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Microsoft to Pull Seinfeld TV Commercials
by , 5:10 AM EDT, September 18th, 2008
Microsoft is expected to announce Thursday that it will be suspending its ad campaign featuring Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and veteran comedy superstar Jerry Seinfeld.
Valleywag broke the news Wednesday, and Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw told the LA Times that the move was planned, despite the appearance that the company is reacting to negative reaction to the ads.
According to Mr. Shaw, the Seinfeld portion of the campaign, for which he was reportedly paid some US$10 million, was always intended to be just an introduction for the overall campaign -- a two commercial introduction for $10 million.
"All along we said we were having a teaser campaign," he told the LA Times. "We're getting ready to start the second phase. This was the plan all along."
The ads, which featured Mssrs. Seinfeld and Gates in ordinary situations discussing how Microsoft needs to get back in touch with its customers, have largely been panned (this reporter said they were great in the most recent Apple Weekly Report #132 podcast), with many people saying they didn't make sense.
Jerry Seinfeld helps Bill Gates try on shoes in the first ad featuring the commedian
Pundits and critics suggested the ads were an attempt by the company to counter Apple's successful "I'm a Mac" commercials starring Justin Long as the personification of the cool and hip "Mac" and John Hodgman as the stodgy "PC."
Microsoft said in the second commercial that it was trying to reconnect with customers, from whom the company, as personified by Mssrs. Gates and Seinfeld, had become distant. To most, the ads were just as distant as Microsoft itself.
Be that as it may, Big Redmond has planned on spending some $300 million on the broader campaign, which will presumably be taking a new different direction.
As of this writing, the ads are still featured on Microsoft's Windows Web page.
Observer Comments
Nice. Now just imagine how that $300 million waste _could_ have been used to improve Vista to tide us over until the inevitable launch of Windows 7. This is why at age 33 after being a "PC man" since I was young enough to use a computer, my next computer will be a MAC!
~~~~ macshill (chrismccaw)
http://www.intact.ca/
Despite Microsoft's insistence that open source is a cancer in computing and Mac is bad mmmmkay ... I continue to do more Linux and Apple in the business network arena. This was unprecedented in the past. I really don't think that Microsoft understands the consumer. Those who spend the money aren't inclined to provide the every 2 year cash infusion Redmond requires. They're taking their business elsewhere. Russonovich can't save them from themselves.
Well, if you count the fact that any sixth grader could hack a Mac inside a few hours being "open source" then I guess it is. No one is allowed to share the Mac platform and it runs a fraction of the programs that unix or windows-based systems do unless you partition the drives. Plus, there's no right click or a scroll wheel on the mouse. If I am going to pay $500-$1000 more for a computer I shouldn't have to buy a third party mouse that has those options! Vist does have its problems, but XP is far superior to any Mac OS I have encountered. If Macs were on 90% of the computers operating there would be so many viruses, code problems and general terror associated with it that Apple would have the same rep as Microsoft.
I thought the ads were done extremely well done. I'm sad to see em go as these were the first great ads I've seen them do. I think they went in the wrong direction trying to fight fire with fire against the "I'm a mac" commercials as their target consumers/audience are complete different age and career ranges
Microsoft doesn't understand the Customer??
Microsoft software is on the majority of Workstations and Servers around the world.
I guess their lack of understanding the customer is why SQL Server has made steady inroads into the Enterprise Database Market. They now have about 21% of the market from almost 0% 8 years ago.
I can understand the hostility towards MS, but they do make *some* great products. SQL Server is one of them.
OK I watched the ads. I had no idea what was supposed to be going on. I am 67 and have a Masters in history. I have four books published. I can't decide whether the world has changed so much that I just don't understand it, or, all young people are insane. The latter is how I feel when I see posters saying "they were all hilarious." I'm going with option 2!
Please don't dilute the term "hack" by applying it to password cracking. There may be fewer *total number* of programs for Mac (which has been Unix since 2000), but the programs *that matter* are much better and in many cases actually come bundled. The standard issue Apple mouse has four buttons, and a scroll ball for left-right-up-down, not just basic scrolling - you can save your money. XP may be superior, just like I consider Rock superior to Country. With millions and millions of macs on the street, I'm waiting with expectation for the first self-propagating Mac virus. Bring it on!
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QuoteGuest wrote:
Well, if you count the fact that any sixth grader could hack a Mac inside a few hours being "open source" then I guess it is. No one is allowed to share the Mac platform and it runs a fraction of the programs that unix or windows-based systems do unless you partition the drives. Plus, there's no right click or a scroll wheel on the mouse. If I am going to pay $500-$1000 more for a computer I shouldn't have to buy a third party mouse that has those options! Vist does have its problems, but XP is far superior to any Mac OS I have encountered. If Macs were on 90% of the computers operating there would be so many viruses, code problems and general terror associated with it that Apple would have the same rep as Microsoft.
Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:46 am Subject: Mac's aren't the enemy-cloud computing(mainframes) are
Hey Open Source,
Before you write your uninformed comments you should do your research. (Mac's have wheel mouses with right buttons.) But your observations are really simple. Macs are not the enemy and operating systems are not the battle ground. It will be cloud computing that will determine who is the ultimate winner. Microsoft has nothing to worry from Apple. On my desk, I have both a Mac and a PC. I use them for their purposes. Mac for video editing. PC for email. For everything else I access the internet. The PC has become a paperweight because I don't use any program on the PC anymore. The arguments about Vista vs XP are irrelevant. As long as I can access the web I'm happy. In my lifetime, we have left mainframes and returned to them - that's all cloud computing is - a mainframe in the sky.
10,000 dollars for mediocre tripe. Isn't that about par for the entertainment industry.
Here's a clue . . . if you really want to get back in touch with the "common person" try selling an affordable product that's reliable and easy to use . . . the word will get around.
On the other hand--buyer beware of a product that needs a multi-million dollar ad campaign--especially coming out of Redmond.
It is obvious that this is an attempt to use marketing hype and through big dollars at a problem that could be solved by using the same money to develop a product that really works.
Microsoft needs to completely re-write their bloated code the way that Mac did.
They had their opportunity in the 1980's when they moved from 8086 to 286, but did not take the plunge.
Gee, maybe they should use the Unix/Linux kernel like Apple did - after all, it's FREE.
IT Larry
Considering all the gloating Apple makes about their "PC with another OS", i.e. Mac, it is nice to see that Microsoft is still #1 on that front. Hell, it will still be #1 for a LONG time.
Besides, with the speed with which those Apple products that dominate their respective markets (iPhone, iPod, etc) are hacked, it is obvious to see that Mac security is a "security by lack of numbers".
Is it really that we as a population aren't sophisticated or that with the dearth of reality tv and ubiquitous news channels, we have become more literal and have a hard time with the subtle? There is nothing subtle about the Mac/PC ads, for example. I am a Mac user, but I still enjoyed the ads, even though I am just like everyone else and had to question the expense of creating something that really said nothing, even if that is Jerry Seinfeld's trademark.
Just a thought.
QuoteGuest wrote:
OK I watched the ads. I had no idea what was supposed to be going on. I am 67 and have a Masters in history. I have four books published. I can't decide whether the world has changed so much that I just don't understand it, or, all young people are insane. The latter is how I feel when I see posters saying "they were all hilarious." I'm going with option 2!
Seriously? What are the names of those books?
Although, I'm doubtful of how interesting they could be, coming from a person who cannot interpret a fairly simple ad campaign. Nonetheless, please post the names.
Exactly. Mac didn't "re-write bloated code" They used someone elses kernel with some modifications.
Neither Apple not Microsoft is everything (good or bad) that the Apple and PC fanboys make them out to be.
With the exception of the physical appearance of their products.
Apple is not innovative. The vast majority of truely NEW and innovative hardware and software have been PC first, Mac second. Except in the graphics arts, where the situation is reversed. {Well actually in the graphics arts a lot of it was Amiga first, Mac second only because the Amiga dissappeared.}
Mac's are extremely user friendly.
Microsoft is much more third-party hardware and software developer friendly than Apple.
Windows PC's are much more accessable to the general public, at a MUCH greater price/performance ratio.
Although I disaggree with Psystars business practices, I'm rooting for a Psystar win on about 1/2 their counter-charges against Apple's lawsuit.
And, I don't favor cloud computing as the be-all / end-all successor to desktop PC's. As the recent back end problems with g-mail, yahoo, and Amazon have demonstrated, the back-end technology necessary for ubiquitous cloud computing isn't ready for prime time.
May be they should hire the loser of the election.
www.boppoll.com
What MS should do is advertise how Windows Vista and XP for that matter does everything a Mac can do, but costs significantly less.
A Mid Price Notebook PC costs about $1000 and will usually outspecs an $1800 Macbook Pro.
What MS should be bringing up is that Macs are way too expensive especially and run less software. I imagine seeing a commercial where a guy or girl is in an "apple type" store about to purchase a Mac and starts asking questions about software that is only on Windows. Then the clerk tells him/her that Yes you can run that if you download our program that also lets you put windows on your Mac. Then the customer responds why do I need a Mac, it sounds like everything I want is on Windows. Then mock the Mac and say but at least its pretty.
Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:52 am Subject: Conversing with fleas
QuoteHow about giving everyone your name? Since when do people who post anonymously retain the right to demand information from anyone?Guest wrote:
Seriously? What are the names of those books?
Although, I'm doubtful of how interesting they could be, coming from a person who cannot interpret a fairly simple ad campaign. Nonetheless, please post the names.
