Has anyone actually figured out the new Seinfeld-Bill Gates ad?

all I can figure out is that its the start of a campain. Like when Nike put Just Do It up and nothing else.

And I think someone tried to write it like Jerry Seinfled wrote it and then put him in it.

All i can say is Microsoft better make an edible computer or im going to be fucking pissed.

They’re trying to be cute. They’re trying to put a friendly face on Bill Gates – weird, since he’s no longer in charge there – but which is a sure sight better than trying the same with Steve Ballmer.

In short, they’re trying, in a way, to play the game by the rules that Apple has established.

And, in business, unless you flat play the game better at all levels, then playing by your competitor’s rules is a losing strategy. You’ve gotta change the game. Play your own game. That’s how Apple got to where it is now.

The amount of money they’re spending on this overall campaign, I expect to see some mildly entertaining stuff, at least. And like the uberbatman said, I want my moist, chewy computer asap.

@ robmandu – excellent point, apple “thought different”

MS is definitely trying to respond to the Mac commercials. Unfortunately they need to do more than respond to a commercial. While the next iteration of OS X (snow leopard) has put it’s focus from usability and design to making the OS easier for developers and faster for users. MS needs to go back to basics first with their OS and focus on usability and a smaller footprint. Vista’s install is 8gb. That’s ridiculous. Just my opinion of course. I’m not saying MS is evil or anything. They make a good product for what it is, but they need to figure out a better way to go about it.

They do not now and have never known how to do good advertising. This ad is stupid, does not focus on what it’s for, and makes no point.

I don’t need to figure it out…I thought it was hilarious!

Can you please explain it then?

WOW! I saw it this morning and I was just about to ask this question! I have no clue! Edible PCs? Bill Gates losing money and being forced to shop at discount shoe stores? I have no idea!

There’s nothing to explain. It’s the first step in a ground-up rebuild of their brand. They’ve realized what’s working against them isn’t their products or Apple. It’s their own brand.

Public sentiment is against Vista. But most people don’t realize that many of the bugs and problems that Vista had at launch are actually fixed. Nobody wants to give it a chance because the buzz is simply bad. That was the basis for the Mojave experiment, which proved very positive for Microsoft.

So in light of that, they’ve started a new campaign to change the course of their current momentum. They want to put a face on their company. Bill Gates has turned the corner as a public personality and has gone from Lame Nerd to Cool Nerd. People once didn’t like him, now they do. So by putting him front and center- they hope to soften Microsoft’s image. Eventually they will get to the specifics of the software, but right now they are concentrating on the brand. People don’t buy Tide because it cleans their clothes better- they buy it because they feel comfortable with the brand. Microsoft is trying to make people comfortable with their brand, because Windows XP won’t last forever, and once its life cycle is over, people will either accept Vista and it’s successors, or they won’t. And if they don’t- that’s a lot of users Microsoft doesn’t want to lose.

Did anyone watch the alternate ending someone made for the commercial on youtube?

@jballou I agree with you that they do need to rebrand themselves and while I agree XP won’t last forever it will last quite a while. I know a few people and companies that had to just upgrade from 2000 because the software wasn’t able to run anymore. It’s 08 and they just upgraded. I’m not saying the lifecycle for xp is limitless, I’m just saying it’s penetrated the market so deeply that unless the next version of Windows fixes the issues Vista created, they’re gonna continue to lose customers. and while some of the issues have been fixed, the larger issues still remain, memory management, large install, no journaled filing system and there are still buggy video drivers and some stock hardware still isn’t supported

@PnL had not seen that. Screamingly funny!

@tWrex I agree that they need to actually fix Vista’s problems, but they also need to win back the public trust. Their biggest problem with Vista is no matter how good they make it, public perception is that Vista sucks. I’ve talked quite a few people who are adamant about Vista sucking and they’ve never once even seen it running.

This is quite a difference from Apple who has to keep their stores open 24 hours when they release a OS upgrade just to keep up with the demand of their customers.

Microsoft sees the potential in having a stronger brand identity that is more closely tied to a personality then to an individual product.

@jballou Good points and I totally agree with you.