Microsoft enlists Seinfeld, Gates to battle "Get a Mac" ads
By Thomas Ricker 
posted August 21st 2008 1:50AM
posted August 21st 2008 1:50AM
Microsoft's new $300 million campaign (one of Redmond's largest ever) is set to launch with a $10 million assist from "key celebrity pitchman" Jerry Seinfeld. Yes, Bill Gates will appear as well -- the once maligned, rich corporate nerd turned adorable, rich humanitarian nerd. The campaign is said to be based on the idea of "Windows, Not Walls," stressing the need to "break down barriers that prevent people and ideas from connecting." Something we think open-sourcers might have a laugh at. Anywho, the immediate goal of the campaign is to reverse the negative public perception of Vista and thus incorporates elements of the Mojave Experiment. While we have doubts about the latter, the combination of Seinfeld's pithy observations with a bit of that Bill Gates, self deprecating humor seen in "Bill's Last Day" could be a winning combination. Whether that turns the slow moving boat of public opinion remains to be seen.
P.S. The campaign is said to debut on September 4th. Mulva.
Question which ad is the one they are showing I never recall seeing that ad, and I have seen most of them.
@flashpoint "roger Dangerfield"
I never cared for his as much as Chuck Rock, Greg Carlin, or Roger Pryor.
If it's anything like Bee Movie TV Juniors that we were subjected to earlier this year, I'm sure EVERYONE will switch to Mac.
Yeah Apple is more expensive b/c your pc box and the software it comes bundled with are done by different companies. The pc folks are just assemblers of the stuff they buy over seas and they pay MS to use their OS. Easy biz model. Apple takes on he cost of both hardware and software. So, you get a slightly more expensive system but it is worth it IMO.
And Apple floats its own boat with that badass OSX! They don't need Vista to burn rubber baby! But Dell and company do.
Dell can't get up in the morning without daddy MS!
Nor can Sony, Lenovo and the rest of them clowns.
Redmond doesn't have shackles on Apple! So back the f*ck up!!!!!!
Actually, Dell was the first of the top 5 to sell desktops without windows.
I always hated does gay Mac commercials!
Mac is so "gay" oriented!!!!
Thanks for raising the bar, Sergio.
I have nothing against Microsoft putting out ads, but I don't believe they're going to help at all, honestly. Just look at where Microsoft is, does it seem like ads are going to help?
Moblie Me would be a better target, If they had any sense.
Didn't Seinfeld (at least on his show) use a Mac? I remember just about every model from an old Performa to the TAM on his desk.
Seinfeld is really funny. i remember back in the old days i used to watch it all the time. but a new show has replaced them. ITS ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA. people on imdb and i quote say "seinfeld on crack" give it a try. if you want the whole series i suggest you to download on mininova. the cast of Its Sunny is. danny devito, charlie day, glenn howerton, rob mcelhenney and kaitlin olson. classic orginal and hilarious.
Well, you see, she had Mac hands...
@Flashpoint: Jeez, nobody said Seinfeld was a genius, but as far as cheesy tv-friendly shows go, his show was pretty funny. It's pretty dated now but at the time it was pretty original and much better than a lot of other TV comedies. Anyway, it's all opinion so no point arguing that. The thing that got me are the following quotes:
"If this show didn't have a certain type of watcher....it wouldn't have lasted as long as it did."
"Seinfeld is proof that even not-funny shows can be FORCED to succeed due to special interest preference. Seinfeld's people were behind him and apparently that was enough to keep him in good timeslots."
Who, pray tell, are these "certain types", "special interests" and "Seinfeld's people"? Where is this vast conspiracy dedicated to getting comedies put on the air just to piss you off? The show entertained a lot of people and made lots of money. End of story. If you like comedy that is more raw or scathing or satirical (which I also do) there is plenty of that out there too. Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks and those guys would not have wanted to do TV comedy nor should they have. It was not their style. TV comedy is usually lighter and sillier than serious and anti-establishment.
Seinfeld "We got a lot in common, I was big in the 80s too."
I can think of a much more appropriate choice.
