I saw the first commercial on TV the other day. I noticed that something was cut from the version that was linked here though, and it was something that when I first watched it here I was surprised and wondered if they really just said that. When they're in the shoe store and trying out the 'Conquistador' there was a brief shot Hispanic family looking through the glass and say something about 'el conquistador.' I'm no politcally correct nut but that actually offended me a little. Did anyone else notice that in the first ad and then notice that it's no longer in the ad? And what the hell were they thinking putting that in there in the first place?

It is a very good ad.

It exactly demonstrates the entire senseless FUD campaign against Vista since the day when RC1 was released from average joe's perspective.

They are not so sure about Vista at first glance. The young ones get a first stab. There is one group who obviously likes it (the little boys), while another group who hates it (the young girls towards the ending). The one girl uses her little ploy to smear Vista as the big bad guy.

The ad also manages to squeeze in on how average joe deals with malware and functions of new Windows Serach. The stuffed giraffe being the suspected file. Bill Gates representing Vista. Jerry was Windows Search.

It's a great ad. Completely the inverse of the annoying and smug Apple ads.

Entertaining and free. I do not object. Not terribly funny though.

I do have to wonder how much that cost Microsoft though.

Penny Arcade makes an insightful comment...

(Warning, bad words)

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/9/15/

People are forgetting that Microsoft does not own the hardware. This is why apple can make it easy for jane/joe because they have total control of their products hardware and software.

i love this ad... so good!!
Did anyone else pick up on the old product, just new sauce joke about macs (which i tend to agree with) from the dinner?
I found it hilarious... can't wait for more

Leave it to MS to turn a 30 second annoyance during shows into a 4 minute annoyance. Only they could find a way to put bloatware on TV.

Why is everyone assuming they're advertising Vista with these commercials?

Being accused of stealing something they didn't? *cough* ^_^

I enjoyed it.

I liked it, kind of lavish for a non add though..... are they trying to un-evil the general impression MS has to some?

thought it was pretty funny overall although I assumed the crabby grandmother was the culprit for the giraffe.

it was worth watching just not sure on the point of it all.

I noticed recently that YouTube is getting very anal and is deleting a *lot* of videos. I didn't think they go so far as to delete this one too. I can see the popularity of YouTube soon drop.

You know what would be funny, unlike their ad, is if they actually work a day in their life.

Better.

Yesterday I walked a coworker to the mac store and helped her pick out a macbook. The mac dude took over and was genuinely nonannoying and helpful, cool, and didn't upsell us, push us, or annoy. When she got back to the office, a crowd of people gathered to ooo and ah, and the receptionist is apparently ordering one today.

Now, I had also given her the option of going to the local office depot to look at Vista machines (at 2/3 the cost, I might ad), the only other place downtown you can even get a computer. I imagined the stark lighting, the salespeople that aren't going to sit for 40 minutes and explain all the options and features, etc. She didn't hesitate in sticking with what she saw with the mac.

I think Microsoft has a significant problem with image, and this isn't helping rectify it. BTW, I'm a 80% windows 20% linux admin, and haven't used a mac OS in 10+ years. But I can tell without hesitation that macs are better for Joe/Jane users...

74 comments so far. Yes, the campaign is working.

Well I laughed. I think it was a good ad, but I don't see how it really helps Windows Vista at all. It's about time MS starts to show the positives of Vista to the average person.

power down.

Heh. Seinfeld still makes me want to kill kittens every time I hear his voice, but Bill's performance was fun.

If that girl were smarter, she should have phoned in a tip to the "Business Leather Giraffe Alliance".

Then if she were determined to be eligible, she might receive up to $1million reward.

To be honest, I don't think Microsoft's goal is to promote Vista per se in these ads. In fact with slightly over a year to Windows 7 launch, they are just trying to create a favorable image of Microsoft in general as a company, by using familiar faces that people know and like and making them interact with the "average joe" So they soften up the public a little with these ads, preparing the grounds for a completely rebranded W7 launch later.

Now personally I can't identify with any of the people in the ad, and is sure as hell isn't going to make me buy (or try) Vista until Windows 7 launch, but it probably made me a bit more likely to use other microsoft software, some of which is actually not half bad.

Seriously? Is each of these ads going to get it's own article? Do people really care about this stupid stuff?

I don't get it, is this just about 2 guys that peaked in the 90's and are desperately struggling to stay relevant now?

Patience. This is not the first time that an ad campaign has started with a rather nebulous message. I'm sure in the not-too-distant future there will be info ad nauseam in these commercials about the wonders of Vista.

Now I'm pretending the Bill Gates and Seinfeld are walking about my home, and I keep trying to hit em for some financial tips or sing em a song. Wait a minute, thinking about this add on a deeper level makes the add seem good. But I think a lot of people might think it's just weird. Thinking about that a little deeper and I think Apple might make have a easy target in their next round of ads.

What I think is weird is the near-unanimous turnaround of opinion from TR readers. Are people swayed so easily? Maybe the article headline and light tone from Cyril lends itself to such responses. I mean, yeah, the ad is funnier but there's still one thing--JUST ONE F*ING THING--missing from this ad: A reason to use Vista!

I thought these ads, back when they were announced, were supposed to gee-oh-em show the virtues and advantages of using Vista and comfort their fears of instability at the same time. Ads can be quirky or creative but somewhere in there they have to GET TO THE POINT!

Only they could find a way to put bloatware on TV.

Well said. Well. Said.

There's guys are good, I hope they get their own sitcom.

The game the kid was playing must have been the next Duke Nukem.

I liked it. Made me smile more than a couple of times.

That was actually pretty good. It doesn't have a DAMN thing to do with Vista but it may make for a funny TV show. One of the world's richest guys and Seinfeld doing a show about "nothing". Its like having a billionaire in the place of Kramer.

Nice... I LOL'd and left me with a smile. Not too many commercials do that for me these days anyway. Plus, I watched all 4+ minutes of it which surprised me. Say what you will about the nonsense ad its relevance, but anything that can hold an American's attention span for more than 20 seconds is good in my book.