I jsut watched it on the discovery channel. It was utterly stupid. Gates and Sienfield trying to connect with real people, while living at someone's house, and at the end they steal something from the house then the Windows Vista logo appeats... wtf does this have to do with M$ past the logo?????? Is it saying we all should pirate Windows Vista?

Edit: I found an extended version that is 2 minutes longer that finishs the story.... ok so it turns out they stole w/e it was forced to do labor around the house then later get kicked out... major wtf.

It's trying to grab attention rather than advertise the product.

well if M$ is trying to change their image its failing.

lol that was quite long. don't see how that connects to anything.

Basically advertising works best when it has emotional resonance. Which is actually quite logical, because memory is strongly tainted by emotion. The stronger emotional response you have to something the stronger your memory of the event in question. More to the point it leaves a stronger subliminal impression.

For those who think that commercials cannot influence them on a subliminal level. Why do you think commercials often come packaged with familiar songs. The advertiser is trying to directly interface with your subconscious, and your memory. They are betting on the fact that you have fond memories of that song, and while in that mild elation may look more favorably upon their product. Music has a powerful emotional resonance.

This commercial has a powerful emotional resonance. They are looking to evoke emotion rather then make a factual statement. All the elements in this commercial are directed towards witty and familiar. The situations are similar yet skewed. Meaning that the audience could relate to some instances within the commercial, and laugh at themselves in the characters.

You may not get it, but a slew of people could probably relate to the humor. They saw family members and themselves in the commercial. Microsoft is relating to consumers. Microsoft is shifting their emotional dynamic in the eyes of consumers.

They didn't steal the giraffe. The girl put it in their bags because she wanted her room back.

oo a Gary Larson calender

I dont get it
I dont get it
I dont get it
I...dont get it

The commercials are basically parodying The Simple Life, the Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton reality show. Not very obviously though. Gates and Seinfeld are basically saying they're far removed from the average joe and decide to slum it to reconnect. I'm sure there's a metaphor in there for Vista, but with Seinfeld involved, who was really expecting something blunt, in your face and easily understandable?

Regarding the theft of the giraffe, only those that didn't pay attention would think they stole it. It clearly shows in Part 2 that the oldest daughter set them up so they would get kicked out and she would get her room back. So no it's not advocating piracy, and I'm not sure why anyone would think Microsoft would spend millions on a commercial to give the message that piracy is good.

As for the ad campaign itself, it's great. Like most of the best advertising campaigns, it does nothing to really advertise the product but it keeps the brand in your head by being an enjoyable commercial to watch. Did the Budweiser frogs really promote Budweiser? Do the bait and switch Geico commercials have anything to do with car insurance? Not really. However, I bet you remember them over the run of the mill car dealership commercial or pharmacuetical commercial that give you an overload of information regarding the product. Advertisements do not need to be heavy in the info. They just need to grab your attention and give you a brand to associate it with. Food is an exception to this though, because you advertise food just by showing it and getting mouths to water over the images.

See the problem is the shortened version doesnt show enough of the story. Its only like 1m 50s long.

That's true of all commercials though. Editors of commercials are some of the worst i've ever seen. There's a great Dairy Queen commercial where a father is watering the lawn and the son is picking weeds, and is visibly dirty with soil. The mother announces from the house, "clean up so we can go to Dairy Queen" and the father hoses the kid down, and then tells him to turn around so he can get the back(Much funnier to watch than to be told). The edited version cuts out the mother saying anything and just shows the father wetting the son, and then wetting his back and then cuts to Dairy Queen products.

However, if you're watching the shortened version of the commercial, then why are you judging it and saying it doesn't make sense? Obviously an edited commercial that is telling a story isn't going to make sense any longer. It's not like a movie where there are plenty of scenes to delete to tighten the experience and message. It's a two minute commercial and obviously wasn't meant to be shortened.