It's the commercial that is mystifying and horrifying everyone.
IN THE COMMENTS: Scrutineer says:
One doesn't dissect a Vorshtein.
September 6, 2008
"Give me a signal: Adjust your shorts."
It's the commercial that is mystifying and horrifying everyone.
IN THE COMMENTS: Scrutineer says:
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79 comments:
I don't get it an I'm a geek. But I thought it was funny.
Yeah, WTF? Saw this yesterday and didn't understand it at all. Somebody make sense of this, please! Is this Microsoft's idea of marketing?
Yes, Maguro, it's just as coherent as the programming of their operating system.
It's funny how Bill Gates has ceased to be entirely human. You get the sense that he's actually trying to seem like a human in this commercial. The director probably had to tell him what to do.
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh kkkkkjjibibbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbiiiiibiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyh
It's a commercial about nothing!
i不用得到它，我不用想
(I don't get it and I don't want to)
Gates is exceedingly human, if you've seen some of his early interviews. He's developed some interesting behaviors to help him survive socially. One of them was Steve Ballmer, who acted his social buffer for years (beleive it or not).
What people often miss, because they are not part of the company, it that Gates is very funny (I work for MSFT, by the way).
Our internal videos, which occasionally leak out, are quite a bit funnier than this. However I see what they are trying to do here. They want people to look forward to the next commercial, for the very same reasons that people are puzzled by this one.
Almost makes me want to buy a PC just like Sarah Palin almost makes me want to vote for McCain. They're both that good.
My take when I saw it was that it was a subtle mirror of the very notable (and one has to think, damaging) commercials by Apple.
You have the same two types of characters as the Apple add, except the MS one is the real person. It looks like it is trying to reset the image to cool - cooler than the Apple ads.
Gates can't act.
Good point, Quayle. This ad laughs at itself which reveals why the Apple ads aren't really cool. They're too cool. And too cool ain't cool.
It's cooler than the Apple ads because it shows Microsoft is able to laugh at itself a little.
Notice that photo on Bill Gates' club card in that ad?
That's not a family photo!
Sorry. That was my bird typing on the computer. And it made me want to buy Microsoft Vista™ almost as much as that ad did. Micrsoft is paying Seinfeld $10 mil to counter the "I'm a PC / I'm a Mac" commercials. So far, they don't seem to be getting much bang for their buck.
What the heck? I guess I'm just not smart enough to get it OR think it's funny.
Funnnnnny!!! Gates hawking commercials.
Is Microsoft coming out with a new product? Or did Melinda exhaust the fortune?
Here is a Bill Gates Coke commercial. Is it Bill Gates or just a lookalike?
I loved the exchange:
"Are you a Clown Club member?"
"Platinum."
"What do you get with that card, anyway?"
"Big Top points."
Made me laugh.
The mug shot photo was funny.
What's not funny is that I didn't bother to change my mainframe career to PCs or Apple when I lived in Silicon valley in the late 70s. Nope, not laughing at that move one bit.
Anywho, the hurricane has moved on, I missed the 4.0 earthquake in the Bay Area, and the dogs got walkies in the rain. All is good.
Appears not everyone likes it.
Critics Boo Microsoft's Seinfeld-Gates Ad
At least the ad has the decency to not show Bill in shorts. That ad is terrible.
Huh?
I think I need a Compatibility Pack to understand this commercial. And still, some of the sounds and pictures will not make sense. Then I will have to play it on a Mac so that I will be able to get it. Of course, it could be I am just stupid and inexperienced at viewing commercials, and do not deserve to understand this one.
They're desperately trying to make up for the VISTA disaster. How don't care how much cake they say they are going to offer or how many butt crack wedgies Bill tries to adjust. Their operating system sucks rotten eggs.
DBQ,
They have ruined their brand. I can now use XP documents better on a Mac than I can on Office 2007!
Sic transit gloria.
I have to admit... I have no idea what the ad was trying to sell, but I want one! I thought it was hilarious. And I thought Bill Gates was a good sport to appear in the ad, which makes me like him (and Microsoft) more.
funny!!-
as I watch on my mac.....
I recommend off-brand grocery store crocs ($8.99). Mine have lasted over a year, which is better than any real shoes I've had.
Wear wool socks in the winter.
