New Microsoft Ads Exemplify The Problem

When I first read that Microsoft was going to be running a series of ads starring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld to counter the "Mac & PC" commercials from Apple I was kind of excited- Jerry is hilarious, and Bill has been a great sport in several internal MS videos. Unfortunately the ads do more to underscore exactly the problem with Microsoft products. Let's compare the two:

Apple

• Simple- Two guys, white background, and occasional prop.
  
• Short- 30 seconds, no yarn ball of plot strings here.
  
• Gently Hitting- Vista's complex, flaky, and uncool.  Macs are easy, reliable, and hip.
• Funny- There's always a gag... you WANT to watch when they come on- a rarity for commercials.

Microsoft

• Complex- A dozen characters, 3-4 different environments, many props.
• Sh-long?- The first edition of this ad clocked in at a 1:30, and the second at 4:30.  While the full length versions you can see online are funny, the "audience" for these commercials are probably not going out to You Tube and digging for them.  Instead what they see is a horribly edited 30 second blast of 2-3 second scenes... it's enough to give you a seizure, not sell a product.
• Gently... Doing Nothing- Which in fairness, is the genius of Seinfeld.  Great for a sitcom, but not for promoting a product.  At best the ad sends the message that Bill Gates is a nice guy (who by the way doesn't work for MS anymore), and that MS is in fact, still a "computer company".
• Funny- They are... I love Jerry, but again that's only if you view the clips in their entirety- the seizure inducing throw-up of characters and settings doesn't really lend it's self to a good, quick laugh.  Also- your 18 year old heading off to college this fall wasn't even born when Seinfeld went on the air, and were only 8 when we last saw Jerry in the slammer... I know that the show has lived on in re-runs, and maybe I'm out of touch with "the kids", but I question if Jerry resonates with this key demographic during a "back to school" month.

Bottom line- these ads reflect the perceived styles of the companies themselves- easy, clean, and simple vs. complicated, cluttered, and bloated.  That's not a bash of Windows, which I believe is a better system- just that Microsoft thinks in platforms, and Apple thinks in people.  Guess which angle resonates with Joe Average?  And yes, I know that Microsoft has a lot of business users, but then that's not who this ad is directed towards is it?

At any rate, they seem to be getting the message.  Engadget is reporting that new ads will dump Gates and Seinfeld and embrace what appears to be a more simplistic, direct attack against Apple.  The idea is right... especially if they'd gone that route first.  Now it risks feeling like a "me-to" flip-flopping politician trying to embrace the latest winds.

Maybe I'm just cynical... I wish them the best with the campaign.  Microsoft deserves some good press for the great product that is Windows Vista.  Hopefully, buried in Redmond (or the bowels of some ad agency), they have a room full of smart people working on making this campaign work- but MS's history of television marketing leaves a lot to be desired, and this new series is already off to an unnecessarily rocky start.