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.

Keep reading

-or-

Watch the ads:

Comments

[jalapeno]

This was a bad campaign that is rather patronizing and not funny.

[thegirlnextdoor]

My vote: I found them funny.
In a quiet kind of way.

[rjacks12]

Maybe the worst ad ever! Great idea, bad execution.

[mikebythesun]

Once you go Mac, you never go back!

(Please no one steal that line for McCain...)

[vincefango]

He already did....John McCain: Stealing campaigns one slogan at a time.

[TRichards]

What was Gates thinking? Seinfeld's thoughts are easy -- "$10 million for nothing is better than a show about nothing."

A new ad agency would seem a good bet.

[BowlingForRevenge]

I eagerly watched each one till the end...expecting them to be funny. Thinking they should be funny the premise was funny, the situations could be funny, Seinfeld is paid to be funny ....

BUT...

I guess I fell into Einstein's definition of insanity.

[Big0725]

LOL!

[GayTalkExpress]

Pulling the ads, eh? Hmmmmm. That whole "lipstick/pig" thing comes to mind.

[PurplePhase]

Bill Gates with a warm side and a sense of humor is as authentic as Sarah Palin being a highly qualified Vice President.

[dphilip]

I hope you didn't give yourself a headache trying to figure out a way to work that in?

[Yermammy]

It's obvious. PurplePhase is just stating the obvious. Can't see it, huh. Awwww.

[PurplePhase]

You didn't pay me for my words and you get what you pay for.

[FrictionSoul]

I remember when CP+B announced they were going to do these ads. I fell off my chair laughing at the absurdity of CP+B creating all of those MS ads on their....

Apple computers.

[Big0725]

Where do you think the original Windows logo was made? It was developed on an Apple.

[atciii]

GO APPLE!!!!!

[TerrapinCB]

The old lady with the walker stole the show...

[tom ellison]

I thought the commercials were funny! I want to see more of them. Too bad...

[guajiro]

Well Bill, if you're looking to rub elbows with the common man you've come to the right place. For starters I'd say if you can do to the fiber-telecommunications field what you've done with windows, you'll more than double your company's size once again. Imagine everyone in America connected to windows driven hardware that uses fiber to communicate; cell phones, blackberrys, etc. Essentially, everyone will have a portable computer, except right now the telecommunications industry is blocked, jammed, plugged up, dammed, whatever, there's not enough fiber to allow this to happen. Despite the billions you spend in charity, it would be better spent bringing technology to all towns and schools that would form a backbone for any future technology growth or invention.

[Yermammy]

Illegal wiretapping at the speed of light! Yea!

[SirHenryClinton]

If you're a big Seinfeld fan you may find the ad funny, I found it inane. The mythology surrounding Mr. Gates is even more fraudulent than "McCain the Maverick". Bill Gate's success had nothing to do with innovation but rather anti-competitive practices (M$ was found guilty of violating the Sherman Act in 1999). M$ has established a history of litigation, not innovation.

Incessant "upgrades", voodoo configuration "incantations", software and hardware incompatibility, viruses, spyware: that's the M$ operating system (OS). I've used Linux for twelve years now, it's powerful, stable, and secure. My system is loaded with every type of software you can imagine, all of it FREE. Everything you see on the Internet most likely came through and/or from a Linux machine.

Linux runs on PC hardware (Mac and Sun boxes as well) and can be installed on machines currently running M$ without conflict. Linux can be downloaded for free and installed by CD or DVD. The source code is freely available. Because Linux is open source software, problems and vulnerabilities are identified and fixed rapidly.

Linux is an OS, Vista is BS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
http://fedoraproject.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft

P.S. The US Government could save billions of dollars AND make this nations computer infrastructure much more secure by switching to Linux.

[NicoleAnon]

What do you think is going to happen when Steve Jobs is gone? He really does look seriously ill recently and Apple doesn't have someone to replace him yet.

[EileneLepht]

Maybe Palin will be available to step in and replace Jobs. God knows there isn't anything she can't do.

[SirHenryClinton]

I wish Steve Jobs the best and I have much respect for his pioneering work at Pixar. Incidentally, Pixar uses Linux extensively to create their wonderful animations. Much of the animation/special effects you see currently in movies was created on machines running Linux. To clarify, the future of Linux is not tied to any particular vendor including Apple. My Linux systems are generic PCs which is the same hardware that Microsloth supports.

A Linux "distribution" like Fedora includes the Linux OS and a complete suite of office applications including a web browser, word processor, spread sheet, etcetera. These included application are open source software, as is Linux, and therefore free for anyone to use. Installing Linux on a computer system is as simple as downloading, burning to a DVD, putting the DVD into the drive, restarting the system, and selecting the software "packages" you would like installed. There are Linux user groups at most local colleges. These groups frequently schedule free "Linux install events" and they are happy to answer any questions. If you currently work on a PC, you will have no problem using Linux as the point and click interface will be quite familiar. There are a few proprietary multimedia formats that are not supported; if you can't live without video games or iTunes, you probably don't want Linux.

[tregibbs]

This is good news.... the ads really suck.

[Mat8675]

You all have to admit, the kid delivering Chinese food was pretty funny.