I think the next ad we're going to see is one where it's revealed that this is not a Microsoft ad but a Mac ad and is actually just the lastest desperate act by that nerdy PC guy.
Nothing works with Vista. We're keeping XP. After XP's gone, the question will be whether you want mustard or mayonnaise when you eat that computer.
Unfortunately the operating and trading platform used by my broker/dealer is only compatable with Windows and IE. Can't use Firefox. So far XP seems to be not to to bad, but you won't see me changing to VISTA after hearing all the horror stories.
Why can't Microsoft make a computer platform that isn't rudely intrusive, that won't bully other programs and will not crash repeatedly???
Theo Boehm said...
Just bought a couple of CAD worksataions. Nothing works with Vista. We're keeping XP. After XP's gone, the question will be whether you want mustard or mayonnaise when you eat that computer.
What CAD platform? Solidworks for me. Been an original beta tester and user since 1994.
AutoCAD works too. I'm also curious what CAD software is not working on Vista.
Of course, the only real geeky response to that ad is, "The cake is a lie." I wonder who knew and who didn't.
Actually, most of the problems associated with Vista - mainly driver compatibility issues - have been mostly resolved. Many of the XP drivers for printers, scanners, and the like, would not work on the Vista OS. When MS locked down the code for Vista in Oct 2006, they only gave hardware manufacturers about three months, not only to write, but test and debug the Vista hardware drivers for new and older equipment. This was not nearly enough time for companies to deliver Vista drivers for all the various peripherals people were using with XP. So when Vista was introduced to the private sector in Jan 2008, then to the public in Feb, many many things just didn't work. Now, there has been enough time passed that most companies have drivers for most of the stuff out there. But unless I missed it, this commercial didn't seem to bring this to light.
Yeah Theo, I wasn't going to get into the kernel lock-down issue - too geeky for most people.
BTW. I'm not hating on MS. But I am a linux user since 2000. Love it.
Ubuntu for newbies.
64 Studio for musicians.
Well, that's true. In my own personal experience though, 90% of the suckage is in non-Microsoft programs or add-ins for Microsoft products.
A vanilla Windows + Office workstation is about as reliable as you can get for daily office tasks.
I have a picture of Bill Gates magneted to my refrigerator to remind me what a lowlife creep this filthy rich dude is. He's at a bridge tournament seated at a desk signing 1 dollar bills for the kiddies and caddies. I use that picture to remind me of the evil of ego and unrestrained wealth. He should be taxed down to the moral mental midget that he is.
The ad is plainly racist. I'm surprised no one has picked up on that yet.
"racist"
Why? Because it plays on stereotypical buffoonery of the so-called "white" race?
Meade -
No. Lighten up guy.
Oh and Dogwood, don't think I missed that shot last night. It must be hell to be a Colts fan. You never know when your team is gonna pack up and run away from town like Barack Obama's father.
john said... The ad is plainly racist. I'm surprised no one has picked up on that yet.
Yes, but despite those positive aspects I found it confusing.
Two billionaires talking about shoes, computers and junk.
And what's with the homosexual symbolism of having two men bonding while holding and eating phallic symbols?
Curb Your Enthusiasm is a thousand times better than Seinfeld.
I have a picture of Bill Gates magneted to my refrigerator to remind me what a lowlife creep this filthy rich dude is.
Trumpit, didn't realise you personally knew him.... Oh, I forgot. It's EVIL to be rich and have EARNED his money by, you know, working and broviding products that make our lives better (Vista and ME excluded).
Project much Trumpy?
In your world, you would be getting tax refunds just to get you up to zero.
And, just so we can witness you going apoplectic again, when did you make up the word "magneted"? Does your mommy know that you are making up words on her computer? She should, you know...
Here is a good article about Sarah Palin, her exercise routine and Alaskan diet.
http://magazine.wsj.com/hunter/tone/running-alaska/
Haha.
Bill Gates managed to sucker Althouse into posting his commercial!
Obviously it worked.
And obviously it's first in a series. Will you be chumped into posting all of them??!!
HAHA.
Leaving absolutely everything else aside, I don't want to think about Bill Gates' feet or his ass (and, lord knows, especially in connection with wedgies). Ever. Or, truth be told, the feet or ass of 99.9 people on the planet.
Call me quirky, but there it is.
99.9 percent
Is there anyone Trumpit likes?
