There’s a fine line between crazy and genius and CPB’s new Microsoft has drawn some attention and criticism at least in the advertising community. The common consensus is that it was a disaster, but is there more to it? As nicely said by nowpublic:

The widespread consensus: Microsoft + Jerry + Bill = FAIL.
The result: Gates + Seinfeld = CANCELLED.
The Microsoft version: it was all part of the plan.  Read More »

“This first set of ads features Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Think of these ads as an icebreaker to reintroduce Microsoft to viewers in a consumer context. Later this month, as the campaign moves into its next phase, we’ll go much deeper in telling the Windows story and celebrating what it can do for consumers at work, at play and on-the-go.” explains Microsoft SVP Bill Veghte, in an internal email to all employees.

That explanation is as lame and as boring as the ad itself. I hope CPB has something better than celebrating what Windows can do for consumers at work if the campaign is supposed to be compared to the hilarious Mac vs. PC ads.

Microsoft is launching a $300 million ad campaign starting September 4th, says the WSJ. The ad campaign will star comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and it was developed to combat the negative image that many consumers have about Windows Vista and also to finally push back against Apple’s popular Mac vs. PC campaign. Really interesting move by CPB, which after winning Microsoft back earlier this year finally shows the big idea.

A new video featuring Jerry and Bill showed up yesterday in YouTube, and my first reaction was WTF! I’m sure CPB has something really good planned, they always do, and perhaps this is intentional, but seriously, what is this?  Read More »

I’m going to file this one under WTF, but it has some interesting features.

Nico Nico Douga is one of the most popular video sharing sites in Japan. The very unique feature they have is that users leaving comments on videos appear in an overlay in real time. This allows comments to be timed to certain aspects of the video adding relevant thoughts at the appropriate time. Some users have even used it to add sub titles to their video.

I think this is a great addition. I’ve been watching YouTube for some time waiting for a comparable feature to appear. I’m suprised they haven’t tested even a prototype to see if western culture makes this as much as phenomenom as the Japanese did for Nico Nico Douga.  Read More »