Can you say disturbing?

Microsoft's new commercial showing Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld in a shoe shop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afR5J7eskno

Who does their ads? "the wiggle" is going to give me nightmares...

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Anonymouse

Slowhand wrote:

astorrs wrote:

"the wiggle" is going to give me nightmares...

Worse than the old ones?

This thread is officially all kinds of awesome.

Tyrant1919

dtlokee wrote:

Did you notice the picture on his shoe club membership card is his mugshot from when he was arrested back in the 1970's?

What he get booked for? Wikipedia has no mention of this. Damn you Wikipedia!

astorrs

Tyrant1919 wrote:

What he get booked for? Wikipedia has no mention of this. Damn you Wikipedia!

Date Arrested: December 13, 1977
Charges: Allegedly, Gates was taken in for running a red light and driving without a license.

The Story:

Although details are sketchy and records have been lost over time, Microsoft founder and CEO Bill Gates was arrested on reckless driving charges on December 13, 1977 for a second time in New Mexico after speeding in his Porsche, running a stop sign and driving without a license. While much of the information regarding the arrest of Bill Gates in New Mexico remains unclear, a spokesperson for the Albuquerque Police has stated that no records of the arrest were found after exhaustive efforts to locate the details surrounding themugshot.

Although varying reports indicate that Bill Gates was arrested at least two times prior to his 1977 arrest, very little is known about Gates’ previous violations and citations. On April 29, 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, however, reports indicate Bill Gates was arrested by the Albuquerque Police Department on charges of speeding and driving without a license. Since both New Mexico arrests are strangely similar in nature, it’s often difficult to corroborate the details surround the events in Albuquerque. However, another report suggests that Bill Gates was involved in a third violation after being hit by a vehicle that ran a stop sign. Other sources have suggested that Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was traveling with Gates in his Porsche at the time of his 1977 arrest, although there is no hard evidence to support the claim.

A spokesperson for Microsoft has commented that Bill Gates does remember being taken into custody over driving without a license and a traffic violation, adding, “It is well-known that when Bill was young he didn't have a very good driving record.” In addition to the New Mexico arrests, in 1989 Bill Gates was arrested over a decade later on suspicion of drunk driving charges, but the counts were later reduced. Since his infractions with the law, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates has gone on to become one of the world's richest men, amassing a fortune estimated at over $50 billion dollars. In 2006, Bill Gates ranked #1 on Forbes' list of wealthiest men in the world.

http://www.absolutenow.com/mugshots/bill_gates.html

Tyrant1919

I'm sure if he was running for president those missing records would be found pretty quick... thanks for the info.

pwjohnston

Personally I think it's hilarious and I don't even like Seinfield or Gates.

deadpool287

That commercial was beyond dumb.

astorrs

Oh yes it continues... Now we get "the robot"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWPf1BWtkw

cacharo

I actually laughed at a few parts in that one...

dynamik

That didn't make me think about Windows or Microsoft once, but it was sort of entertaining in its own right.

HeroPsycho

First one was pretty lame, but I LOL'ed a few times at the second one.

Slowhand

I think the idea of these new Microsoft commercials isn't so much to push Windows, (after all, we've been assimilated by every version since 98,) but to put a different spin on Microsoft's image. The weird/funny interactions between Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld are meant to counter the stodgy image that John Hodgman portrays in the Mac commercials. Apple isn't eating as much of Microsoft's marketshare as they'd like us to believe, you aren't going to see Windows becoming a minority operating system anytime soon. These commercials, just like the "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC" ads, are more about creating an image, showing that Redmond is fun and can poke fun at itself, rather than about selling its software.

Personally, my favorite part of this second commercial:
"Whoa! When's this coming out?!?"
"Never. If anyone asks where you got it, you don't know."

And besides, they've got Jerry Seinfeld. As much as I dislike him, I think I understant his whole "commercials about nothing" approach. They're basically creating a mini-sitcom with Bill and Jerry, making them the faces of Microsoft for the time being.

rbutturini

I do like the comment in the new Apple commercials about how Apple is "the most popular computer on university campuses"...So when you graduate, you won't have a clue how to use a corporate machine running good old Winders XP!

dynamik

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/9/15/

astorrs

dynamik wrote:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/9/15/

that was freaking awesome...

cacharo

Can you say axed faster than a Vikings starting Quarterback?

http://valleywag.com/5051455/microsoft-to-announce-jerry-seinfeld-ads-cancelled-tomorrow

undomiel

Sadness! I actually thought both of them were a bit funny. I wouldn't have minded a few more. Of course as advertisements hyping a product I thought they were absolutely horrible.

snadam

cacharo wrote:

Can you say axed faster than a Vikings starting Quarterback?

http://valleywag.com/5051455/microsoft-to-announce-jerry-seinfeld-ads-cancelled-tomorrow

"Axed faster than a Vikings Starting Quarterback"

wow, id say they didnt give it a chance.

snadam

I actually heard they are hiring a "PC Guy". Somewhat as a sattirical character to rival Mac vs PC commericals. Interesting to see how it turns out! http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210602432

rfult001

http://tv.truenuff.com/mac/

It speaks for itself.

dynamik

rfult001 wrote:

http://tv.truenuff.com/mac/

It speaks for itself.

Those are awesome! It looks like they've added a lot since I last checked it. I'll have to catch up on those tonight. Thanks!

Slowhand

I think this would be a much better approach to Microsoft's marketing strategy.

astorrs

The new ones are out, much better:

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:6a39435a-8651-46b4-94df-2928f8c476fd&showPlaylist=true&from=winhp

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:e197ec6d-f9b5-460a-914f-5a46b8efd738&showPlaylist=true&from=winhp

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:56f4a410-45a6-44dc-9e20-6d571c834e2d&showPlaylist=true&from=winhp