Open Forum Friday: Jerry Seinfeld’s Microsoft Ads… Success or Failure?
Alright, so this week’s Open Forum Friday isn’t directly related to movies, but I thought it was an interesting discussion nonetheless. By now you’ve probably seen or heard of the new Microsoft commercials starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, which were primarily being passed around online rather than airing on TV. There was a big deal made of the fact that Seinfeld received $10 million for his involvement, and that they were supposed to strike back at Apple’s highly successful “I’m a Mac, You’re a PC” campaign. Now, after only two of the Seinfeld spots have been released, Microsoft has already decided to pull the plug on the campaign. Are they crazy?
I know a lot of people have been very vocal about how these ads don’t seem to have much relevance to selling PCs or Windows Vista, but let’s face it… they got people talking. Seinfeld’s mere presence piqued people’s interest, particularly because he hasn’t been doing much with his career lately, but also because he seems like such an odd spokesperson for Microsoft. That’s kind of the point. I don’t know if he wrote all these ads, but they certainly seem to have his sense of humour, and he tends to think outside the box. Back when Bee Movie came out, there were a series of commercials that aired on NBC that I thought were creative and brilliant, but others found unfunny and lame.
Microsoft is claiming that their decision to pull the ads was all a part of their plan, but I seriously doubt it… after all, there are commercials that were shot that now will not be released (including one directed by Michel Gondry, apparently). If they were going to go down the path of off-beat marketing, they should have at least had the balls to stick with it. Now it just looks like they’ve admitted defeat once again. What did you think of the ads? Were they worth the money that Microsoft spent? Does Seinfeld still have that brilliant creative spark, or is he even more out of touch with the world than Bill Gates? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.
Comments (25)
I thought this ads were FANTASTIC. I absolutely cannot believe Microsoft is pulling the plug on these. I don’t understand, because yes, while they did not specifically promote Microsoft by saying “Hi, I’m Microsoft, I’m better than Mac because of A, B, and C” it simply got people talking. Everyone in the world already knows about Microsoft, so now it’s just winning the war between those trying to decide Mac VS PC (and I’ll take these Seinfeld ads over those horrendously annoying Mac VS PC ads any day).
Cannot believe Microsoft is pulling these. I mean, they star Gates and Seinfeld!!!!
Posted by Jonathan on September 19th, 2008And they are not airing the ads they already filmed. This makes no sense to me.
Posted by Jonathan on September 19th, 2008I’m not impressed. I don’t mind Seinfeld, but it looks like he’s trying for a comeback. Bill Gates on the other hand, reeks of arrogance.
10 million bucks that could have gone to something helpful to society. (Mwa-Mwa-Mwa-a-a-a-a-a-a)
Posted by Baychuk on September 19th, 2008I like them and thought it was funny. I was surprised to hear how much people hated it.
Posted by Rick Iaeger on September 19th, 2008These ads were fuckin brutal, so unnatural and put on they were uncomfortable to watch. Seinfeld has never been really funny … I think we are seeing now that Larry David was hugely responsible for Seinfeld’s success.
Posted by dirrrtyfrank on September 19th, 2008Gates is a good guy. He gets way to much shit. Good add, I love the part with the delivery guy.
Posted by theman on September 19th, 2008I liked them.
Posted by Paul on September 19th, 2008I liked the one I saw on television that had Gates and Seinfeld cleaning the pool.
I wonder what caused the ad campaign to get pulled. Surely not the negative reaction of bloggers.
I read recently that the Internet is a breeding ground for fear and hatred. But I think anything associated with the human race will have that distinction. It’s more natural to hate than to love IMO. Anything that puts more people in contact with each other will be the death of us all.
Posted by Reed Farrington on September 19th, 2008I thought the ads were totally lame, BUT… if any other company had put them out no one would have given a shit. The cult of mac has grown to a point where Microsoft can’t even put out a lame ad without having people bitch about it. Waste of braincells thinking about a lame ad.
Posted by TheMovieVampire on September 19th, 2008I work on Macs at work, and I have PC’s at home. I have a Zune and an Ipod. I like both companies.
Posted by paulm on September 19th, 2008I hate the Mac spots. I’m not a Seinfeld fan, and I really liked the Microsoft ads. I guess I’m in the minority. More importantly, I’d like to see a Film Junk ad with Greg and Brent Butt. I’m still not convinced that they’re not the same person. Maybe Reed could do a column called “Gasnobabble” where he takes on issues related to Corner Gas, Canada’s greatest export.
“And they are not airing the ads they already filmed. This makes no sense to me.”
It really doesn’t. What could it hurt?
“I hate the Mac spots.”
The Mac ads were undeniably original and fun to me but I see how they can have some adverse reaction to some people but anything that is really successful and talked about can become annoying.
The fact is nothing could make me buy a PC ever again. Nothing. They almost disgust me.
Also I haven’t played my 360 since it got back from Microsoft post Red Ring of Death. It sucked so much because it happened when I had literally just hooked up a brand spanking new flat panel. Then there was the HD-DVD debacle (which isn’t entirely their fault) but it sucked because I bought my drive two weeks before all the announcements went down. Great timing I know. Luckily Best Buy apologized with a $50 gift card but wheres my 10 million for all the frustration that caused plus all the hours of frustration Windows machines used to cause me.
Apple should make a system. I bet it would knock everyone’s shit off.
