Thumbs down for Bill & Jerry

Last week I posted the first in a series of ads that Microsoft is running that features Jerry Seinfield and Bill Gates.

It includes a "Butt Wiggle" but doesn't sell anything. Some critics are impatient because they wanted the ad to say something, or be something. Instead, it's about nothing, like Seinfield's hit TV show.

From the Wall Street Journal comes this report:

Critics Say Gates-Seinfeld Duo
No Laughing Matter

Microsoft Ads Draw
Attention, Not Praise;
Missing the Creativity?

By NICK WINGFIELD and SUZANNE VRANICA
September 8, 2008; Page B11

Jerry Seinfeld's long-running sitcom is often described as a show about nothing. The same might be said of a baffling new Microsoft Corp. commercial featuring the comedian and Bill Gates -- not, as "Seinfeld" characters might say, that there's anything wrong with that.

The first highly anticipated commercial in an ambitious $300 million campaign to burnish Microsoft's Windows brand was mostly panned by early viewers. The TV spot -- which began airing during an NFL game on Thursday and was later seen hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube -- follows Messrs. Gates and Seinfeld around a shopping mall as the Microsoft chairman tries on shoes, but doesn't mention Windows once.

A blogger for Computer World wrote: "It's one of the worst, most pointless ads in history" while a headline in the Sydney Morning Herald read: " 'Bizarre' Microsoft ad misses mark."

See the recent Microsoft ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. (Sept. 7)

Still, some ad-industry professionals praised the quirky commercial for not using Mr. Seinfeld in a more conventional way to, say, directly hawk Windows Vista, a current Microsoft operating system that has been criticized by many reviewers. Despite the negative online chatter about the ad, Microsoft has succeeded in getting people talking about the commercial, ad experts say.

"The initial reaction might be on the fence or leaning negative but the ad did its job," says Dean Crutchfield, a brand consultant. "Most companies would have to spend a billion dollars on advertising to get this kind of attention."

"The fact that they have the blogs, the business community and mass media talking about it means they hit a nerve," says Allen Adamson, managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates, a corporate branding firm owned by WPP Group.

Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla said the company was pleased with the initial reaction to the ad. "It's exactly what we were trying to achieve, which was to drive buzz," Mr. Pilla said.

Microsoft

Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld star in a new Microsoft ad campaign.

In an interview Friday, Bill Veghte, senior vice president of Microsoft's Windows and online services business, said the first commercial was a "conversation starter, an ice breaker" that will be followed by further ads that he declined to describe. Mr. Veghte says the campaign is intended to create more excitement around what Windows can do.

"Some of that magic has faded into the background a bit," Mr. Veghte said. "I though it was absolutely essential we amplify not only the practical but the magical."

Microsoft is seeking to counter the bad buzz around Windows that Apple Inc. has egged on in a long-running advertising campaign, which features a young, hip character representing Apple's Macintosh and a clueless oaf who stands in for Windows personal computers.

Mr. Veghte says the ad campaign is part of a much broader push to boost Windows, including more extensive testing of Windows Vista PCs aimed at speeding up the time it takes to start up and shut down the machines. Microsoft is also cooperating with major retailers, including Best Buy Co. and Circuit City Stores Inc., to create stores-within-a-store that will showcase Windows-powered PCs, Internet services and mobile devices. Mr. Veghte said the company is also evaluating whether to do its own stores in addition to partnerships with other retailers.

Microsoft went to great lengths to keep its ads a secret including having some employees at the Everett Mall in Seattle -- where the ad was filmed earlier this summer -- sign confidentiality agreements. Mall management declined to comment last week about the ad effort and referred calls to Microsoft.

The first commercial didn't give viewers many clues about how Microsoft intends to make Windows more appealing. The ad concludes with Mr. Seinfeld asking Mr. Gates if a day will come when computers will be "moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while we're working."

Madison Avenue ad experts say they're eager to find out what else Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the ad firm behind the new spot, has up its sleeves. Crispin is known for giving new life to tired brands, including Burger King.

In the advertising business, the first commercials that launch a bigger campaign -- dubbed "teaser ads" -- are often greeted harshly. They often are designed mainly to attract attention, and are followed by other ads that explain the true message of the marketing effort.

Still, some brand experts gave the initial work a failing grade. "Despite this attempt to be cool, the commercial does nothing to change Microsoft's brand image, says Leslie Smolan, chief strategy officer at Carbone Smolan Agency, a New York-based branding firm.

"It's big, it's got deep pockets -- certainly deep enough to buy any celebrity it wants," Ms. Smolan said. "What it doesn't have is creativity, the key ingredient Microsoft has always lacked."

Write to Nick Wingfield at nick.wingfield@wsj.com and Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com

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