Don't bother him just now, he's still thinking.
"You know, PC, just because he tricked you into liking Vista doesn't mean you should have punched him in the balls."
"Yeah, but you at least have to admit, I do spreadsheets good n' stuff"
"Yeah, that's true. Plus it was pretty funny when he said, 'Hey! I mean what's with the punching in the @#$%$%??'"
If memory serves me right... didn't Seinfeld have a Mac sitting proudly in his apt... that was when Macs were a very rare sight indeed especially on TV! It took them two years to come up with this... wow Microsoft is tech equivalent of the democrats when it comes to media savy!
The Mac just sat there on his desk and was never used.
Just goes to prove the age-old aphorism about Macs, all show and no go -- style over substance.
More money for Jerry lol
http://ipsnitch.net
I'm not going to pile through the 200 sum comments left thus far, but I will leave the world with one passing thought....
Here's to the crazy ones. The rebels. The trouble makers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius because the people that are crazy enough to think they can change the world usually do...
This aired during the finale of Seinfeld complete with a picture of a very young Jerry Seinfeld. I'm not sure what this proves except that money can buy and corrupt almost anything and anyone. Apple should re-air this after every new Microsoft commercial featuring to Seinfeld to honor just what a unoriginal tool he has become in his old age.
Sorry to hear that you're leaving this world after having just one thought, but even more sorry that the thought was about passing...
Flush twice, it's a long way to the Apple corporate cafeteria.
So the ad will go like this:
Cutesy baby music starts playing.
JS: Hi I'm Jerry Seinfeld and I'm a Mac.
BG: And I'm Bill Gates and I'm a PC running Windows Vista
JS: [funny little comment]
BG: "Windows not walls"
JS: Gosh Bill, you're right.
Music comes to a close.
Fin.
Dolores!
Somebody has to fight back against "the cult of mac"
Or people would only believe one thing and eventually would be brainwashed to the point of no return.
ex: "video editing?"
" Yeah you need a mac to do that,,yep only a mac...."
And God forbid they become **zombmacies!!!!
I think its time for Ubuntu to start putting out ads... LAWL
Sweet fancy Moses! Well, I guess they're going to appeal to the "get off my lawn" demographic. Remember Jerry's "flash-forward" scene where he was envisioning being an old man, in the same apartment with an elderly Kramer, and then impulsively proposed to Janeane Garofalo? This campaign might look kind of like two old guys trying to look hip. Hope not, though...Jerry has always been intrigued by advertising (he even mentioned opening an ad agency as one of his possible post-sitcome vocations). And let's not forget that George once sold PCs for Frank before Kramer went Incredible Hulk on them! Oh well...sometimes all you can say is SERENITY NOW!
Vista is a joke. Vista just does a limited version of what linux has been able to do for ages. Vista is an immitation of Mac and mac aint really all that great. I believe we should see through theese overpowering makerting brainwash and go for the free and open alternative. A user of vista does not own it just the right to use it. With Linux you are free to do more and you own the product installed. Please Get Linux.
Transcript of rejected commercial found here...
http://lairigmarketing.typepad.com
Weird... Seinfeld is a Mac user :P
i fucking HATE those mac commercials. all they do is brainwash young people ("macs dont get viruses, and they're the only laptops that come w/ built in cameras too =)....thats why i'll def go w/ a macbook over a windows laptop" jackasses
Hehehe... but he always had a mac on his apartment... Should have gotten Mr. Pitt for that :-)
As much as I love Jerry Seinfeld, his placement in these Get a Microsoft gigs won't deter me from supporting my favorite company; Apple. Oh and BTW Mr Gates? Steve Jobs thought of it first, stop stealing ideas ya twat.
As much as I love Jerry Seinfeld these get a Microsoft ads will not deter me from supporting my favorite company; Apple. Oh and by the way Bill Gates stop "borrowing" other people's ideas makes you look like a monopolizing blowhard... oh wait, YOU ARE a Monopolizer! Fancy that?
"Windows, Not Walls,"
ROFL this is gonna be cool! Finally...
Bill Gates is "the master of his domain."