Posted by Ryan M. on September 19th, 2008There have been rumours for years that Apple is planning a gaming system. I don’t believe it for a second, but it’s still kind of interesting to consider. If anyone could compete with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, it’s Apple.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10041563-17.html
Posted by Sean on September 19th, 2008I actually quite like them. Part low-key, part dada-ist, part 90s Seinfeld. As a ‘goodwill’ gesture, they are pretty good. Although in the current mortgage/deficit collapse in the US, I can see two rich dudes hanging out in middle/lower-middle class America being quite offensive to some, although not me personally.
Posted by kurt on September 19th, 2008I thought they were great. People don’t like things that don’t have an easily understood catch. They were probably considered confusing.
Too many dumb people out there, I guess.
Posted by Jon Rocks on September 19th, 2008I have not seen any of these ads until right now. I have nothing to say about the ad itself either way, positive or negative. it just kind of happened. the fact that they made it at all though is something i like.
I hate 95% of the Mac spots, hate Justin Long by association, yet somehow like John Hodgman more. The web banner ads they’ve done with those characters however, have been pretty damn good.
Now, if we’re going to get into any computer war arguments. I work on a Mac at work and a PC at home, and don’t really see much of a difference. I prefer Mac’s shortcuts, prefer Safari over Firefox and Explorer, but really do not care for iTunes over Windows Media Player and the other toys I have at home.
Also, the Mac’s I use have had so many more crashes and overheats, etc than I’ve ever had at home. They don’t “just work” and Mac cultists are infinitely annoying.
Posted by Goon on September 19th, 2008Jon Rocks…..I hope you aren’t saying these ads are somehow on a higher plane of intellect, because if you are insinuating it, you are taking them way too seriously.
Posted by Baychuk on September 20th, 2008Can’t a differentiation be made here? I mean, you can look at the ads themselves and say they’re not particularly great while at the same time say that the intent and off-beat method and marketing are genius. You know how people talk about artistic success and critical failure and vice versa, well there should be a category for conceptual and marketing among those three to mess around with.
I wouldn’t argue that they’re on a somehow higher plane of intellect merely because of the content of the ads, even though in a way I find bizarre humor often takes more intellect to create and appreciate than a lot of comedy. But I could also argue that they are because they absolutely are challenging what you can do with ads and commercials. Because of this ad I hope other companies consider doing something different and indirect about their brand. Unfortunately if this particular case doesn’t sell (forget if people give it a thumbs up, they’ll check the sales figures), then people may balk at that opportunity.
Finally, looking back if this ad had featured Bill Gates and say, Gary Busey, doing the EXACT SAME THINGS in this ad, I think it would be a hell of a lot better received and appreciated for its bizarreness. Having Seinfeld in there, and paying him 10 mil for it, makes people expect something else.
Posted by Goon on September 20th, 2008@Sean: That article is right: Apple has to be the only company that could throw itself in the console ring and thrive. I’ve been thinking Apple should make a system since the beginning of this console generation…I don’t believe they are even thinking it at this point either but I know it could be a beautiful thing. If only Steve Jobs wasn’t so obsessed with iPhones right now.
Posted by Ryan M. on September 20th, 2008From Goon:“Finally, looking back if this ad had featured Bill Gates and say, Gary Busey, doing the EXACT SAME THINGS in this ad, I think it would be a hell of a lot better received and appreciated for its bizarreness. Having Seinfeld in there, and paying him 10 mil for it, makes people expect something else.”
Yeah, I think what is missing here is it being genuine. Overall it is awkward and obtuse at best. Maybe they should have done an “The Office” promo….Does Dunder-Mifflin do Microsoft? Why the fuck not?
Posted by Baychuk on September 20th, 2008What a weak Open Forum Friday. What does this have to do with movies? I could care less about the latest Microsoft commercial. How about talking about our favorite Evil Cop movies in light of Lakeview Terrace. This is Film Junknot MediaBytes.
Posted by ProjectGenesis on September 21st, 2008What a weak Open Forum Friday. What does this have to do with movies? I could care less about the latest Microsoft commercial. How about talking about our favorite Evil Cop movies in light of Lakeview Terrace. This is Film Junk not MediaBytes.
Posted by ProjectGenesis on September 21st, 2008I don’t know PG, slow news week really. I mean, what else would create around 20 posts on this site? Debate whether the new version of the Women matches the satiric bite of the 60-something year old original?
Posted by Goon on September 21st, 2008I think these would be great super bowl commercials, they should of waited to air them until then
Posted by Drew on September 21st, 2008Well we’ve posted about commercials in the past and I think they are relevant to filmmaking. In this case I was more just interested in whether or not people think Seinfeld is still funny, but if you need a connection, I also mentioned that Michel Gondry directed one of the commercials too.
Posted by Sean on September 22nd, 2008Funny you mention that. I flipped randomly to TCM this week and suddenly got caught up in a breezy, fun, gossipy movie involving four women sitting in a room talking smack about each other (in jest) and other women (seriously) I recognized Rosalind Russell, who for the record was pretty damn hot and cool, so I watched maybe forty minutes before before I HAD to know what it was. I went to TV Guide.com and Walter Thrill Hill low and behold it was the original 1939 The Women! A year some say was the best year of movies ever. Some say 1999. For me its probably ‘86. Platoon, Aliens, Ferris Bueller, Big Trouble in L China, Back to School, The Fly, Stand By Me, Hannah & Her Sisters, etc. I don’t know, let’s discuss it? A better topic than some crappy commercial, IMO.
Posted by ProjectGenesis on September 22nd, 2008Leave a Reply