The Channel Wire

September 12, 2008

Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld continue to make advertising history with the second ad in the long anticipated, $300 million television ad blitz. Last time, Bill Gates let Seinfeld know that changes were coming to Microsoft by giving his derriere a little shake. This time, he does the robot at Seinfeld's behest.

While the first ad left people wondering exactly what Microsoft was thinking when it launched the TV commercials, the second -- clocking in at four minutes and 30 seconds -- places this very odd couple in search of real people, and widning up in a the home of some strange folk, doing strange things, like a grandmother who has a penchant for auto repair.

The main message is nicely summed up by Seinfeld just one minute into the TV spot. Gates asks Seinfeld why they are living in suburbia and Seinfeld gives a fairly succinct (and accurate) answer.

"Why Bill? Because as we discussed, you and I are a little out of it. You're living in some kind of moon house hovering over Seattle like the mothership; I've got so many cars, I get stuck in my own traffic. We need to connect with real people."

Ultimately, however, it seems that real people aren't too fond of Gatesfeld -- that's a word I'm going to use to describe the pair in these ads. Nowhere is resentment better shown than when they are torpedoed by one of the little girls they are living with.

The ad also features the Gatesfeld being torpedoed by the older daughter who "just wants her room back." The ploy is centered on a leather giraffe the parents of the household purchased on a trip to Cabo San Lucas. It's obviously important because, as the father points out, "it's been in our family for six years."

After none of the kids will cop to stealing the giraffe, the parents turn to Gatesfeld, who denies the allegations. Unfortunately for the pair, the daughter has planted the giraffe in Seinfeld's room, sticking out the top of one of Gates' backpacks.

Gatesfeld is next seen peeling paint off a door in the backyard while the daughter explains her plot to a couple of friends before later confessing to Seinfeld she was the true perpetrator.

The pair decides to leave with 30 seconds in the ad, walking into the distance and chatting about how Microsoft has changed the world. So far in the campaign, this seems to be the time of choice when Microsoft has decided to interject its message into its ads, by having Seinfeld recap Bill Gates' many achievements and talk about the future.

"What's next?" Seinfeld asks Gates. "A frog an email? A goldfish with a Website? An amoeba with a blog?" Gates signals his affirmative by giving Seinfeld "a little robot." And off the two go, down the street, apparently heading toward "that pink house."

I can only hope that next week the two are manning a falafel stand on the street, selling pita to frustrated Mac users. While that might be the case, one thing if for sure: the yuks will keep on coming.