According to a report from in the New York Times, the next phase of Microsoft's latest ad campaign is set to begin -- sans Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Apparently, the new ads do away with the unusual (and somewhat ill-received)
banter and "
real life" experiences of the two celebrities, and trade them for an earnest embrace of...
Apple's "PC" character. Apparently, one of the new ads even begins with a
John Hodgman lookalike stating, "Hello, I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype." Beyond the flip on a rival's depiction of its brand, the campaign will feature cameos from Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra, Pharrell Williams, and even Gates -- though Seinfeld doesn't make the cut. While we're curious to see what the company cooks up in the new ads, it does strike us as somewhat odd that the supposed narrative Microsoft was establishing with Gates and Seinfeld has abruptly been abandoned in favor of these new spots. Is this a decision which was made long ago, or did the largely negative /
confused reaction to the last set of ads force the company's hand? We only have its official statement to go on: "We will be executing the second phase of our advertising campaign tomorrow, as planned from the start."
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted September 17th 2008 9:05PM
It'd be a waste if they have made more Seinfeld episodes but would decide not to air them anymore. I really liked the Seinfeld ones, so I hope Microsoft has hired Seinfeld to do like 50 of those episodes, one per week for like a whole year. That'd be really cool.
It's not like Microsoft cannot afford more then one ad campaign going on at the same time..
I'm no Windows fanboy, in fact I'm a Linux fanboy but this is just dumbass:
"Is this a decision which was made long ago, or did the largely negative / confused reaction to the last set of ads force the company's hand? We only have its official statement to go on:"
"We will be executing the second phase of our advertising campaign tomorrow, as ****planned from the start****." [my emphasis]
so it's friggin obvious - they had planned it from the start. - Read your fecking copy before you post it.
Somehow, I don't think that Apple are exactly worried about this. Let's be honest here, Microsoft has no clue how to advertise its products, mostly because it hasn't really needed to for about a decade or more. The recent ads prove they have no clue and I don't see a clone advert doing much to change that.
Basically, they need to show why their product is right for the customer, or at least get the customer interested in finding out more, in a way that makes them stand out from the rest of the market. Doing adverts that either confuse the customer or apes a competitor's advert is not going to achieve this.
In case this has not been mentioned here.
"But the stars are everyday PC users, from scientists and fashion designers to shark hunters and teachers, all of whom affirm, in fast-paced, upbeat vignettes, their pride in using the computers that run on Microsoft operating systems and software.
Among them are more than 60 Microsoft employees, who are accompanied in the ads by e-mail addresses — even Mr. Gates’s (bill@windows.com)."
LOL.... 95% of the market and they still had to pull 60 of their employees for the job.
Wow, from the sounds of it, it looks like Microsoft is attempting to convince windows user that Apple has been directly insulting them, rather than the OS, the entire time. Although there might be a slight Geico "caveman" charm to this strategy, it's likely to backfire, especially if the target audience starts to "get it" and realizes that Microsoft thinks so little of their intelligence that the average user can't figure out what the Apple ads are really saying.
In a way, this is really interesting. It's the first time we've really seen Microsoft treat Apple as a threat, rather than a mere annoyance.
Hysterically funny to me that the only thing microsoft can think to do is to copy mac in everything they do. and as usual, they do it poorly.
You guys sucks so much ass discussing Apple vs Windows. Haven't we been down this road like a billion times before? People like you screw up Engadget.
Please just let me enjoy my gadgets.
If it's like Vista, it will be crap :)
Now if someone could get rid of Billy Mays, I would pay for that :)
That's funny...you guys must be on class A narcotics, everyone (d00b and his chums) stating mojave is crap. Do you think any company worth it's salt is going to spend it's hard earned pennies on an marketing campaign that paints them in a bad light? Obviously it was a carefully crafted marketing gimmick.
I can see the script for the latest Apple advertising campaign...
"I'm an Apple device of your choice"
"I'm Apple software of your choice"
"We only work together an not with anybody else"
@Rykaro
This shows how little you know about marketing. There are PLENTY of epic marketing failures. Too much for me to even list (I'm not that awake yet). Just because you spent a ton of cash in a marketing project does not guarantee it doesn't suck. And if it's so successful, why pull it before they have a chance to "lay out the story"?
On your Apple rant, do you realize that Macs (the Intel ones anyway) are now the only computers that can run virtually ANY software you can throw at them? They can run Windows, Linux, UNIX, etc. and of course, MacOS. And in case you've been living in an undersea cave for the past few years, iTunes, QuickTime, and Safari have been running on Windows for quite a while. So hang up your troll hat and nap some more.
@ spam_free
"On your Apple rant, do you realize that Macs (the Intel ones anyway) are now the only computers that can run virtually ANY software you can throw at them? They can run Windows, Linux, UNIX, etc. and of course, MacOS."
Any PC can run OS X, thanks to the OSX86 project:
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
"And in case you've been living in an undersea cave for the past few years, iTunes, QuickTime, and Safari have been running on Windows for quite a while."
Have you ever tried running iTunes on Windows? It's extremely sluggish and often crashes or freezes. Apple didn't optimize iTunes for Windows, for obvious reasons.
As far as I'm concerned, you're both trolls. And before anybody tries to label me as a fanboy, let me just say that I hate all operating systems. They're usable, sure, but at the end of the day, they make your computer crash just because they want to piss you off.
