Comments on: Bill and Jerry

By: James

James — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:30:48 +0000

And I’m not saying they have to watch all the ads in order. I’m saying they have to see one once in a while, and over time, they start to associate that subtle humor with Bill Gates, and thus with Microsoft. But to succeed, it has to be a long term campaign so that people do see the ads once in a while over a long period of time. Luckily for MS, they’re one of the few company with the resources to make that happen.

By: James

James — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:28:03 +0000

The point is that these ads are perfect for softening Microsoft’s big scary corporate image. Apple needs to project that cool hip look which they do with theirs. But Microsoft doesn’t need to be Apple. You said yourself that they don’t have to sell us anything, which is correct. But they also don’t have to make Windows users feel good about Windows. They have to make them feel good about Microsoft as a company. And since everyone associates Bill Gates with Microsoft, portraying Bill in this way makes the company seem more human. People don’t hate Windows because it’s a crappy OS. They hate it because of the negative connotation associated with the company that made it. Vista is a perfectly fine OS. I have it installed in VMWare, and don’t mind using it at all when I have to.

The problem is that people are so used to having products pushed on them in ads, that they don’t understand what’s happening when they see an ad that doesn’t do that. However, Microsoft has the resources to make this a long term campaign, and IMHO it’s got great potential to change people’s attitudes towards MS as a company. That is the point, and that is what people will realize more and more as the campaign continues. The thing is that only a company with as much money as MS could afford to do something as different as this, and so why would you assume that a company with that much money would go the normal route?

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:06:59 +0000

I accept the fact that Microsoft chose to make this into a long-term campaign, and have drawn the TV show comparison in a couple different conversations.

The problem with that model is I still feel queasy after seeing one. And now two. It may make sense in the end, but what about the millions of viewers that only see a couple of the ads? You can’t possibly say that they have to watch all the ads in order for it to make sense.

Some may like the occasional humor. But in the end, I’m left thinking “what’s the point?”.

By: James

James — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:19:29 +0000

The problem is that you are still comparing them to Apple’s Get A Mac ads. The GAM ads are independent from each other. Each one is a complete story unto itself. Clearly Microsoft intends for this to be a more long term, connected ad campaign. Think of these first two as the first two episodes of a TV show. These ads kind of remind me of Arrested Development. Dry humor, that you really have to pay attention to pick up on. I’m a die hard Mac user, and I’m really enjoying them. It’s fine if you don’t enjoy them, but don’t bash them because you aren’t able to pick up on the subtleties, which is obviously the case considering your remark about them having nothing to say. Mark my words, the more this campaign progresses, people attitudes toward it are going to change drastically.

GAM ads are like slap stick comedy. It’s really funny for a short period of time, but them you forget it. These new MS ads take more time to process, but once it clicks, it stick with you for longer.

By: Ryan Sandberg

Ryan Sandberg — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:32:32 +0000

That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking when I watched those ads. Way to go for saying what we were thinking!