Jerry Seinfeld And Bill Gates' Microsoft Ads Being Pulled

Microsoft is preparing to pull its TV ads featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft's co-founder and chairman Bill Gates.

Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said the end of the Seinfeld ads was planned well in advance, and wasn't coming in response to any criticism of the spots. "All along we said we were having a teaser campaign," he said. "We're getting ready to start the second phase. This was the plan all along."

The news, broken this afternoon by Valleywag, comes just days after Microsoft aired the latest in the series of commercials, produced by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, featuring the two men in comic situations. The ads have been largely panned as a strained effort on the software giant's part to not only promote Windows but also portray Microsoft as cool and in touch with regular consumers -- basically, to counter the stodgy image painted in Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads.

Seinfeld, who reportedly received $10 million for his efforts, was a superstar in the 1990s with his hit show. Using him now, in 2008, only added to Microsoft's image as being behind the times, critics said.

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Comments

[extranational]

Incredible how many posts this article is getting compared to others, say about US foreign policy and stuff

[MM5]

The first one is funny.

[muadibe]

Those ads are terrible. Not engaging in any way and FAR too long.

In contrast, the Apple ads are short and funny.

I was a Windows user for MANY years - at work and at home. I still have a couple of windows machines, but there is just no comparison to a Mac.

[rchsod]

what? no updates?

[monty]

What the hell are these ads selling, Corn Dogs??

[MeanGreenMachine]

Bill Gates (secretly) uses a Mac.

[livesimply]

Hee. If he has the brain they say he does, he must.

[MikeCanada]

those were horrible

[Rutabaga]

I thought both ads were terrible, especially since they violated one of the main points of advertising...what they heck were they trying to sell?

[deliriousgod]

middle-class guy in a knit-top doesn't need rockstar computer. little bit funny; not 10 million dollar funny

[berrycooda]

Too bad B. Gates didn't take that $10,000,000 he paid Seinfeld to make ads and hire tech workers
from the U.S. and pay some of that money towards their salary instead of complaining he didn't get enough low price workers from overseas to work for him.

He is ruining his good reputation for workers and hurrying to get his stuff on the market while it still has problems....

Seinfeld ads won't make the product any better.

[hydrocap]

Vista is a joke! The fiends at Microsoft should be arrested for fraud. Buy Apple, people. There is no comparison.

[ElectricEye]

Or use Linux. Any distribution.

[pottery]

I've seen a couple of the ads and loved them. I am looking forward to successor to Vista, as I really wasn't that happy with the upgrade.

I've used Apple in the past and I've never been in love with it.

[TheSecularist]

Apple and Windows were about even (Apple slightly ahead) until OS X. That was the game changer. A phenomenally stable and intuitive operating system. With Windows, you get a search feature that never finds anything, freezes and crashes, preference settings that change themselves, confusing menus, and a help app that doesn't. My macs don't crash or freeze, FINDER actually finds stuff, menus are intuitive, and on those rare occasions I need to use the help app, I get the answer I need. And NO VIRUSES. I'm more productive and less frustrated on my mac.

[MoeJava]

Ads were not that funny. Mainly because I would never believe that Bill Gates does his own shoe shopping... off the rack? At the local mall? I was actually waiting for them to not be able to find their cars in the parking lot. Now - that's funny!

[GotRights]

I think that's the joke.

[GotRights]

"I would never believe that Bill Gates does his own shoe shopping"

I think that's the joke.

[Clairemont]

The Seinfeld Show used Apples in their set design, inferring that Seinfeld was an Apple user. I believe the first computer used was the Mac itself or the Mac SE which was one of my personal favorites.

Bill Gates can't con me. I've been an Apple user since the 2C back in the 80's. My PC friends spend way more money on repairs, software upgrades, essential peripherals, and virus attacks than I ever have. Add those costs and the PC winds up having been a huge money pit over the years compared to the Mac.

Steve Jobs is my hero.

[provgrays]

Of course the ads were pulled in response to criticism.

If the intended audience hates the ads, no company will continue to run them. Then again, has Microsoft ever admitted to making a mistake?

[AdV2k1]

Bill gates is just bored and wanting to kill some time now in his retirement and
Jerry is just getting a paycheck.

Both ads were so lifeless and dull. I don't get what they are trying to sell or to do. Seems like like a horrible way to sell computers and software