Your wife is right. Lighten up!

All the geeks and tech-bloggers across the web would find it funny or at least recognize the resemblance between Microsoft's "commercial about nothing" and Seinfeld's "show about nothing" were it not for the impulse to hate everything about Microsoft.

I showed it to some co-workers and they all laughed and didn't understand it at the same time. Exactly. It's an attempt to connect with users in a new and different way and most people without a pre-existing bias get it.

Everyone (techno-geeks) is frustrated because there is no mention of Vista. No mention of Apple.

How many installments of this "story" before the value proposition of Vista becomes clear to the consumer? Ad executives like to believe everyone is on the edge of their seat to see the next "installment", but its rarely the case.

Yes, I agree it was almost stupid, but there are too much at stake, I will be waiting still.

apparently, the idea is rather than change the Vista perception technically, reasoning or comparisons, is hide it, in an atmosphere of liking (positive feelings)
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Sorry my post for here.
I do not want to disrupt the dialogue between Mark Ashton and Goblin.

Jamesie, It would be good if you could continue this discussion with me on the previous entry.

you said:

"It's an attempt to connect with users in a new and different way and most people without a pre-existing bias get it."

Complete rubbish, I dont have a bias unless its from experience. I am a DX10 developer and use Vista at work for 10 hours a day 5, sometimes 6 days a week. I run Linux only systems at home, although I have previously had a rig with Vista and one with XP. I am in a far better position than you to make a comment, as its obvious you have never used Linux when you suggest that it is for tech geeks only - That is completely untrue, but is exactly what MS want you to believe.

I havent commented on MACos simply because I have never used it. If someone tells me Windows works better for them, I have always accepted that (check my previous posts) What I believe in is giving people a choice, if at the end, Windows is better for them, great.

I ask you though, why should anyone listen to you or me? Isnt it better all alternatives are given and the user makes a decision based on their own research? If that makes me bias then so be it. But talking about bias, I dont see you suggesting any alternatives, all you seem to suggest is that anyone who makes a comment about MS has a bias.

I liked it. I didn't love it but I liked it. They took the right tack in not beating people over the head with their product like they always have. Nobody likes Microsoft right now. People have tuned out of the whole Ballmer throwing chairs and Monkey Boy thing. The commercial serves to release some of the tension.

Joe,

I read your first blog, watched the video, then read the comments. My first impression was this is really a comercial to wet the appetite for the next version of Windows, not Vista. I've now read this blog and comments, and watched the video a second time. I did find it more humerous the second time, but I still don't think it really has anything to do with Vista. After wathing it a second time and reading all the comments, I still think it could be about Windows 7, but I also now think it could be about something completely different.

Phil, agreed that MS's popularity is not too great at the moment.

But people are talking about MS like a living person. The end user couldnt care about if MS is liked or not, cool or not. They just want a product that doesnt need to cost them even more money in hardware upgrades just to provide functionality. This is why Vista is not the best seller MS hoped it would be, and why even the average user is complaining about being pushed to upgrade XP.

I wont mention the many other issues that Vista has, but what I will say is, isnt this a little bit of a kick in the teeth, that MS has spent so much money on a hopeless ad, when the money may have been better spent sorting out the numerous issues its PAYING customers have?

The ad is funny in a Napolean Dynamite kind of way.

My opinion was, and continues to be one word: bizarre!

I didn't take the churro/family/Conquistador stuff as racism--but I can see how others might.

Funny? Not a bit. I did, though, laugh at this sentence of yours from yesterday: "There is much popular culture tongue-and-cheek humor so esoteric even I struggled to get the gags."

Before anyone starts on the "youre a anti-ms Linux geek" line, this post is meant as a light hearted post.

Check out this alternative to the MS advert. Here we have a testimonial from a Vista user, showing how easy Vista is to install in 2 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVbf9tOGwno&feature=related

Quintous, I think you've hit it on the head. The ad's "bizarre." And that, in a word, is what a "viral" video is supposed to be. They're all like that, and more often than not companies put out videos they want to go viral that say even LESS than nothing about their companies. In many cases, the sponsoring company isn't even mentioned.

The idea is to get people talking about Microsoft in a different way, good, bad, or indifferent. And, I submit, while the ad is truly "bizarre," it doesn't actually depict Microsoft negatively. It's really pretty innocuous, unless you want to start reading things into it.

And to reiterate from the other thread: this isn't about selling Vista to an IT-savvy crowd. It's to make Microsoft look better--different, natch--to a non-IT-savvy crowd. Sure, people say "I want Windows XP, not Vista," but not because they know a thing about either. It's because of what they've heard, and Microsoft's just trying to change THAT conversation, I wager.

"And to reiterate from the other thread: this isn't about selling Vista to an IT-savvy crowd. It's to make Microsoft look better--different, natch--to a non-IT-savvy crowd. Sure, people say "I want Windows XP, not Vista," but not because they know a thing about either. It's because of what they've heard, and Microsoft's just trying to change THAT conversation, I wager."

and as I said on the other thread, no its not. The non-it savvy user, wont consider Linux and since Vista comes pre-installed on a new machine, their opinion on the company is irrelevant. MS have made their money already, and even if the non-savvy user suddenly does become savvy and install Linux, Vista has already been sold on that machine anyway.

MS are far more clever than this silly ad, the non-savvy user is never going to change their OS anyway, because they are non-savvy. They can put off Vista for a while, but eventually they will upgrade because MS will give them no choice. Their opinions on MS are irrelevant as they are non-savvy, MS wont give them any choice.

