The Simple Life: Gates and Seinfeld, the Hilton and Richie of Tech
by John Paczkowski
Posted on September 12, 2008 at 8:53 AM PT
The appeal of Fox’s reality show, “The Simple Life,” may have eluded you and me, but it has clearly struck a chord with Microsoft and its new ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which seems to view Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld as the Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie of tech. To wit, “New Family,” the second spot in the CP+B-produced campaign for Microsoft (MSFT), which features Gates and Seinfeld moving in with a family of “real people” and connecting with them.
Like the first ad in the campaign, “Shoe Circus,” this spot clearly isn’t intended to pitch anything. It’s meant to redeem and recondition Microsoft’s public image, which has been turned into a joke by Apple’s (AAPL) persistent and devastating mockery. Consider Cupertino’s latest “Get a Mac” ad in which John Hodgeman’s PC character presents a faux editorial, “Stop Switching to Mac!,” on Time.com, NYTimes.com and elsewhere.
How do you respond to something like that?
Perhaps by showing folks that you’re a market leader that’s not quite as stodgy as they’ve been lead to believe. “Just as somebody might tell a joke to lighten up a room or get somebody’s attention before changing gears, these first ads were designed to tap people on the shoulder and say, ‘Excuse me. We’re back and we’d love a few moments of your time,’ Windows Director Chris Flores explains. “Will seeing Bill and Jerry enjoy each other’s company make people run out and buy a new laptop? Or correct misperceptions some non-users might have about Windows Vista? Certainly not. We’d be crazy to think they would. That’s why we’re continuing the Mojave Experiment ads. That’s their job. And they do their job simply by giving people who’ve never done so an excuse to check out Windows Vista for themselves. But this campaign, when fully unveiled, will talk about Windows in all its forms. Not just the OS for PCs we happen to be shipping today. In fact, not just an OS. And not just on PCs. Simply put, this campaign isn’t about Windows Vista. It’s about Windows. That might not be what some folks were/are expecting. And it might be hard to believe given what you’ve seen so far. But remember, we have gone on record saying the broader campaign will ‘tell the Windows story’ and we intend to judge its success on that basis. In that light I think it’s pretty safe to conclude we don’t expect the little logo at the end of these spots to do all that work by itself.”
Comments
Funnier than the first one, and more explanation about where the ads are headed. Will be interesting to see what comes next.
Posted by John Mullinax at September 12th, 2008 at 12:30 pmIncredibly bad.
Bill Gates: A man with no chin.
He is welcome to one of mine.
I’ve met people, even recently, who had no idea what an Apple computer was. As in:
“Mac, my son old me I should get an Apple computer. What is that?”
Eventually, all such people will die. Or at least that seems to be Apple’s philosophy.
There was the Apple II, then the Lisa, then the MacIntosh, now shortened to “Mac”, which I find personally offensive.
Why hasn’t there been a NEW Apple computer worthy of a new name? Will all future Apple computers be called “Mac” until they no longer make computers (which is apparently a part of their “roadmap” having dropped “Computer” from their name).
Oh I know, it was because someone brilliantly came up with the gimmick of putting an “i” in front of everything. An idea which was “cool” for about the first 500 times I heard it.
The ad campaign from MS, as bad as it is, like the Boeing aircraft ads (I don’t know anyone personally who has bought an aircraft of any kind as a result of watching an ad on TV) is introducing the company, Microsoft, to ordinary folks. And at some point ordinary folks may be interested in a phone that does more than just make phone calls and it may well be Bill Gates that takes the “Colonel Sanders” part when it comes to consumer electronics. “Oh there is that nice stumble-bum with no chin. Isn’t he cute?”
They need to watch those camera angles though. And no more creepy butt wiggling.
Posted by Mac Beach at September 12th, 2008 at 12:43 pmI think it’s quite funny that Microsoft is trying to imitate Apple. After decades of a strategy that emphasized corporate, rather than personal use, they’ve found that people (gasp) don’t like their products.
I’ve been a mac user since 1985, and I recently converted my husband, his boss, and my dad over to the mac side. Why? Because the products are easier to use, offer more features that people like to use, are fun, reliable, safe…. My husband uses his two macbooks for work and he says he’ll never go back. One downside, we still have to use Office, and the new Office for Mac really stinks.
Microsoft needs to do more than just put out ads with Jerry Seinfeld to be hip – they need to change their culture and their product development. Otherwise, isn’t it just lipstick on a pig?
Posted by Melissa Scott at September 13th, 2008 at 11:58 amThe “Hilton and Richie of Tech” — I love the analogy.
Granted, probably not the comparison that Microsoft was hoping for when they paid Seinfeld a small fortune, to add to the huge one he already has.
Apparently, they’re still Clueless in Seattle.
Posted by David H Deans at September 13th, 2008 at 12:49 pm