Microsoft’s first “Seinfeld ad” a bigger disaster than the Hindenburg
Wow. You can’t buy this kind of chemistry! Actually, i guess you can, which is likely the problem here. Suddenly I am not all that worried about the rumored $300 million Seinfeld/Bill Gates Microsoft ad campaign meant to counter Apple’s popular Get A Mac ads.
“Shoe Circus” - the first Microsoft ad featuring Seinfeld (and hopefully the last).
I don’t know whether I am supposed to want to buy Clown shoes or Vista, but after watching this, I want to buy both about the same amount.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Kyle for the link!
September 4th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Holy shit.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I just threw up a little in my mouth. HOW much did they spend on that?
September 4th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I think they paid Seinfeld $10 million.
-The Doc
September 4th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
That’s simply bad. Not lousy, not off the mark, not an interesting try. Bad. It’s not funny, it’s not informative, it’s not sympathetic. It’s bad. It doesn’t connect with people, with companies, even with any Microsoft products. It’s so bad it’s beyond embarrassing.
Somebody with a big title and bigger paycheck is going to be unemployed very soon.
Just bad.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Oh My God, Shoes!
September 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
He should have let his kids direct it. It would have been better.
Can you say douche chills?
September 4th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Never has so much been spent to accomplish so little. Maybe this was the practice ad. I don’t think they will ever air it.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Really? I mean when ur catch phrase is “the future… delicious” for a tech company u know somethings wrong.
It doesnt even make sense the entire time ur just sitting there like wtf?
September 4th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Tip for Microsoft: Larry David was the reason Seinfeld (the show) was funny, not Seinfeld. You meant to hire Larry David.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Wow… I’m a Mac/PC ads blow this out of the freakin’ water… or whatever crap microsoft is floating in.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
I can’t believe what I just saw. I’ll never get that 45 seconds back again. Terrible.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:27 am
WTF?!
September 5th, 2008 at 12:46 am
THAT’S what we need!
Moist and chewy Macs!
September 5th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Wtf was up with the fake shoe joint and the churros. I mean… I think I just got stupider watching that.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:57 am
i think this ad was supposed to have the humor of a consumer Best Buy ad and the tongue in cheek enterprise ad by IBM. unfortunately we’re stuck with chero and shoe talk. and a lot of viewers asking “wtf? is that bill gates and jerry seinfeld?”
September 5th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I liked the little touch on the card: Bill’s arrest photo.
I don’t know if it’s supposed to make me buy Windows.
September 5th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Anh, que pora e essa?????
dude. unh??? this ad is the new joke of the tech media today in the US. but tomorrow will be the joke of the whole world tech media.
dude why????
September 5th, 2008 at 2:52 am
Wow, at first I though it was just painfully bad, but now I don’t see it that way because of the medium this is probably for.
This is not meant for TV; it will never be shown on television. This is the first of a viral video series, and it’s going to be paced and have the narrative arc of an episodic YouTube-type show with YouTube-like production values. This is to draw people in and to get them to do what people do with viral video — pass it on via e-mail, digg, etc.
Overtime they will slip in surreptitiously (supposed) selling points of Vista, but I’m sure there is going to be a lot more Bill and Jerry adventures interwoven to entertain us. This is to disarm us and our collective negative knee-jerk reaction we’d have to a “Vista is great!” campaign. It’s trying to get us to feel that, “Aw, Vista’s not such a bad guy — I could see being friends with Vista.”
September 5th, 2008 at 3:01 am
should anyone be surprised on a mac site people are bashing anything related to Microsoft?
September 5th, 2008 at 3:31 am
oh dear god……….. I think it just goes to show how BAD mico$oft’$ stuff is.
September 5th, 2008 at 3:55 am
I so wanted to see a good m$ ad as in yes finally they are getting into the game. FAIL. EPIC FAIL unfortunately.
I thin anytime your get Gates into an add you are in trouble. He is the lovable awkward nerd and humanitarian but funny he is not ;(
September 5th, 2008 at 4:26 am
well i neither use windows or osx but i think its kinda funny maybe i got a little sense of humor left and not so mac osx iphone ipod itunes ishit fnatic as you are..
btw. each one of em got more money then all of you together ever see, touch and smell so who the fuck cares what you think..
September 5th, 2008 at 5:00 am
I personally liked it a lot, but just because I love seinfeld’s humor. Nonetheless I think this is a bad commercial, it communicates the wrong message (”wait for the future, a.k.a. Windows 7″, anybody?). Nice sketch, bad ad.
