Bill and Jerry Get Real for Microsoft

im excited to keep watching. they’re a fun odd couple to watch. this is beginning to humanize the brand. now, bring on all the folks who still dont get that an ad doesnt have to sell you something full on. And the people who don’t get that the real meat is still to come. Oh, and the people who hate cpb without merit. Ready? Go…

That money would have been better spent helping Americans pay their late fees on their mortgages or rape victims in Darfur.

i don’t know. it doesn’t really make me want to buy a pc. and i’m an avowed mac hater. (i even had macmall engrave the back of my ipod to read “steve jobs is the antichrist.”) however, it’s still tons better than the shoe store spot, so all hope is not yet lost.

Pay no attention to the email I just sent you… you guys apparently got this up before Gizmodo did.

I liked the first one better. This was too drawn out for the same payoff.

That was about 3 minutes too long for me. Seems like the CP&B gang is indulging in creative masturbation, but I’ll keep watching. By the way, I’m well aware that a spot doesn’t have to directly sell something, but at some point you’ve got to make a stronger connection. Take Nike’s “my better is better than your better.” High level, but really strong product attribution.

Paul: Yeah, but at least Nike’s ad was about competition, strength and sport. This…. it’s about weird grandmas and special mustard.

Don’t get me wrong. I like watching these. but the last little bit about computers in each ad feel so forced it’s like Microsoft footed the bill for a reasonably entertaining viral and forgot to make it into an ad.

That is so damn boring. I laughed once when Jerry said “I have so many cars I get stuck in my own traffic.” Gates has no reason being there and it would be funnier if Jerry’s sidekick was a personified PC laptop, maybe with Gate’s talking head. I want to see some product or innovation, or something…hmmm.

This one was actually entertaining. It still felt long though. Is this going to be chopped up into 30 second spots for TV or is this a web video or what? And the PC mention at the end definitely feels forced. To it’s credit, it’s still better than most of the crap out there in the ad world although I’d agree with some earlier commenters that Nike does the high level spot quicker and better. Even the original mac vs pc ads were quicker and got right to the point. I don’t think people have the attention spans for this… in any medium.

Guys,

I love this site. I follow it daily. And yes, your allegiances are pretty transparent. But, it’s still fun to follow.

Let me ask you this question? You regularly bash clients that leave Denver/Colorado for the greener pastures of bigger agencies in places like NY, Chicago and LA. But, you never bash CP+B for basically refusing to work with any of our smaller Denver-based clients. That sucks for people like me. So, why is it that we expect clients to deal with what many believe to be tier-2 talent, but we won’t place that expectation on the agency from a client perspective? Seems like a double standard to me.

i am surprised we all still feel the need to be so literal. i love to see more of this type of advertising with messaging that isn’t so in your face. don’t like the tagline. is that new? not very original.
i didn’t think it was too long either, but that might be because i have lots of time on my hands.

I have to wonder what would happen if CP&B started picking up the smaller, Denver-based clients. This is a pretty small town anyway, wouldn’t that just suck work away from the few shops still trying to make ends meet?

i friggen love these ads. they’re absurd and dorky as hell (yet smart), kind of like 90% of Microsoft’s user base. so what if they don’t explicitly sell anything? i don’t need to be beaten over the head with a USP to get me to buy a product. nor do i need some heady, philosophical crap full of inspirational messages. sometimes i just like entertainment for the sake of entertainment.

then again, i also dig Huey Lewis and the News.

The chinese-food delivery guy said it all – Mac has two guys you’ve never seen or heard of before, MicroSoft has two icons. All those poor gray-PC-toting business guys on airplanes now have some bragging rights. They don’t have to switch to Macs to feel cool. That’s my $.02.

I’m definitely digging this – very entertaining. In many ways they seem to be making fun of the issues related to Windows OS.

CP&B is trying to bring entertainment and storytelling to advertising. It’s like a mini sitcom. I’m looking forward to the next installment.

maybe i’m just grumpy today, but… where’s the funny?

no idea besides “trying” to connect with real people.

i’d at least expect some lols.

or butterflies taking over NYC. now that was dreamy.

I agree that it is humanizing the brand to some extent. However, nowhere near as successfully as the Mac ads. And Bill Gates has no place in these ads. I hate when CEO’s, founders, etc. appear in commercials for their own companies, it makes me feel like they’re used car salseman…like Bill Gates is a $50 billion Dealin’ Doug.

The larger problem I have is that the video (and the shoe store spot) do nothing for me. I agree that an ad doesn’t have to sell you something. I firmly believe TV is a media best used for branding, not selling. However, I don’t see a brand emerging. Just more odd couple shlock with Bill and Jerry and a message at the end about what’s to come from Microsoft.

Not memorable other than the fact that it stars Seinfeld and Gates, and doesn’t accomplish anything.

Do people really think the mac ads are that successful? Most people I know thinks they come off pompous and make Mac look like a yuppie/hipster oriented brand.

I think people like Mac ads because they like Macs.

I don’t care either way, but it seems like people become radicals on issues like this.

I know a number of people that have switched to Macs and cite the ads, and their educational yet entertaining properties, as a key reason why along with word-of-mouth.

A small tangent, but related. I believe Apple is getting sued right now by a company that was shut down because the installed OSX on PCs. It’s an antitrust case. If they lose it, Macs won’t be the only computers running MAC OS, and that will make these ads, and the Apple ads, seem a little odd won’t it?

Paul, seems a bit unlikely to me… though I’d love to pay less for hardware.

I’m guessing that they could claim that it’s no different than an OS that runs on any consumer electronics device. If they lose, I would think that it’d impact things like video game consoles, Tivos, etc.

I think the small biz is claiming it’s unfair to only allow MAC OS to run on Apple hardware. Not sure of the law, but something tells me Apple has the OJ money to fight this one with no real problems.

These spots just strike me as MS trying to play catch-up on Apple’s successful positioning. Difference is, Apple’s spots don’t waste my time.

Oh, and paying to engrave an anti-Jobs message on your iPod is beyond stupid.

A good friend of mine, also in advertising, asked the following question – “How do you humanize a brand with two billionaires?” Of course, he was way off…Seinfeld is more of a quarter-billionaire.