I RATE ADS

jtherkal: Part two of this mysterious campaign is hitting the airwaves. The above video is actually a 4+ minute webisode, which is miles better than the initial shoe store commercial (F). Whether this one works when cut down to :30 or :60 remains to be seen. You start to get a glimpse of the direction they might be taking with this campaign–trying to humanize Gates and Microsoft, make it seem like Vista is designed with average people in mind. I don’t know if I’m buying it.

Rumor has it, the next spot released in this campaign is going to pay off this setup. The expectations are rocket-ship high for Crispen to nail this, so I’m expecting the payoff to be brilliant; otherwise this’ll be seen as a monumental failure. I don’t know why they didn’t start with this one, the family makes it way more likable. C+.

sjbooher: I’m writing this after seeing 30 seconds… you know, the standard length of an ad? And why would I watch more? There is deafening silence, no jokes, and nothing interesting going on. Seinfeld is still not funny so far, and Bill Gates is still boring. And the rest of that family is absurdly boring. The only interesting aspect is that one of the newspaper guys from the best television show ever made, The Wire, is the dad. F.

sjbooher: Update: I made it through the whole thing. Guess what? There is still nothing being advertised, and they have not even piqued my interest. I don’t care what’s next and I hope never have to see anything else in this series ever again. The “joke-in-the-can” robot dance was halfway funny, maybe, but if I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen the “nerdy white guy does the robot” joke, I’d be… Bill Gates. Still and F.

jtherkal: Ever since CP+B won the Vista account, perhaps almost a year ago, the ad world has been buzzing. What genius concept will come out of the hottest shop on earth for a brand with one of the worst reputations on earth. So you can imagine how utterly and entirely baffled I was when this piece of garbage hit the air. Pointless, boring, horribly written. Did Seinfeld write his own material? Did someone forget to do quality control? The jokes are bad, the acting is typically Seinfeld bad. I can’t really think of anything about this that I like. The jokes they make at the end, about the cake computer and then Bill Gates shaking his shorts? All I can do is shake my head.

The only possible silver lining is that Crispen probably has some sort of twist up their sleeve. Something like, “Look at that commercial. You thought it was terrible, but look at this new version of it, look at how good it is. It’s just like Vista, it can get better.” Or maybe their point is that you can’t judge something by its reputation alone. Like thinking that putting Seinfeld in a commercial would make it funny. “We heard that people would really like a commercial where Seinfeld and Bill Gates meet in a shoe store. So we just went ahead and made it. I guess you have to try it before you can really judge.” Either way, unless the punchline is solid gold–or at least has something to do with why this ad sucks–this can’t possibly get anything better than a D-.

sjbooher: Full discretion alert. As a software engineer, I despise Windoze. As a lover of comedy, I am not in Jerry Seinfeld’s demographic. I will not be changing my Facebook status to contradict either of those facts any time soon. This is boring, un-funny and does not really advertise anything. On top of that, it’s annoying with that cringe-worthy hip twist from Gates at the end. Whose idea was it to feature one of the most non-engaging men ever to walk the Earth in a minute-and-a-half ad? To whom does this even appeal? The ironic part is that is exactly like Windows products — bulky, over-priced and crappy. Guess they went for a little truth in advertising? F.

jtherkal: I’m generally a fan of these ads. I think the Jay-Z one, the Shawn White one and whichever Williams sister’s were all pretty good. But for some reason this one seems out of place. Perhaps it’s because Seinfeld is soooooooo 1994. Guess what HP? It’s 2008! Who cares that he’s the voice of some bee? He’s past his prime. Maybe you should have used Rodney Dangerfield. Oooor, you could get someone fresh. I mean, didn’t you just give Demetri Martin a couple million dollars to produce some sort of webisotic mini-series? You’re a computer company, for pete’s sake. Stay current. D+.

sjbooher: I depise anything and everything pertaining to “Bee Movie”. Didn’t it have it’s run? Why is it so prominently featured in this ad? Why do I have to see that stupid “Bee in the sound room” short before every movie I go to? Did Seinfeld make some sort of Faustian deal, offering his lifelong servitude to “Bee Movie” in return for some untold reward? My relationship with Jerry Seinfeld is much like your typical stock market graph, and right now it is definitely in the penny stock range. I’ll be kind and stick with D+.