September 5th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Folks. I think we’re being a little harsh here. I’m suuuuuuure that they were trying to make something so obtuse and unfunny that in the months to come it would seen as “it’s so bad it’s brilliant” and rewrite advertising history. It will become a new paradigm in advertising where bad would become good. Grounbreakingly unfunny would be cool. Trust me. It’s going to be huuuuuuugggggeeeee.
I’m pretty sure that’s the angle that Balmer took. Man he’s hilarious. What a guy.
Actually the funniest thing about this whole ad is that on IE7 it simply wouldn’t load on the microsoft website; I had to use Firefox. Mircosoft really are pish
September 5th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Actually, I think it’s funny. Not sure it has anything to do with tech/computers/Microsoft/operating systems/etc, but it was funny.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:02 am
@bill
um what are you talking about? It aired last night during the opening kickoff game. I think in the 2nd quarter.
There goes that theory.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:51 am
I saw this on TV last night, so they are airing it.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:44 am
You know what? I’m going to disagree with the majority and say I love this ad. Not only is it hilarious, but it’s more respectable than Apple’s ads.
Im as big a fan of Apple as the next guy reading this blog (All my computers are macs), but I hate their ads. All they do is outline weaknesses in other products - namely Microsoft’s - and that is just cheap, uncreative advertising - almost saying ‘Pick us, we’re the better of two evils’.
Andrew.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:58 am
@Andrew B : If you don’t like Apple ads, that’s up to you, but don’t put this embarrasingly rubbish pile of cackola in the “hilarious” category. It sucked. It sucked bad. Not only is Jerry apparently 8 months pregnant, but the script, the acting and the editing were so poor that I agree with Rowlings - I did throw up in my mouth a little. Not as much as the first time I used Vista, but close…
September 5th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I thought it was funny but I’m british, the nation which brought the yanks “the office” and “monty python”
ps you’re not meant to laugh out loud
September 5th, 2008 at 9:34 am
hehe, actually that ad is pretty funny. Open your closed minds mactards. Maybe you’re too young. Or maybe you’re too closed minded. Whichever, your comments say more about you than the ad.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Okay, until I saw two people say they saw it on TV, I was expecting this would be one of those leaked internally-produced videos, like the What If Microsoft Had Designed The iPod Box that came out a year and a half ago. If they’re looking for us to pass it around, it’s working - I just sent it to my pro-MS sysadmin…
September 5th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I’m not getting it after watching it 4 times…
September 5th, 2008 at 10:19 am
@ Bill:
Vista has selling points? Really?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Even if this is an effort for a viral marketing project, this first installment is so jaw-droppingly bad there is no incentive to see chapter two.
Bill Gates showing his arrest photo and shaking his butt in one, overlong spot? Unreal.
I can see the Mac/PC spot with PC trying on shoes, wiggling his posterior, and Mac commenting on the fact he isn’t talking about Vista. To which, of course, the response is “if you can’t something good about your OS, don’t say anything at all.” Delicious.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am
the very same PC chip (intel) is found in every mac does that make macs half a PC…?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I see no value in the adv. Didn’t strike me as funny at all. Dumb. I like the old Seinfeld shows but this was just jerry acting disconnected and stupid. FYI - I am a Windows app developer but love apple from a far (don’t own iPod, Mac etc.).
September 5th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Do you think “moist and chewy” was their response to “lickable”?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am
That was wayyyy too subtle for me. What am I supposed to take away from that? Vista is such a debacle that Bill Gates is reduced to shopping at Shoe Carnival? Bill Gates is shopping at Shoe Carnival instead of fixing Vista?
Weird.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:35 am
And you’re a critic with unique insights into advertising? Uhhh…whatever.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I think it’s funny. What did you want/expect? A standup routine? It’s pretty simple; they’re trying to establish a human connection to Microsoft and their products…not a bunch of typical Microsoft techno-speak. I like the comment from the Brit; if you’re looking to “LOL” then do a search on You Tube for “Silly clown.”
September 5th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Wow I missed the last part that even said anything about vista. I thought it was the end when bill and Seinfeld were walking away… I didn’t see it tell I watched it again. lol that can’t be a good thing, the ad loses your attention at the end were the advertising is running.
There must be some subliminal messages in the ad about going out and buying vista!
September 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Okay, I “get” it. Vista, is the leather shoes. You need to wear it a while, bend it… eventually they’ll be the most comfortable and reliable shoes you’ll ever own.
The ad still sucks.