This advertising will be another waste of money for stockholders. Vista is a confirmed ME2 bloated OS with DRM forced on users, as far as most people believe. It why the overweight fat guy that is a PC, in the Apple ads are effective.

Now instead of using Jerry Seinfeld, for this advertisement in a shoe store, I would suggest another actor. Not that Bill's impression of Kramer with a haircut, was not a great one. I would have suggested Ed O'Neill, who could play the part of Al Bundy shoe salesman, like he did in the TV show Married with Children. Picture this, Al Bundy trying to sell Bill the cool green colored shoes, colored green like a green apple. Only Bill says they cost too much for his budget. Or Al trying to fit the one size fits all Vista Basic shoes on the 300 lb Matron.

"Vista--not as bad as it's made out to be."

That's the real grassroots viral slogan. It gets mentioned every single time the subject of Vista comes up. No escaping it, no matter how many hundreds of millions Microsoft might spend.

Qoute "This advertising will be another waste of money for stockholders. Vista is a confirmed ME2 bloated OS with DRM forced on users, as far as most people believe."

So true, with the exception of a few "Vista works for me" comments, nobody has been able to defend MS here at all. The main problem being is that MS's image is in tatters and the reason its in tatters is not because of bad marketing, but because the product has failed to meet the expectations of so many people.

My theory: Gates got Punk'd by a secret plan to further discredit (if possible) Microsoft. At some point, Ashton Kusher will jump up and announce to Bill that it was all a trick to get him to wiggle his butt in front of the world. The biggest trick was to get Microsoft to actually pay for their own Punk'ing. However, a precedent does exist. It's an old folk tale called "The Emperor's New Clothes". I also remember reading about numerous "skits" performed by Gates and other Microsoft leaders at meetings, in which they play-acted bizarrely inexplicable inanities, seeming to think they were being funny, or down-to-earth. So, ultimately, I'm not at all surprised that this insanely expensive ad is mind-numbingly bad. And the good news is, they can't fix it, any more than they can fix their corporate DNA.

My theory: Gates got Punk'd by a secret plan to further discredit (if possible) Microsoft. At some point, Ashton Kusher will jump up and announce to Bill that it was all a trick to get him to wiggle his butt in front of the world. The biggest trick was to get Microsoft to actually pay for their own Punk'ing. However, a precedent does exist. It's an old folk tale called "The Emperor's New Clothes". I also remember reading about numerous "skits" performed by Gates and other Microsoft leaders at meetings, in which they play-acted bizarrely inexplicable inanities, seeming to think they were being funny, or down-to-earth. So, ultimately, I'm not at all surprised that this insanely expensive ad is mind-numbingly bad. And the good news is, they can't fix it, any more than they can fix their corporate DNA.

My wife and I watched this commercial on TV today. At the end of commercial she asked me if they were selling shoes because she did not get it. Neither did I, but I told her it was a Microsoft commercial. She said 'Really?'

This is hideous marketing in the worst way. Come on Microsoft, get it together for a change.

Commercial or no commercial. I work at a computer store for 8 hours a day. I sell and repair computers. For all those blowhards that say vista isn't that bad, "walk a mile in my moccasins". I do bench and on site work and the problem with repairing Vista OS compared to XP is you can't ever tell if Vista is really fixed. I have never seen it run fast, even out of the box. I feel guilty when my Vista repairs leave the building because of how slow they run. I switched back to selling XP machines because of the return rate of Vista. I have a conscience that is why I do not order anymore Vista machines. "Vista sucks" is not a rumor or anger directed at Microsoft, it is "reality"!!!

Loren, its nice to hear there are at least some vendors with a sense of decency and fair play.

Its always very easy to see the posters here that have a financial interest in MS, be it shareholders or salespersons.

The bottom line, is as you say "Vista sucks!" or more politely "not fit for purpose" I am not anti MS, if they had released a product that was actually good, I would be running a Vista system at home now.

Loren, all the best, and thank you for your honesty with consumers.

Bill Gates was shaking his ass in front of all the world, and thinking...."Suckers.."

@DOUGman :
Bill Gates was shaking his ass in front of all the world, and thinking...."Suckers.."..............

More likely Bill was telling the world to kiss his rich A$$, as you are going get Vista and DRM Bill's way, like it or not, forced upon you.

Part 2 of the new advertising campaign is to put MS employees in Best Buy:

Microsoft calling up Gurus to take on Apple's Geniuses
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/09/05/microsoft_calling_up_gurus_to_take_on_apples_geniuses.html

"About 155 Gurus will be ready at Best Buy and Circuit City stores in the US before the end of the year. The push into direct retail representation is considered part of Microsoft's $300 million strategy to counter Apple's "Get a Mac" ads"

In short, this ad has achieved it's aim. It will get you watching the next one....right?

Racism? You're kidding right? It's just some people looking in the window. It could have been anybody.

I found it funny. Especially Bill adjusting his shorts! I hate commercials that are all about a product. Let them be entertaining. I think the purpose was just to get people talking about microsoft, keep their name in the news. Seems to have worked since we are all talking about it.

Interesting- when Steve Jobs appears in public it's always about the products- be it IPod, Iphone, OSX, etc...

Now you have this Microsoft ad, where it's all about Bill. The ad really portrays Microsoft as some sort of narcissistic cult of personal celebrity worship, which may not be that far from the truth these days. Maybe the disaster that was Vista is a result of what happens to product development when a corporate culture becomes too egotistical and narcissistic.