“I’m just wondering,” muses Jerry Seinfeld, “are they ever going to come out with something that will make our computers moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while we’re working?”
He wasn’t the only one wondering. When the 90-sec teaser, starring the ’90s comic and Microsoft founder Bill Gates (!) on a journey to “connect with ordinary consumers” debuted in September, people wondered just what it was trying to say. Was it supposed to be funny, “a campaign about nothing” a la Seinfeld, or what?
But maybe that was the point. The ad was massively hyped, with a reported $10 million talent fee for Seinfeld and created by the ultra-cool, adored-by-Mac-fans agency Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. In a year when everything from morning coffee to the US Presidency has been framed as an elitists-vs.-real people clash, why shouldn’t the ad work?
Well, it didn’t. The blogosphere slammed it – except for Bill Gates, who won new fans for his star turn. More importantly, consumers just shrugged, said “Meh” and turned to more important things, like the US presidential race.
Two weeks after airing, the ads were off the air. “Microsoft caves!,” screamed the blogs. Observers said they should have just stuck to their guns. But by end September, the follow-up was out: a brave attempt to take back the brand by co-opting Mac’s hugely popular “I’m a Mac. … I’m a PC” campaign.
The ad begins “I’m a PC… and I’ve been stereotyped.” Bill’s back, together with a few celebs (Deepak! Pharell! Eva Longoria & Tony Parker!) and a string of regular folks using their PCs in unusual ways. The ads have been well-received ("pleasantly surprised" is a constant refrain), and considering that Microsoft is making big gestures online and at point-of-sale, it just might work.
Bill Veghte, the man with the thankless job of making Windows cool, says that the campaign aims to sustain the excitement that comes with a new PC.
“Windows has always been about putting computing in the hands of people. All these efforts are designed to reconnect and re-ignite customers’ imaginations around the value of Windows in their lives today,” he says.
Re-ignite imaginations. Emotional sell. Sounds a lot like a certain other computer company.
Keep up with the campaign, including users’ videos, on http:/imapc.lifewithoutwalls.com
