Microsoft set to sack Seinfeld!
Valleywag said yesterday that Microsoft is set to make the announcement today:
Microsoft’s version of the story: Redmond had always planned to drop Seinfeld. The awkward reality: The ads only reminded us how out of touch with consumers Microsoft is — and that Bill Gates’s company has millions of dollars to waste on hiring a has-been funnyman to keep him company.
A PR person quoted says there is the “potential to do other things” with Seinfeld. Hardly anyone liked the ads. Still, Techdirt’s Michael Masnick argues:
Even if some people didn’t get the ads, people were talking about them. Caving, rather than going through with the rest of the planned ads and laying out the message that they had planned to lay out, just makes the company look foolish. The first two ad segments clearly set the framework for numerous commercials that Microsoft could use to both humanize itself and inform people about what Microsoft was doing — and now it’s basically a dead end. Yes, there were some very vocal critics of the ads, but bowing to their pressure sends exactly the wrong message.
CNet has the story too.
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4 Responses to “Microsoft set to sack Seinfeld!”
the ads really are unfunny.
jerry seinfeld hasn't done anything resembling funny in years; laughable, yes, funny, no. the more i hear of his post Seinfeld business dealings — including his shrugging off his former co-stars, the less i like him.
this is just icing on the cake.
All part of the “plan”, eh?…. right.
If they had kept quiet about their plans and intentions, the ads would likely have had a much more profound effect.
By telling everyone about the ads, the hype was too much for such an odd ad campaign. If they had kept quiet and I saw these ads popping up, I'd be too confused and enthralled with the novelty of Seinfeld (who I certainly used to love, maybe not now) and Gates (who I don't like, and now like even less) progressing through their little story line of getting to know “real” people.
All these huge companies going “viral” are ridiculous… they're just pointing out the very flawed and out-of-touch mentality that will drive away the very consumer base they're looking to court. Give it up Microsoft, Apple has always been better at advertising than anyone else out there; too late to try to step up your game now!
A lot of people are pointing fingers at Seinfeld, but I think it still could have worked if the commercial had been written better. I haven't seen him in a while, but I'm willing to bet Seinfeld could still be funny, provided the right material.
Still, it may have been better to choose a more current funnyman – Steve Carrell or someone like that.