Microsoft's Ad Campaign is Viral for the Wrong Reason

A recent Advertising Age article talks about the success of Microsoft's "I am a PC" ads.  These new Microsoft ads were created to counter Apple's very successful PC vs Mac campaign in which a cool and snarky guy named Mac argues with pudgy nerd named PC about just how lame Microsoft's software really is.  The Mac ads masterfully poke fun at some of Microsoft's biggest perceived weaknesses. Check out my favorite, in which Mac and PC exchange holiday gifts.  

Microsoft tries to fight back with its own ad campaign.

Two years after the Mac vs PC ads first started running, Microsoft decides it has had enough. Time to fight back with its own ad campaign. The campaign kicked off with a few spots in which the comedian Jerry Seinfeld helps Bill Gates try to become a regular Joe sixpack.

You gotta admit, the Gates/Seinfield ads are odd.   Bill Gates wiggling his butt to signal to Seinfeld about what features were being added to Vista?  Lots of commentators said that Microsoft was smart to dump this strange duo in favor of ads that showed all sorts of people (scuba divers, Hollywood stars, boxers) proclaiming "I am a PC".  We get it - PCs are used by lots more regular people than Macs. The general consensus was that the second set of ads were much more effective than the Seinfeld/Gates spots.

Not so fast says Ad Age.

The Ad Age article quotes research published by the Internet tracking house Visible Measures. Turns out that the Seinfeld/Gates ads drew twice as many Internet views in their first week than the ads featuring the regular folks.   Ad Age's conclusion "Microsoft sparked a dialogue in the Seinfeld ad that isn't there in PC ads."

Oh Come on!

I am not one who believes that the number of eye balls is always the best measurement of success of an ad campaign. The Gates/Seinfeld ads were bizarre, the follow up ads were boring. Of course more people looked at the first set.  How does either help Microsoft sell more computers?

Yea, the first set of ads got our attention, but Microsoft is already one of the most recognizable brands in the world. It doesn't need to boost brand awareness.  It needs to come up with clever ways of reinforcing the message that there are lots reasons for picking a PC over a Mac (cheaper, better gaming, easier to upgrade, more likely to be compatible with co-workers equipment). Sorry I just don't believe that letting us know that a few starlets and a scuba diver or two use PCs is going to move many boxes. (Especially when it turns out that the ad was created (at least in part) on a Mac and that the starlet carries a Mac laptop when she travels).

Don't believe that Microsoft could make better ads?

Check out these parodies in which the Mac always looses out to the PC.

• Mac vs PCs (which are easier to upgrade)
• Mac vs PC vs Linux
• PC vs Linux
• Mac vs PC (real scientists use PCs)   
• Mac vs PC (the better gaming system)
• PC vs Mac (who won't share music)
• Mac vs PC (which are cheaper)
• Mac vs PC (the serious business computer )
• Mac vs PC (which will make you more money)