Microsoft recently announced that they were hiring comic Jerry Seinfeld to do a series of ads for $10 millon. Yesterday they posted the first spot, amusingly, to YouTube. In this spot, Seinfeld helps Gates buy shoes, then they enjoy churros together. Then you upgrade to Vista.
Funny? Or the opposite of what is funny? Somewhere in between perhaps. Seinfeldian humour alone can't save you from absurdity. Microsoft, I've seen you try to market effectively for years, and it keeps hurting to watch. Please end the hurt. Yes, the blogs will be hard on you, even calling it "the worst ad ever". I wouldn't go that far, but these reactions happen because Microsoft doesn't give the tech world many reasons to like it in the first place.
Neat in-joke: at 0:56, the picture on Gates "platinum card" is a famous Albuquerque police mugshot taken of Gates in 1977 for running a stop sign, in his Porsche 911, without a license.
For a comparison of sorts, watch this recent Apple ad where the PC tries to catch college students.
About the College students Apple ad: "The fact that you run Microsoft Office" is a selling point for Apple? wow.
I like this Mac ads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEAGmBRC1dc
@Felipe: I agree, running MS Office isn't much of a "feature" for the Mac, but historically, it has been a sticking point for students switching from Windows if their school treats Office as the gold standard of office suites.
