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Ad Exec Says Microsoft as Victim Doesn't Work Either

Ad Exec Says Microsoft as Victim Doesn't Work Either

by , 3:20 PM EDT, September 18th, 2008

A New York ad executive has noted that Microsoft likely terminated the Jerry Seinfeld ads prematurely. She also doubts that the new campaign which launches on Thursday night, with Microsoft cast as the victim, will work any better.

Kathy Sharpe is the CEO of New York-based interactive ad firm Sharpe Partners. "Casting Microsoft as a victim still doesn't work for me," she said. "They aren't victims. Apple just is smarter about this sort of thing."

Ms, Sharpe was more approving of the idea of showing the PC as a diverse tool used in many different ways.

Looking back at the first two ads, the ad executive was skeptical. "The first two ads and their variants were a very expensive way to build buzz -- and not necessarily positive buzz," she said. "I don't know who they thought they were targeting in those ads." As a result, she believes that Microsoft terminated the Seifeld/Gates series earlier than planned.

In contrast, she had glowing words for the Apple campaign. "Somehow the Mac always wins but they do so charmingly. It's just a very well done campaign."

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Guest
Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:40 pm Subject: It's hard not to laugh but...

I think this is what's known in the ad trade as 'plan B'.


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Close Name:fartheststar Posts: 222 Joined: 04 Jan 2004
Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:10 pm Subject: next up...

Plan C.


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Close Name:Guest
Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:04 pm Subject: Windows screen shots made in a mac!

Some of the images in

www.microsoft.com/presspass/windows/imageGallery.aspx

are actually made on a Mac Hilarious.

I made a screen shot of the exiff file of one of them. See it here

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3168/2869094754_d54a8df76b_o.png


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Close Name:xmattingly Posts: 266 Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:11 pm Subject: Score?

Grade "D"


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Close Name:Guest
Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:09 pm Subject: Its a fact!

The ad agency hired by Microsoft runs on Macs.

WARNING: The above may exceed the maximum FDA recommended dosage of irony.


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Close Name:Hengemasta Posts: 25 Joined: 18 Sep 2008
Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:26 pm Subject: Nothing new...

Well, it just goes to show that MS has to copy more ideas from Apple... some traditions will never change! I wonder if they realize how pathetic this is gonna make them look to the general public...


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Close Name:salparadise Posts: 17 Joined: 02 Apr 2008
Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:17 am Subject: Hard to feel sorry for them.

Two thirds of the IT world, half the governments on earth plus a fair proportion of their user base have been begging/screaming/pleading/legislating for a kinder Microsoft, a far better version of Windows, an end to the greed, and end to the enforced hardware upgrades and a proper security model.
And in response they release Vista!

They deserve everything that's coming.


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Close Name:UpQuark Posts: 92 Joined: 26 Aug 2001
Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:09 am Subject: Not true!

Quote
Guest wrote:
Some of the images in

www.microsoft.com/presspass/windows/imageGallery.aspx

are actually made on a Mac Hilarious.

I made a screen shot of the exiff file of one of them. See it here

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3168/2869094754_d54a8df76b_o.png


Nice try. I just checked all the images on that page and all of them are tagged as "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows"
I am not a fan of MS OS, but am a furious warrior against misrepresentation. Your claim is bogus.


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Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1922 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:16 am Subject:

Quote
salparadise wrote:
Two thirds of the IT world, half the governments on earth plus a fair proportion of their user base have been begging/screaming/pleading/legislating for a kinder Microsoft, a far better version of Windows, an end to the greed, and end to the enforced hardware upgrades and a proper security model.
And in response they release Vista!

They deserve everything that's coming.

Well put. I fix XP at work (the company will not allow Vista on site) but I don't care for Microsoft?s tactics, or arrogance, or frankly their marginal software. What I don't understand are people that actually LIKE Windows.

I have the misfortune to work with a guy that tries to tell me that Windows is "the best OS ever made". He will expound at length about how "Vista is fantastic, you just have to let it run for a few weeks and ALL the problems go away". My favorite rant is when he insists that "almost every problem that Microsoft has had with Windows 2000/XP/Vista are from badly coded drivers and applications that don't follow Microsoft?s rules. It?s all the fault of the third party coders and developers.? He is also fond of expounding on how "Windows is more secure than any other OS on the market but with such a large proportion of the market everyone is gunning for Windows." Yeah, right, whatever.

I just smile, nod, and let him rant. What he doesn?t seem to see is how the user experience is different for non Windows computers. On Monday I?ll listen to him describing how he rebuilt this or that system at home, is fighting to get X package running, or how he spent half a day patching and scanning a friend?s computer. He never hears the same from me.

My Macs work so I don?t have to spend much time working on them.


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Close Name:Guest
Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:54 am Subject: Nope

They have since been changed. I suppose MS just didn't like the irony of it.


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Close Name:Guest
Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:54 pm Subject:

Quote
UpQuark wrote:
Quote
Guest wrote:
Some of the images in

www.microsoft.com/presspass/windows/imageGallery.aspx

are actually made on a Mac Hilarious.

I made a screen shot of the exiff file of one of them. See it here

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3168/2869094754_d54a8df76b_o.png


Nice try. I just checked all the images on that page and all of them are tagged as "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows"
I am not a fan of MS OS, but am a furious warrior against misrepresentation. Your claim is bogus.


Actually, MS changed the image data after the story broke. The claim isn't bogus, it was widely reported on the web earlier, notably by PC World here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/151315/macs_produced_part_of_microsofts_im_a_pc_ads.html


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