JERRY SEINFELD - MICROSOFT DEFENDS SEINFELD ADS

MICROSOFT DEFENDS SEINFELD ADS

If viewers were left wondering what the discount shoe store commercial featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates was supposed to be advertising, well, that's what the commercial was intended to do, according to Microsoft marketing executives. In an interview with Computerworld magazine Brad Brooks, head of Windows marketing for Microsoft, said that the purpose was to "engage customers in a conversation and dialogue in a humorous and intriguing way." However, advertising analysts insisted that the commercial was neither very humorous nor intriguing. It was "beyond bizarre," AdWeek magazine critic Barbara Lippert commented. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Maria Russo observed that some of the ad's jokes rely on "unfunny, far-fetched details" and that some of them go "thunk." Russo's commentary concludes, "This commercial pulls none of the emotional strings that might have helped Microsoft 'reconnect' with its audience (not that I remember ever being connected to it). And a decade after Seinfeld , 'nothing' feels empty."

08/09/2008