mymediamusings

Microsoft Ads – A Big Pile of FAIL

It seems like a week doesn’t go by that Microsoft is trying yet another completely different approach to selling America on the Windows OS.

Whether it was blowing untold millions on a couple of awkward, less-than-funny spots with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates himself or the embarrassing “I’m a PC” campaign that makes one wonder how much you have to bribe someone to admit the fact, it just seems that Microsoft can’t get out of their own way.

A big problem is how much better Apple seems to be at selling stuff. Their ads are funny, elegant, catchy and hip – much like the products they’re touting. Microsoft ads also suffer from having to sell something that even they seem to know is far from the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Now comes Microsoft’s last helping of FAIL – they’re combining the “I’m a PC” campaign with the oh-so 2006 edginess of user created videos. The thing is, Microsoft isn’t just letting people record their incredibly uninspiring renditions of “I’m a PC” and post them to YouTube, they’re actually putting some of them on TV!

I guess the big question is, how completely directionless is your advertising when you can go from Jerry Seinfeld to Jerry Smith as your spokesperson in less than a couple of months?