This might be my first post here, but I've been reading Engadget comments for a while now, and I'm sick and tired of all these Apple/Microsoft Fanboys.
I think these ads will play right into Apple's hands. Apple ads are designed to demonstrate an alternative to Windows PCs. If Microsoft plays into this, they'll continue to educate the public on the fact that there is another option. I think many, many PC users are very unaware about Macs or only have a fleeting understanding of what they are. Microsoft's best strategy would be to advertise PC selling points in a positive way without mention or referral to Macs or the Mac ads in any way.
Why don't they just show either:
1) a stung-out mac guy look alike locked in a cage (like Being John Malkovich, or
2) Two guys in a car where one guy is just shoving money out the window. He's the mac guy.
Jeez! This guy looks quite similar to John Hodgman (PC) from the Apple's Get a Mac campaign. This will be funny! Have a look at applediario.com, they are giving a wide coverage of this ads war.
Seinfeld is a genius! Act poorly in a couple of ad-pisodes that are crappy to begin with, make a quick $10M. Didn't the ad agency realize that he hasn't been funny since "Seinfeld"? When he did all those AMEX ads, I almost felt embarrassed for him.
Don't feel bad for Jerry... he made a quarter billion dollars during his career.
The adds were so horriful, they were terribad to the tenth degree. The funny part is they did Apples job for them. I always argued with my girlfriend that Macs were pretentious hippster toys when she would attack the PC. All she could do was shrug and walk off. Then Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld do the add where they go live with "Normal people" which just came off as to Smug Rich A-holes slumming it with the poor folk to get them to buy their product.
Seriously who thought that up and do they understand how bad it looked? The I'm a Mac, I'm a PC ads were brilliant because it played into stereotype nobody wants to be, the boring IBM nerd, Jobs new that. Gates on the other hand played into exactly what Jobs accused him and his product to be, for stuffy out of touch elitist nerds. And so now I am going to get flack from the local mac fan living with me GREAT.
So basically these commercials will be Microsoft using what was originally an Apple idea to sell their products?
How very Microsoft!
Awwwwwwwwwww!!!!!! That sucks! I LOVED the Seinfeld and Gates combo, that shit was hilarious. Really good awkward humor, it had me crackin up. These new ones I doubt will even be worth watching... I was all excited for episode 3. :(
Eva Longoria pushes Windows? Please.
"Hey, I may not know a LAN from L'Oréal" but trust me, you should use Windows. It made me the Desperate Housewife I have become. Just ask Alexandra Paressant."
I love reading the pages and pages of comments from people bashing vista. 80% of whome have probably never sat down and used it. This is why MS needs to fight back with marketing, This was the point Mojavee was trying to make.
At first i did not like vista at all. I did not want to change, My hardware was not fast enough, I did not understand how the memory management worked, and did not understand why i needed 4GB of ram. But after upgrading my computer to a system that is much more suited for vista. I am very happy with it. It is by far more stable than XP was, Far more secure, and after a short adjustment period much more user friendly. I honestly cannot fathom the idea of going back to XP.
Yes if you have a pos computer you cannot run vista very well it does not scale down. But you should probably do the world a favor and upgrade your computer, It's not expensive. Also, OEM's such as HP and DELL should stop selling shitty computers with vista on them, and instead sell computers that are capable of running vista properly.
And on another note. OSX feels like Windows 3.11 in contrast. Why do i need to open a window and navigate a series of icons and windows to get to a program? Thats soooo 1992
Shadow: That's pretty ironic, don't you think? You're complaining about the people bashing Vista because you think they haven't tried it, and then at the end you complain about OS X because you're completely unfamiliar with how to use it. Your complaints about OS X are idiotic, I can think of at least 3 different ways to get to a program that don't involve any navigating at all in OS X. The problem is you, not OS X.
In fact, by what you said it doesn't look like you know very much about any operating system at all, and you should probably just keep your comments to yourself.
Ironic, then, that Microsoft NEVER shows, talks about, or promotes Vista in their advertisements-- Not even this one. All it does is remind people that "EVERYONE uses PCs, and because of that, you should too!"
Where's the advertisement talking about Vista's features? Where's the ad that explains WHY Microsoft thinks Vista is better than OS X or Linux? Where's the ad where they talk up their product, instead of talking up their company?
Show me a Windows ad that actually mentions Windows Vista!
Microsoft knows they've got a dog of a product in Vista. They're patching the holes in public relations to keep people on board long enough to introduce a new product, but they have no desire to talk about Vista on their advertisements because they know Vista can't sell itself.
Well, I have to admit I was wrong. The ad is actually pretty good. It underlines the idea that the "I'm a PC" guy is just a stereotype, and that PC users come from all walks of life. Well done, MS.
However, it also points out how common and widespread the Windows experience is, such that you're just one of billions who will be treated as such by MS, rather than an individual who stands out from the crowd. Ultimately, it is the opposite of the Apple "Think Different" campaign from years ago. We could call this the Microsoft "Think Like One of the Crowd" campaign.
High score for doing what they intended, but low score for their intentions being so predictable and common.
oh look microsoft doing what they do best, stealing other peoples ideas and executing them more poorly than the original, i feel bad for people who still use windows with their undying love c'mon wake up, try a mac and realize what your missing out on, i used to hate apple with my whole heart to until i bought one, now ill never go back...linux-no comment never used it tried it a few times thats all