their computers (much cheaper than you, that is)? Face it, youre just another victim of Jobs' metrosexual terror ads..."

You're and example of the kind of attack on the Mac that causes this "Us vs Them" Desktop war...along with your misinformation and outright wrongness.

Lets clarify your babbling.

First, Macs are marginally more expensive than the made with cheap and cheaper parts(since so many OEM's compete in the Windows world) Wintel PC's and if you look at branded products, the Mac is very comparible to Dells and HP, but get to the higher end and Macs win there.

Second, your barometer seems to be games. That's so passe since if you want games, get a xBox, Wii and so on..much,much better.

Third, most office apps are on Macs save for some "vertical markets" and even then there are often solutions that work well both branded and open source.

Fourth, the Mac OS is far more secure depsite Vista since so many in the enterprise are buying machines with Vista(a stupid name for an OS anyway) and downgrading to XP. (Note the need for the new TV spots from Microsoft here).

Fifth, you can get a Mac and happily run both the Mac OS and Windows(Windows performs very well in Boot Camp, Parallels and VM ware) and avoiding the driver problems that often plague Windows and be less affected by the security problems that follow Windows like footsteps behind you on a dark night. Try and run both on your Wintel PC of any flavor.

Oh, and that software thing in this digital age, please show where there is any suite on the Wintel PC comparible to "iLife" on the Mac. Sure, you can cobble together various apps and get some functionality, but it's hit or miss. iLife OTOH was designed to work together from the git-go. Get over it.

Sixth, well, you're just biased and nothing more. You forget one thing and that is that most Mac users have used Windows and choose to use the Mac. That's something called "user choice" or "empowerment" and those folks can and usually are productive workers since they like the enviroment they work in with the Mac.

I know you'll chirp about how cheap PC's are, and they are cheap if you BYO and leave the time finding parts and labor out of the equation, but that's not a level playing field and one most folks don't opt to do, geeks however, need something that hard to do otherwise it's not worth it. To listen to you, one would think the Wintel PC world is more a cult than anything approaching what the Mac community is labeled. Get over it.

For that guy who has switched to Windows for his graphics. You're still bucking the trend and Windows, even Vista, still doesn't manage color at the system level as well as the Mac.

Just my $.02.

[Olaman]

Ha! The old PC vs Mac war is on again! I use both! But I wouldnt use MAC's for 3D work, they can't crunch the numbers.