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Microsoft's Answer to Apple Ads: Seinfeld
Comedian to front $300M campaign to counter stodgy image
By Rob Quinn
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Posted Aug 21, 08 7:29 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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So what's the deal with Microsoft ads? The company has enlisted Jerry Seinfeld to spearhead a new $300-million campaign, the Wall Street Journal reports, to try to shake the negative buzz about Vista, and the nerdy, feckless image projected by John Hodgeman in Apple's popular "Mac vs PC" ads. The campaign, to start next month, will net the funnyman $10 million.
Apple's business is still dwarfed by Microsoft's, but Apple is on a hot streak, and Microsoft execs feel the Windows brand has gotten stale. "They are not seen as cool," the boss of a branding firm said of Microsoft. "Apple is cool. Can anyone even recall a Microsoft ad? No." The software giant plans to pair Seinfeld with Bill Gates in the new campaign, and to highlight "blind" testing where users raved about a Windows version called "Mojave" before being told it was actually the much-derided Vista.