I love the ad.
Macs are fun until you're trying to do a software or hardward upgrade on a high end one. Or trying to get it to work with a server. Hellish. Absolutely zero regard for backwards compatibility.
"Project much Trumpy?"
Holy crap. Trumpit is Bob Trumpy?
I mean I know the Bengals suck and all but why does he have to be such a Grumpy Trumpy?
Why not root for the WORLD CHAMPION NEW YORK GIANTS who with the first win in the bag are on the way to repeating as WORLD CHAMPIONS OF THE NFL.
Did I tell you lately that the Giants won the Super Bowl.
They all just seem so OLD and tired. Is that the message they're sending?
Trumpit I have three words for you: The Gates Foundation. Gates has diverted most of his personal wealth into his foundation.
http://www.gatesfoundation.org
The Gates Foundation is currently working to eradicate Malaria world-wide. A task a corrupt UN has utterly failed to accomplish.
BTW- here's an excerpt from a 2006 Wired magazine article:
Until recently, Bill Gates has been viewed as the villain of the tech world, while his archrival, Steve Jobs, enjoys an almost saintly reputation.
Gates is the cutthroat capitalist. A genius maybe, but one more interested in maximizing profits than perfecting technology. He's the ultimate vengeful nerd. Ostracized at school, he gets the last laugh by bleeding us all dry.
On the other hand, Jobs has never seemed much concerned with business, though he's been very successful at it of late. Instead, Jobs has been portrayed as a man of art and culture. He's an aesthete, an artist; driven to make a dent in the universe.
But these perceptions are wrong. In fact, the reality is reversed. It's Gates who's making a dent in the universe, and Jobs who's taking on the role of single-minded capitalist, seemingly oblivious to the broader needs of society.
Gates is giving away his fortune with the same gusto he spent acquiring it, throwing billions of dollars at solving global health problems. He has also spoken out on major policy issues, for example, by opposing proposals to cut back the inheritance tax.
In contrast, Jobs does not appear on any charitable contribution lists of note. And Jobs has said nary a word on behalf of important social issues, reserving his talents of persuasion for selling Apple products.
According to Forbes, Jobs was recently worth $3.3 billion which puts him among the 194th richest in the world, and makes him the 67th richest American. But the standings were shuffled on Tuesday with Disney's $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar Animation -- a deal that makes Jobs' Pixar holdings alone worth some $3.7 billion.
But great wealth does not make a great man.
Giving USA Foundation, a philanthropy research group which publishes an annual charity survey, said Jobs does not appear on lists of gifts of $5 million or more over the last four years. Nor is his name on a list of gifts of $1 million or more compiled by Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy.
Jobs' wife is also absent from these philanthropic lists, although she has made dozens of political donations totaling tens of thousands of dollars to the Democrats, according to the Open Secrets database.
Of course, Jobs and his wife may be giving enormous sums of money to charity anonymously. If they are funneling cash to various causes in private, their names wouldn't show up on any lists, regardless of the size of their gifts.
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2006/01/70072
BTW- As a Linux user I don't have a dog in the OS fight and think they both suck. However, Jobses obsession with DRM is reason enough to pass on his products.
[In full disclosure I bought AAPL at $16 when Sculley tanked the company so Jobs has helped fund my retirement; for that I thank him.]
Gates is giving away his fortune...
Ditto Warren Buffet
Ok, maybe I should have made the diminutive "Trum-pee". Then I could take off on a Giant Underpants routine. Or not...
But these Giants of which you speak - how are they doing without Bonds this year?
The ad is hilarious. It speaks directly to me at a very deep level. But I learned long ago not to explain such things when I described how drop-dead side-splitting funny Henry Kissinger's writing is in Years of Upheaval and was shouted down and permanently barred from polite company by people already too angry to read it. Besides, nothing is ever funny that must be explained.
OT elaboration.