Jesus, look at the number of posts coming from nameless vagrants. There should be a limit on the number of guest posts per article, if not banning them outright.
they;re both good OS's and I think everyone forgets they're both US companies and inspire healthy competition. Everyone loves to hate, but why? People despise Microsoft like they're some bad neighbor that keeps borrowing your tools and brings them back broken. yes, yes I know, they're evil (at least they were in the past) because they made products that didn't give you options or set them for you within they're own products...any other company can do it but when you're really really good at it people start suing. funny...
Oh you must be referring to a Mac... Except those aren't exactly what I would call "affordable" considering you pay 2x as much as you would for a PC. If Apple would release it's iron grip on it's software/hardware and actually give people some choices I might consider them on the same level as Microsoft. Or allow their OS to be legally installed on "non-Apple" hardware, since essentially that's all you are paying extra for.
The Toyota Carolla was the #1 selling car in America as of July 08. It's cheap, small, and not very powerful. It's a great car for your everyday, run of the mill driving to and from work.
The Mercedes E-class was much lower on the list. This car is more expensive, but it's more powerful, and roomier. It's overall driven by fewer people, but driven by people who appreciate performance.
This doesn't make either driver of these cars bad people, it just means some people prefer performance, and some people like to save a buck.
Okay, smart boy, if you are really good at hacking, attack my Mac! It's at 127.0.0.1; hit me with your best shot!
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20010523
Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:48 am Subject: Logical Fallacies
1)"any sixth grader could hack a Mac inside a few hours"
false premise.
2) argument from ignorance: All macs come with the Mighty Mouse, which in fact DOES have a scroll wheel (which scrolls sideways as well as up and down), and if you click on the right side of the mouse, it indeed acts like the traditional right click.
3) "it runs a fraction of the programs that unix or windows-based systems do unless you partition the drives"
argument from ignorance (again): Virtualization programs also work all windows programs now (see Parallels), all major apps (Adobe and Word for example) are produced for the Mac and the freeware/shareware for the Mac is extremely robust. I have over 300 apps on my Mac, most of them free and VERY useful tools...
4) "If Macs were on 90% of the computers operating there would be so many viruses, code problems and general terror associated with it that Apple would have the same rep as Microsoft."
Confusing association with causation
Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:50 am Subject: The Future is Linux
When was the last time you used a Mac? Back in the OS 9 days?
Seems to me like Apple has been shipping the Mighty Mouse for quite a while... (4 buttons, and a 360-degree scroll ball...)
What about the X-11 environment to run Unix apps? (Ships with OS-X...)
Don't forget the Darwin kernel that OS-X is built on... (open source, free from Apple...)
I've found as a 20-year Mac user that any software I would want to buy is avaliable for my machine. (Don't bother with the "games" argument... I use my
Mac to make a living, not to use it as a play-toy...)
Even if there were viruses for OS-X, you'd have a hell of a time catching them unless you were a total idiot...
Get with the times and update your info...
Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:44 am Subject: Re: For a real journalist take of the subject
Quote
That's not a journalists "take" on the subject. That is regurgitating what Microsoft and the advertising firm told the NYT.
HAHAHAHA! Best interpretation of a 1994 USENET troll EVAH! You should get an oscar for this performance!
QuoteGuest wrote:
Well, if you count the fact that any sixth grader could hack a Mac inside a few hours being "open source" then I guess it is. No one is allowed to share the Mac platform and it runs a fraction of the programs that unix or windows-based systems do unless you partition the drives....
"...it is obvious to see that Mac security is a "security by lack of numbers"."
Again, this is bull. Every hacker conference has challenges to hack into Macs, and every time they have to change the rules one by one until the people can get into them. And every time there are tons of people trying to beat the challenge, because they want the credit of hacking into a Mac. It doesn't matter about numbers -- it matters about hacker street cred. And they aren't getting the kind of cred they want because they can't do it well nor make it stick...
But, hey, keep trying to perpetuate the "low numbers" myth all you want...
Where did you see the ad? I watch Seinfeld and never saw it. 10 million seems like a lot of money until you consider how much money is being spent on fixing bugs in Vista and how costly it is to developed 2 operating systems at Microsoft when they already have a good one with Windows Millennium. We're in the new Millennium, so let's get back to that OS and test it with people calling it Windows OS Ten. That way we'll see if its really all about the 'sales skills' used to promote the operating system, and *not* about people who actually used the OS and thought it wasn't very good.
Yea, that is likely the problem with the Operating System - Vista, people aren't being sold it properly, or shown the cool things it *does* do, in a controlled setting, like a studio recording of folgers coffee taste test, cause after all, using a computer is much like drinking a cup of coffee. Its over in 5 minutes time, and you don't use it again till next morning.
Its fun, and 'people' dig being told stuff like this - its a real eye-opener. Just cause its crashy, slow, freezes up, isn't application friendly, and is in my face 20% of the day, well, that's my *perception*, if only I could get someone to stand next to me and show me why doing my *job* on Vista isn't what I should be trying to do, and see all these cool features, well, then my *job* of using a computer wouldn't seem to matter.