Is Microsoft's Seinfeld spot the worst TV ad ever?

I just saw Microsoft's much ballyhooed Jerry Seinfeld ad, and can say without equivocation it's one of the worst, most pointless ads in history. If this is Microsoft's response to the "I'm a Mac" ads, it should fold up its tent and tell the world to switch to Apple.

You can see the ad, below, via YouTube. The entire spot plays off a lame joke about Bill Gates buying cheap shoes at a cut-rate discount store. The ad isn't funny, has absolutely no point, and is about as boring a minute and a half as you'll ever spend.

Gates, as we all know, isn't a particularly scintillating personality. And here that blandness rubs off on Seinfeld. Making matters worse is Gates' uncanny resemblance to the PC Guy in the Mac ads, which is no coincidence, of course.

There's no humor in the ad, and no information as well. It has nothing to do with Windows, or even with computers, for that matter. If there's ever been a worse technology ad, I haven't seen it.

 

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Thoughts about the Gates-Seinfeld ads

Preston Gralla:

• Gates-Seinfeld 2.0: longer, pointless, uncut
• Is Microsoft's Seinfeld spot the worst TV ad ever?

John Brandon:
• The other shoe drops: second Microsoft ad is about connecting
• The brilliance of shoes: What the new Microsoft ad really means

IT Blogwatch:
• EXTRA: Seinfeld spots vs. Apple ads

Eric Lai:
• Before Seinfeld and Microsoft, other celebrity computer commercials

Seth Weintraub:
• Ten reasons why the Seinfeld-Microsoft partnership doesn't work