First Bill Gates-Jerry Seinfeld Television Ad: Not a Winner

You heard it here first. On August 21^st I posted about the proposed Microsoft ad campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates– see http://snipurl.com/seinfeldgates. I said I couldn’t see how these proposed ads would work to make Microsoft seem more hip.

The September 8^th Wall Street Journal article by Nick Wingfield and Suzanne Vranica titled “Critics Say Gates-Seinfeld Duo No Laughing Matter” had some harsh comments about the first ad in the series. (I had seen the ad a few days earlier and thought it off the wall without contributing to updating the Microsoft image.)

In the Journal article I particularly appreciated the quoted comments by Leslie Smolan, chief strategy officer at New York branding firm Carbone Smolan Agency:

Despite this attempt to be cool, the commercial does nothing to change Microsoft’s brand image. It’s big, it’s got deep pockets – certainly deep enough to buy any celebrity it wants. What it doesn’t have is creativity, the key ingredient Microsoft has always lacked.

That’s kicking Microsoft where it hurts!

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Microsoft, Wall Street Journal, WSJ, Jerry Seinfield, Bill Gates, Carbone Smolan Agency, Leslie Smolan

Holy Cow! Microsoft Doesn’t Know the Difference Between Young and Old

My younger daughter handed me the front-page of the August 21^st Wall Street Journal and asked “What’s funny about this article?”

The article in question was “Microsoft Enlists Jerry Seinfeld In Its Ad Battle Against Apple” by Suzanne Vrancia and Robert A.Guth. It wasn’t the title that was funny; it was the lead paragraph:

Microsoft Corp., weary of being cast as a stodgy oldster by Apple Inc.’s advertising, is turning for help to Jerry Seinfeld.

I thought for a second and replied: “What’s funny is that Jerry Seinfeld is old. If Microsoft wanted a younger image, why not get a young up-and-coming comic?”

Exactly. And apparently Seinfeld will appear in ads with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates “and receive about $10 million for the work.”

I immediately looked up the ages of Seinfeld and Gates. Seinfeld turned 54 in April and Gates will turn 53 in October. Did Gates want someone his own age standing next to him so people wouldn’t wonder at the boy genius all grown-up? Or did the old stuffed shirts of Microsoft’s new advertising agency have no ideas for younger yet well-known comics?

Note to advertising agency: Spending $10 million for an aging comic is not the best use of Microsoft’s funds. How about $4 million for a younger yet well-known comic and let Microsoft spend the remaining $6 million on getting the Windows Vista system to work decently?

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Microsoft, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Gates, Wall Street Journal, WSJ, Windows Vista, do-gooder, Scrooge, Apple