Here's a brief example of humor frustration. The following joke was told to a room full of friends who instantly got it and fell about the place laughing. They're not particularly sophisticated. I thought, "Aha. Judging by their reaction, this is a good joke, then. Go ahead and keep it." I told the joke again to my family while waiting for a meal at a restaurant, which at that table included my parents, sibs, a few visiting cousins, Aunt and Uncle. Here's the joke:
Two roommates invite one of the roommate's mother over for dinner. She arrives. They have dinner. Everything goes over well. The mother departs. The next day one of the roommates says to the other that he can't find the silver ladle that was used to serve the soup course. They look everywhere and still can't find it. It fits into a box so its absence is glaring. Their only conclusion was the mother must have slipped it into her purse. One of the roommates read of such things once in Dear Abby. So the son calls his mother and says, "I'm not saying you did, and I'm not saying you didn't, but Bill and I can't find the ladle we used to serve soup the other night." There's a pause. The mother responds, "Well John, I'm not saying you are, and I'm not saying you aren't, but if you and Bill were really sleeping in separate beds you'd know where your ladle is."
*Crickets*
My entire family looked straight at me waiting for the punch line. I go, "I give up." "What?" "Just forget it. I give up attempting to amuse you." Which they found incredibly amusing. Finally, something funny. Better than a joke. Sensing my disgust, my cousin says, "OK. What's a ladle?"
So, no maguro, either it's funny or it's not, and that is all.
Two rich men trying to pretend they are regular joes who can only afford discount shoes.
Not a funny joke in today's economic environment.
What was the product they're selling? Or is it merely a corporate image ad?
Gates is also starting to look quite elderly. The hair dye does not help.
Trumpit said...
I have a picture of Bill Gates magneted to my refrigerator to remind me what a lowlife creep this filthy rich dude is. He's at a bridge tournament seated at a desk signing 1 dollar bills for the kiddies and caddies. I use that picture to remind me of the evil of ego and unrestrained wealth. He should be taxed down to the moral mental midget that he is.
How much money have you given to charity lately? Oh, yeah, none. You need to things to do that; a heart and to be human.
"Today's economic environment"? It's pretty good, and if Hussein Obama is elected we will look back on 2008 as the good ol' days. But keep pushing the democrat talking points, they work real well.
LOL!!
It's so freaky and discomfitting, but in a Gong Show kind of way. I expected Jaye P. Morgan to bang the gong any second.
Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld eating churros and buying shoes.
lololol...
Men on Film:
"Loved it! 2 Snaps Up!"
They're desperately trying to make up for the VISTA disaster
Just to be clear, is that the one where they sold more copies faster than any other operating system in history? If selling over 100 million units is a disaster, where do I sign up? How's "Onward to disaster!" for a company slogan?
You can never go wrong with popularity. Just ask Joe.
By the way, I hope to get a couple of cats within a year or so. I'm thinking of naming them P.T. Barnum and Mark Twain. Wouldn't that be fab?
(I really am doing that hoping of getting and thinking of naming. However, truth to be told, the actual inspiration for the latter doesn't have anything to do with computers.
However, Joe's comment did inspire me to potentially expand, and certainly share, the notion.)
Well at least Jerry didn't do a stupid american praying commercial like Costanza.
Gee, I thought it was a hoot! Very "Seinfeld" -- the "adjust your shorts" bit was a knee-slapper...
Like Windows, this commercial has plenty of bugs in it. You're going to have to wait for MS to issue Service Pack 10 before it works right so you can understand what it's all about.
I'm glad Seinfeld's gettin' some work. He's probably running out of money or something.
It's EVIL to be rich and have EARNED his money by, you know, working and broviding products that make our lives better (Vista and ME excluded).
Ah, well, he didn't make all our lives better. He made some of our lives considerably worse. Especially if you liked the products that competed with Microsoft's offerings or hoped to offer something yourself.
Never mind the outright lies used to destroy competitors.
He's made products bad enough to bankrupt companies without a monopoly several times over: First versions of--oh, just about every product Microsoft has made: Word, Windows, DirectX, IE, I'm not sure about Excel but Access was so bad that while the magazines were telling you you'd have to learn it, they also advised strongly not to put any data on it you wanted to get to later.
And then there's "Bob", ME, Vista, etc.
As for Jobs being DRM-crazy--Huh? Jobs is the one trying to convince the media bigs to give it up?
Microsoft on the other came up with their (ironically named "Plays for Sure", and abandoned it after four years.
Also, as for Windows + Office being stable, how is that an accomplishment? 20 years of development and we can make a spreadsheet that doesn't crash!
Linux + OpenOffice is stable, fast, runs on cheap hardware and is free. Plus you can upgrade when you feel like it.
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One doesn't dissect a Vorshtein.
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