The Economist:

THE self-appointed marketing experts of the blogosphere immediately pounced on the opening shot of what will probably be this year’s most discussed advertising campaign.

The court of public opinion’s instant verdict of the new Microsoft campaign is apparently mostly based on simply the ads’ non-get-ability. Everybody’s saying, ”I was like, huh? What? It’s pointless. I don’t get it.” And from there comes the deduction: FAIL.” As if advertising effectiveness is a function of merely comprehensibility and having a point.

The expectation was likely a Microsoft in-your-face retaliation for the PR beating delivered by Apple’s Mac/PC series. People seem to have been expecting John Hodgman and Justin Long doing the same characters in the same setting, but for PC to finally land a punch with a quick one-liner. But that not happening. Nor is Microsoft bringing some attempt at making a case for Gates’ softened humanity or new-found coolness. Instead the ads are deliberately longish, with plenty of awkward pauses, and pack no real punch line. They are a soft landing, not a slap to the face. I.e. they aren’t matching the snappy hit over-the-head expectation. Add to this that the spots are a little different, and as a result, folks aren’t getting it, so they deduce that the campaign sucks. (It doesn’t help when people don’t want to like Microsoft and require less than half a good excuse to poke fun at the company.)

But If you’re the big guy, you can’t retaliate with cheap shots; you have to turn the other cheek. Besides, what’s there to say about Apple, other than they’re excellent. Ballmer himself has been saying so recently, hence Microsoft’s continued attempted emulation of Apple: Zune followed iPod, SkyMarket follows iTunes, MS gurus will follow Apple Geniuses. You can’t outcool Apple; so why try? You’re not going to convince anybody that you are sharper or more in the moment than those guys. So what do you do instead? You attempt to appeal to other values. Higher vales. You put Mac (Jerry, long been associated with Mac) and Gates together as friends, capable of mutual admiration, not petty enemies, who actually become intimate pretty fast: shopping, foot touching, sharing a bedroom, implying an awareness of industry secrets, but acknowledging boundaries, eating churros.

Get it. What the ads are really about
In the absence of a new or yet improved Microsoft product, the campaign so far is aimed at general public image, selling reassurance in the brand’s secret development in future delicious stuff. And to also create talk about Microsoft, which is definitely working. A PR boost is easier & than developing a superior operating system; which is what Microsoft should have done before launching a campaign about nothing.

The point of the ads, the intent, is NOT to demonstrate how in-touch Gates is, as everybody keeps saying. For crying out loud, isn’t this obvious? It’s to show that he’s not in-touch, but that his out-of-touchness shouldn’t matter; that a software company can be headed by a quirky smart guy and still deliver delicious stuff at some point in the future. I’m not saying I’m buying that message. 

What about Cool?
Cool is a delicate quality, and vulnerable to effort. Andrew Keller, co-executive director, of Crispin Porter + Bogusky (MS’s ad agency): “To try to be cool is to not be cool. To chase cool, you’re chasing something that already exists, which means you’re always going to be on the wrong side of it, you’ll always be following.” These agency guys use MacBook Airs, by the way. The thing is though that if you’re Alex Bogusky, and you not only understand the concept of cool, but are in the business of inventing it for your clients when it’s not there, what do you do when your client insists on being uncool?  

CP+B is doing Volkswagen (unpimp your auto), American Express, Best Buy, Burger King, Domino’s, Nike, and now Microsoft, so this campaign is no accident. Gate’s uncoolness is on display and even exaggerated in these ads: he’s awkward, with a couple exceptions his comedic timing is off (could have been addressed with editing, but wasn’t), he buries his lines, his back pack has huge intitals: WHG III and an over-sized Windows logo, he’s a life-long, card-carrying member of Shoe Circus, he’s dressed for the cubicle rather than the bar, he can’t robot, but doesn’t mind trying. The ads go out of their way to make it clear that he’s NOT cool, as if you were uncertain for a while there. Why? The point is supposed to be that all that stuff doesn’t matter. Gates knows he’s not “cool” and he’s at peace with it, as he is equally at peace with his accomplishments. The meta point that he is big enough to allow himself to be made fun of and that he doesn’t need to know how to tell a bedtime story or to have sufficient social awareness to know better than to complain about a dinner that he’s an uninvited guest to, in order to do what he does best: computer stuff. 

The implication is that Gates/Microsoft is operating at another level, a higher level, far above the need to be cool or funny. And therefore it’s ok to own a PC. The good stuff is coming, so just chill. That’s what they’re saying. It would be far more effective a message if Microsoft already had the proof of an existing or imminent product.

Also of note
I admit that for a second the notion of Mac and PC being friends and part of a “New Family” as the second ad is called, and forging ahead into the unknown together raised my eye-brows about the possibility of a merger or shared venture of some kind. Ridiculous. Please ignore.

Other themes that will probably appear in future ads of this series

• cost consciousness ($1800, Greek coins, eating leftovers, the “Why pay more” signs)
• self comfort and mutual acceptance of quirkiness/ silliness (wearing clothes in the shower, doing the robot in the middle of the street, being out of touch)
• food (churro, Chinese food, Jerry’s APPLE!, leftovers)
• hygiene (shower, toe clipping)
• toil (stretching the shoe, sanding the old door, brushing teeth)
• leadership void (Father who doesn’t confront the neighbour about the car, the salesman who let’s Jerry take over the sale)
• emphasis of Bill’s accomplishments (”Is that the conquistador?”, “Whoah, two of the most accomplished guys in their respective fields on earth” )
• Bill’s modesty/comfort with his accomplishments (Bill uses the same phrase, “I have”, to affirm that he’s had scalloped potatoes as he does to acknowledge that he’s connected billions of people and melded minds with staff at MS, showing the kid a game that will never be released)
• emulation/adoption: (the phrase, “they run very tight”, is repeated. Bill gets a churro, like Jerry, Bill stretches his shoes like Jerry and then does so again in the second ad)
• consistency: platinum card member of Shoe Circus, same old Bill.

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