Seinfeld cancelled again
By John Lister
Microsoft is dropping the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld adverts in favour of a more direct response to Apple’s “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign. But a company spokesman insists the move was planned before the Seinfeld spots even aired.
The new adverts will feature a lookalike of the character from the Apple ads introducing himself by saying ““Hello, I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype.”
The campaign will then feature a host of ‘Windows users’ ranging from celebrities such as Eva Longoria to scientists and shark hunters. Each ‘fast-paced upbeat vignette’ will end with the tagline ‘I’m a PC’.
No doubt some investigative hotshot will uncover a participant in the ads who actually uses a Mac in real life, but then again Microsoft didn’t seem particularly concerned that Jerry Seinfeld’s sitcom ‘character’ used a Mac on his show.
Microsoft’s Frank Shaw tells the Los Angeles Times that the Seinfeld campaign was not ditched because of negative reactions. “All along we said we were having a teaser campaign. We’re getting ready to start the second phase. This was the plan all along.”
If that’s really the case, Seinfeld really did hit the jackpot: $10 million for two commercials with a total run time of six minutes is pretty easy money. It does also mean that the on-screen storyline with Gates and Seinfeld was never intended to actually go anywhere, though that’s probably not a problem for fans of the original sitcom.
The new-style campaign should certainly answer many of the early criticisms. Judging by the descriptions of the ads, Microsoft may be able to achieve the difficult balance of responding to the Apple campaign without getting into a slanging match. And by concentrating solely on promoting PCs rather than attacking Macs, Microsoft is less likely to invite the type of direct comparison where there’s no guarantee it would come off best.
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