WTF: Episode 1

Posted by Shane Woodward, on September 17, 2008

I'll state right up front that I am absolutely not on the "Apple Bandwagon". Quite the opposite in fact, but I'm, usually the first to give credit where credit is due, and Apple's aging "Get a Mac" commercial campaign has earned its fair share of credit. It's taken Microsoft almost 3 years to respond to Apple's challenge. When I'd heard that Crispin Porter + Bogusky had landed the $300 million Microsoft deal, I was, to say the least, excited. When I learned that they'd recruited Jerry Seinfeld, I was intrigued.

The friendly way to present the Seinfeld Vista ads is that they "get people talking." This is an adjunct to the notion that there is "no bad press," a lie I am happy to expose on a regular basis. For obvious reasons, I'm obsessed with advertising as a means of communication, and I believe that it's possible to communicate virtue in a way that is ethical, interesting, and genuine. I am sometimes accused of idealism.

So far, these spots communicate nothing. It would be difficult for me to express how angry stunted communication makes me.

If we are to observe the problem in its totality, I recognize that trying to make Vista seem like anything more than a modern Judas Cradle (if you don't know what that is, don't bother looking it up) is a tremendous challenge. This is part of why I am, in general, impressed with what they've managed to accomplish with the Xbox 360. Trying to associate Microsoft with "fun" is like trying to associate Satan with aromatherapy.

It's 'entirely possible' that the series of spots is leading to something greater than the sum of its parts. This 'could' be the single most brilliant display of creativity that man has ever witnessed. After all, a TV show about nothing managed to work out fairly well. I am, however, in the ad game, and if people in the game don't get it, or can't see where it's going, then the average consumer will undoubtedly miss the point entirely.

Epic fail.