Seinfeld is axed - even he can't make Bill Gates look cool

[OhioChick]

He’s unlikely to miss the money, but Bill Gates is coming to terms with the fact that neither Jerry Seinfeld, nor a $300m (£160m) investment, can succeed in making him look cool.

The world’s richest man has axed Microsoft’s bizarre new television commercial, in which he starred alongside the New York comedian, just two weeks after a disastrous launch, when it was described as one of the worst ads in history.

Critics panned the sketch, in which Gates and Seinfeld awkwardly trade banter after meeting at a suburban shoe shop, as obtuse, unwatchable, and insufficiently funny.

Its message was ambiguous, they claimed. In a monument to either commercial hubris or professional incompetence, it neglected to once mention the words “Windows Vista”, the product it was meant to be promoting.

Instead, the 90-second ad showed Seinfeld asking Gates a series of nonsensical questions, apparently regarding the future of computing. The 52-year-old billionaire responds with “signs” that he’s in touch with the zeitgeist, including “adjusting his shorts” and doing “the robot”, a dance move previously associated with the beanpole England footballer Peter Crouch.

Whatever its purpose, the decision to pay Seinfeld $10m to star in the campaign also backfired. The comedian’s eponymous show was axed 10 years ago, and viewers said that instead of giving Microsoft a fresh image, he succeeded in portraying it as a fading brand from yesteryear.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/seinfeld-is-axed-ndash-even-he-canrsquot-make-bill-gates-look-cool-935071.html

:rofl:

[YDogg]

1. who cares about seinfeld now?

sure, his show has fans, but do any teens and young twenties care?

:popcorn:

[rch35]

7. im 19 and seinfeld is the 2nd best show ever.

right behind lost.

edited to say: not defending the shitty commercials, just wanted to point out that i love seinfeld

[RxnMan1337]

11. Lost > Every other show :-D

[Tyler Generation]

17. I'm 27

I watch a ton of Seinfeld reruns, but they were on the air when I was in highschool and I watched them then. I think the real point is that Microsoft is losing their favor ability to Apple as the "practical" computer. I'm a graphic artist and have preferred Mac's for a while, but the way they are nowadays it seems like the average person would have a much easier time using an iMac than a PC.

Ironically didn't Jerry always have a Mac in his apt on the Seinfeld set?

[OhioChick]

18. "Ironically didn't Jerry always have a Mac in his apt on the Seinfeld set? "

Sure did. :)

[SharonRB]

2. I actually thought that first ad was for some discount shoe store chain

I had never heard of. Then they rolled out a couple more and I finally realized it was for Windows. I still had no idea it was specifically for Vista. The commercials were about as good as I hear Vista is.

[OhioChick]

4. "The commercials were about as good as I hear Vista is."

Agreed. :rofl:

[Jim Sagle]

8. Actually the ad was nowhere near as bad as Vista.

If it were, everyone's screen would've turned blue.

[StClone]

3. What has happened to Jerry

He like Bush is irrelevant. I think being super rich has made him out of touch and jaded.

[Beregond2]

5. The appeal of Jerry Seinfeld always escaped me.

That ferret face, that obnoxious whine, the incredibly obvious observations leading to no joke. The only episode of his show I enjoyed was the last one, when those awful people got their just deserts by going to jail.

I guess it was supposed to be a satire of shallow, self-involved people, but satire is supposed to be funny.

[TomInTib]

6. Nobody can make Gates look "cool". I sat next to him for a couple of hours...

at a fund-raiser at Servino, a restaurant in our town.

Gates was sitting with his wife and another couple, and I will guarantee you the man is a total goofus. His hair was greasy-filthy, as well. And he looked like he was wearing somebody else's clothes.

And here I was, poor-as-dirt Tom, sitting at a table next to him and getting really drunk.

Two tables away sat Warren Buffett and his wife (He has a house here, don't believe that claptrap about them living in the house they bought in the '50s).

Warren is a cool guy.

Gates is awful, talks like an idiot.

[Captiosus]

9. I kinda liked the Seinfeld/Gates ads

They were a hell of a lot better than the crappy "Windows Mojave"-"You're on candid camera" ads.

That speaks volumes about Vista when they have to trick people into thinking they're looking at an operating system that is beyond Vista just to get their opinion.

As a Microsoft Certified Propogandist... err, I mean Professional and as someone who holds the Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist in Windows Vista Administration, I say: Buy a Mac. If Macs are out of your price range, go get Ubuntu for your PC. If you're still on XP, stay there.

[OhioChick]

10. "If you're still on XP, stay there."

:thumbsup:

[SpookyCat]

12. Well sure...it's awful....

but if MS was ever competent, folks like us would be out of work!

Well, I guess there's still Blackberry... :-)

[MrsBrady]

13. personally, never liked the show...

and posted from a MAC.

he he

[OnyxCollie]

14. Even their new ad, "I'm a PC!", is obnoxious and boring.

I only hope Apple keeps the Steve and Bill ad campaign going. I like John Hodgman.

Microsoft products suck.

[w4k3upn0w]

15. WHAT?

That commecial was an attempt to promote Vista? I had no idea what I was watching when I seen those silly commercials.
I don't know what sucked more, the commercial or Windows Vista LOL

[YDogg]

16. welcome to DU