The next in the series of new Microsoft ads has been released. I like it. But it totally doesn’t relate to the Seinfeld/Gates commercials. And…didn’t I just see an interview with Pharrell Williams where he proclaimed himself a Mac guy? Tsk tsk. Maybe he fell for the Mojave Experiment????
Still NO mention of Vista, the OS these ads are supposed to tout…
Garret Ohm
http;//www.orange-element.com
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Yyyyyyyeah, it’s cool and all, but the total lack of continuity with the Seinfeld/Gates spots is disturbing.
I feel like this might help them stop the bleeding a little. But it certainly won’t win them back any of the users they’ve lost to Apple already.
Man. I have been hemming and hawing over whether or not I like this campaign. And I am starting to lean towards that the whole thing is a bit misguided.
The first two commercials did generate a lot of buzz. When the commercial came on I would go silent and listen to what my friends and family would say about it. They have noticed the spots, but they seem to be just as confused about them as those in the industry are.
If the message in the first campaign is that Bill Gates is one of the people, or at least going on this enlightening journey to connect with the common man, why are you adding another rich celebrity into the mix. All the borrowed interest of Jerry Seinfeld does is muddle your message. Bill Gates was surprisingly funny on his own… him doing the robot power down makes me laugh every time. Lord knows how much Seinfeld was paid to be in those spots– it goes against what you are trying to say.
Then we jump to what almost seems to be an entirely different campaign. And they seem to be on the defensive. By acknowledging what Apple has been able to do with their commercials, you are only reinforcing their stance. Why have the PC guy right at the beginning of the commercial saying “I have been made into a stereotype.” You can relay your messaging while being on the offensive, rather than be reactionary to your competitor.
And while being human is hip in a lot of today’s advertising (i.e. Dow Chemicals Human Element campaign), the guy in the end who says he’s a human being, not a human doing, not a human thinking, a human being, makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. So trite.
I would have to guess that what has been more effective for Microsoft are the commercials on the blind Vista testing, where people use the computers, praise it, and then find out it was Vista, an operating system that has been railed on by Apple and tech reviews.
Thanks for all the quick updates on this campaign, Garret.
Better. But obvious. Seems the expected response and direction– to humanize PC users. I was actually hoping the “safe” concept wouldn’t surface. I guess I was hoping for more. For me, it actually strengthens the Apple Brand as they brought this concept to the masses first. That said, I do like the many different directions that the story might go if CP + B decides to focus in on any one of these individual PC users. That could get interesting as the plot unfolds….
The wording in this commercial opens itself and PC’ in general up to criticism. The writer at the end comments “I’m a PC and I’m a human being … not a human doing, not a human thinking …”
In the state of being human, an excellent quote. But I’m pretty sure when trying to relate “ourselves” as PC’s … saying that you aren’t doing or thinking, you just “are” is a poorly placed idea.
I’m a PC and my computer doesn’t try to kill me
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