Well, the strange, strange world of Microsoft advertising continues with the release of the first of the second wave of ads from Microsoft's massive $300 million dollar ad campaign. The whole point of this massive campaign is to improve Microsoft's image, by making it look COOL - just like Apple! However, if you ask me, from the looks of the first two 'Bill & Jerry' ads, to the now, 'I"m a PC' ads, Microsoft may end up looking more like a FOOL than a company who is COOL! The ads are a little better, showing, as they do, the wide range of different people who use Microsoft's pc software, but they are still rather strange in that they fail to point out how superior or cool Microsoft's products, especially Vista, really are in comparison with that of it's competition.
Mind you, according to Microsoft, the first two 'Bill & Jerry' ads were just teasers, mere warmer-uppers for the real ads that were officially released yesterday. And how did the new ,"I'm a PC, ad do? Well, as far as my 2 cents go on the matter - again, very strangely! That's right, as far as their intended purpose goes, that of improving Microsoft's image and that of Vista's very tarnished one, the ads missed their mark - BIG TIME!
All-things Digital did a post titled, "New Microsoft Ads Win Most Improved Award (It Wasn't Hard Though)," but what's the point? The ads may deserve the award for 'most improved,' but they still don't do anything to really show, let alone prove, that Microsoft and it's tarnished VIsta OS, is worthy of anything that Microsoft has paid, big, big bucks for! I mean, come on, Microsoft, for your $300 million smack-a-roo's, don't you think that you can do better than that? I could buy a lot of socks and underwear for that kind of money! However, I do agree, to a point, with All Things Digital when they say:
"While the ads feel like they are tapping a little too much into that uneasy red-state-blue-state vibe–as if we need more of that–it’s also a nice job, thankfully, although not particularly new or innovative."
Better yes, innovative no, and that's the point! I would have expected, no, demanded, that for the incredible sums being paid, that these ads should be a lot more than just innovative - they should also be down-right award winning, which they are certainly not!
So far at least, these ads do nothing to convince anyone that Microsoft and it's products, especially Vista, is cool and innovative and worthy of our attention. In fact, even though the, "I'm a PC," ads may be true as to what people can do with Windows, it's also equally true for Mac users as well, something the ads should try to discourage. Microsoft, for example, may use several famous people in their ads, but guess what? Apple has legends of famous Mac users such as Robin Williams, Al Gore, former president Clinton, etc., which should make it easy for Apple to spin them around! For example, if Microsoft were to show a Windows user surfing the web, Apple could not only point out a Mac user doing the same, but doing it better, safer, and all without the need for a bunch of system sucking anti-spy programs running in the background! A good ad campaign should be able to refute it's competitor's without giving them a lot of ammo as these ads give Apple!
AppleInsider hit the nail on the head when they did a post titled, "Microsoft's $300 million ad campaign tumbles with new PC ads." As far as I'm concerned, Microsoft's new ads, thus far at least, are strange, very, very strange indeed and I can't understand for the life of me what Microsoft and it's agency, Crispine Porter & Bogusky were thinking when they thought up this lame excuse for a campaign? At first they presented nothing, absolutely nothing - no information what's-so-ever that would make me think of Microsoft or Vista being cool, let alone - desirable! The second wave gives us a little more information on the different kinds of Windows users, but it also, at the same time, gives Apple a lot of attention and ammo to fire back with later on!
In conclusion, even though some think that Apple's famous, "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac," campaign aren't as funny as they once were, but I like to point out, that the very lamest of Apple's ads are still, by far, head-and-shoulders, above anything that Microsoft's new campaign has yet produced. They very fact that Microsoft uses one of their own, 'John Hodgeman' look-a-likes, makes it seems that they are just trying desperately to keep up with the Jones's, or in this case, Apple! In a sense, the new Microsoft ads are almost Mac ads, because they allude to it, something that they surely wouldn't have done if the Mac was a lemon - a lemon like the new Microsoft ads!
And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, September 19, 2008.
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