Bill Gates Steals the Show From Jerry Seinfeld in 90-Second Windows
'Teaser Ad'
By Abbey Klaassen
Published: September 05, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- You could be forgiven for not knowing what that
the heck Microsoft's new TV ad from Crispin ****ter & Bogusky, which made
its debut during last night's National Football League opener, was
about.
In the ad for Windows, the Seinfeld humor is par for the course, if not
a bit disappointing, but it's Mr. Gates' hokey delivery that's the star
of the ad.
In the ad for Windows, the Seinfeld humor is par for the course, if not
a bit disappointing, but it's Mr. Gates' hokey delivery that's the star
of the ad.
The only reference to Windows, the product it promotes, comes in the
last half-second of the minute-and-a-half spot in the form of the
Windows logo. Of course, a big hint you were possibly watching an ad
from Microsoft is that it stars the man synonymous with the company,
Bill Gates.
The spot opens with Jerry Seinfeld shopping at a mall when he spots Mr.
Gates trying on shoes at the very cheesy Shoe Circus. Mr. Seinfeld
proceeds to resize Mr. Gates' feet, give him advice about breaking in
new kicks (shower with them) and, after some talk of Mr. Gates' Jupiter
mind being melded to the Saturn-ringed brains at Microsoft, asks Mr.
Gates when Microsoft will introduce something new that would make
computers moist and chewy, like cake. The Windows logo pops up right
after the word "Delicious."
Huh?
The Seinfeld humor is par for the course, if not a bit disappointing,
and it's Mr. Gates' hokey delivery that's the star of the ad. But the ad
is a classic Crispin ****ter oddity, and the software maker can only hope
the weird exchange between Messrs. Seinfeld and Gates can garner the
kind of buzz that, say, its peculiar iteration of the Burger King mascot
did for the fast feeder.
Few other recent advertiser-agency relation****ps have garnered the kind
of attention the Microsoft-Crispin partner****p has. In part that's
because Microsoft is banking on it to reverse the drippy image it's
picked up thanks to Apple's "Mac vs. PC" ads; its cor****ate reputation
could also use a boost after a rough Vista launch and a failed bid to
jumpstart its internet strategy by buying Yahoo. It's also because,
well, the agency and client seemed like strange bedfellows: a shop known
for its risk-taking creative executions paired with a fairly
conservative client whose pedigree was in technology.
It's apparently just a "teaser ad," Brad Brooks, cor****ate VP-Windows
consumer product marketing at Microsoft, said in a video interview on
Microsoft's press site, about the first spot in a closely watched $300
million campaign. It is meant to "get the conversation going."
The spot ends with Mr. Seinfeld asking Mr. Gates for a sign that
something new was coming. "Adjust your shorts," the comedian suggests.
One very slight hip ****mmy later and the ad was over.
--
It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.
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