Microsoft drops Seinfield/Gates ad campaign

Makes out like that was the plan all along

18 September 2008 14:02 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Microsoft has unceremoniously dumped the badly-received Seinfeld/Gates adverts in favour of a rebuttal of Apple's PC/Mac guy campaign to run alongside testimonials from "real" people and celebrity endorsements.

After criticism from pretty much all quarters, the ads are being dropped, despite Microsoft stating that it was to be a series, with the first, set in a shoe shop, described at the time as "the first in a creative campaign to spark a conversation about the Windows brand".

Now the company says this was in fact the plan all along, with a Vista director-level exec stating on his blog that the campaign is just "moving to the next phase".

"So there seems to be the rumor running around that we're supposedly cancelling our Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld ads tomorrow ... our Windows Consumer Campaign is moving into the next phase and we did mention previously that you should expect the campaign to evolve."

As well as input from real, everyday PC users and celebrities, it appears Microsoft are planning to take on Apple's PC/Mac guy ads with a look-a-like actor stood on screen stating: "Hello, I’m a PC and I’ve been made into a stereotype".

In a move that's no doubt got Apple rubbing its hands in glee, the new ads are due to air in the States imminently, so we'll bring you more when they've gone live.

UPDATE: US blog Gizmodo reports - direct from a Crispin Porter (ad agency) source - that the Seinfeld/Gates ads have not been canceled and there is at least one more to come. But not for a while, and in the mean time they are definitely going with the "I'm a PC" ones instead. So read into it what you will.

Full tags

Biz, Microsoft, Software