Although I agree, with SP1, Vista isn’t half bad, but for a home OS, I’ll stick with OS X. How about the real truth? Vista: great for IT management, but pants for the rest of us.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Mac fanboy or not, Jerry fan or not, this was crap-on-toast. I would expect better from Jerry and Mr. $50B. I could do better with $50.
Nonetheless, it did what it was supposed to do, we all watched, puked in our mouths, and the majority of us will watch the next one just to have something else to complain about. Human Nature and bad advertising at it’s best.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
The thing that gets me about this is that this is supposed to be a pro-Vista ad, but it addresses nothing about Vista. It just sends some wishy-washy message about Microsoft being the future or waiting for the future or something along those lines. My problem with the ad is that it’s not even clear from context what the ad is about! It seems more like Microsoft is advertising themselves rather than the product that this ad was supposedly designed to advertise. To Microsoft’s credit about the “Mojave Experiment”, it actually mentioned Vista by name! This ad doesn’t even do that! These are the ads that were supposed to change the public’s perceptions about Vista?! Yeah, good luck with that.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I think were all wrong….this is definitely an Apple ad…
XD!
September 5th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
it looks like seinfield has gotten fat and uncool in his old age. where is julia dreyfuss!?!?!!
September 5th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I thought it was humorous. It doesn’t need to make a point, it connects humor/goofiness/fun (choose one or more) with bill gates, and by proxy Microsoft/Vista. They will enforce this relationship in their subsequent ads, so windows users will say, “Yeah, windows/vista/microsoft/bill gates (choose one or more) is alright.”
September 5th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Seinfield is now Al Bundy - Wow… I’m trying to forget that era.
Mmmmm churros…. I want one of those.
September 5th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I got it!!! Jerry is WINDOW shopping when he sees bill gates.
Vista> in spanish to see, ver.
El conquistador, to conquer and the shoes are tight, so :
Windows Vista Conquers Tight ….hmmm…?
Lots of hispanic stuff going on, churros, español el conquistador and Vista…there you go…
well, I´m sure what it will conquer is left for the next commercial…In the mean time, Bill´s clown member card needs no explanation.
JAJJAJAJAJJA
September 5th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I haven’t been able to watch much past Seinfeld offering Gates a knosh, but for $10,000,000.00 you would think Seinfeld could manage a decent double-take.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
What the hell was that?
September 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
With Gate’s swishing his butt and Vista’s poor performance, well, this to me is a signal to all Vista whiners — which is mostly Vista users - is to “eat sh-t people or “kiss my a-s. If you don’t like Vista, don’t worry, you won’t like this commercial either.”
September 6th, 2008 at 12:32 am
Does anybody buy leather-soled shoes anymore?
September 6th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
It took me over a day to think of this: I think that Micro$oft is trying to show that cheap things don’t always suck… However, in M$’s case, even expensive things suck…
September 7th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
So the theme of this commercial had nothing to do with how to pick up middle-aged men in a shoe store? You coulda fooled me. Then why was Bill Gates wiggling his flat behind for all the passerby’s to see?
So Bill and Jerry weren’t really going home together to test out more leather goods such as whips and harnesses. How many of you thought that Bill and Jerry make a nice couple? Just Microsoft users, I’m sure. They’d do anything to see Bill’s buttocks wiggle.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:57 am
Sorry guys, it´s not funny to write that the failed advert is an even bigger disaster than the Hindenburg which took so many lives. Come on guys - do you really need attention so badly? You wanna tell that you can´t do better - thinking before you write? Hmmmm…..
September 8th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Just to enlighten everyone here, this is actually a very, very good ad in regards to one of the cardinal rules of advertising: it doesn’t matter how bad or good people think your ad is, as long as people remember it. And based on the number of sites I have seen this ad feverishly discussed on (most often being ripped apart as it is here), it is a huge success. This is in relation to this one ad though, whether the entire campain succeeds in its goal is another matter. So regardless of whether you love the ad or hate it (which most of you seem to), your very posts are proving that this is a very successful commercial.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:05 am
“sebastian s. Says:
September 5th, 2008 at 4:26 am
well i neither use windows or osx but i think its kinda funny maybe i got a little sense of humor left and not so mac osx iphone ipod itunes ishit fnatic as you are..
btw. each one of em got more money then all of you together ever see, touch and smell so who the fuck cares what you think..”
Well Sebastian, apparently the people who have more money than I’ll ever see, touch or smell care what the fuck I think, or else they wouldn’t have spent more money than I’ll ever see, touch or smell to bring this stupid ad, supposedly about their product, to the airwaves and web. So take your snotty attitude and shove it up your microhole.
September 21st, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Obviously they’re selling churros now.