The Billy & Jerry Show: Trying Too Hard?
This just in: Microsoft is canceling the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ads.
For those of you who haven’t seen the commercials - they were an admirable attempt by Mr. Softy to think way outside the box. Some hated them; some loved them…some thought they were simply too weird.
I’m more in the weird camp, but I also know how hard it is to come up with good marketing ideas. I’m sure this one played much better on paper than in reality (Bill Gates wiggling his butt? Grandma yelling at Jerry?) We all know that Bill and Jerry are bazillonaires, and the commercials show them shopping for shoes at Shoe Circus and living with “real people,” including that cranky grandma.
Methinks there was simply too much of a disconnect between what we the audience know and the story being told - which is always a challenge in positioning a product and its “brand.”
P.S. However, I’d also bet that these commercials will become comedy cult classics, given time.
Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, branding, advertisng, Microsoft
View the Blog Roll