Jerry Seinfeld, the 54-year-old father of three and star of the infamous Seinfeld sitcom, is getting $10 million to plug Microsoft Windows Vista. Yep, Bill Gates is plunking down $300 million in a big advertising push to start airing on September 4, all in an effort to try and knock down Apple's series of Mac commercials. You know, the awesome spots where Justin Long (of Ed fame) portrays Macs as hip and cool (since they are) and John Hodgman as the inept and boring PCs (since they are). Word on the street is that Microsoft is also trying to woo Will Ferell and Chris Rock for the ads.
Many of my friends are self-proclaimed Mac snobs, but I am a stubborn hold-out for Windows. In my defense, however, I still use Windows XP and refuse to upgrade to Vista because, well, it's a big flaming ball of crap. I know - I've played with it and I'm currently inventing entirely new swear words while trying to fix a friend's computer.
So when I say that Jerry Seinfeld has a hell of a job in front of him, I know that I'm not the only one. Sure, Seinfeld still cracks me up, but can he do for Vista what he did for the "puffy shirt" or Junior Mints or older men dating teenagers? I don't know. He did act as the successful pitchman for American Express in 2004 in "The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman," but that was different. Most people don't taste bile when they say "American Express."
According to industry insiders, the new ads will revolve around the slogan "Windows, Not Walls," but I think it's a tall order for anyone to make Windows look good. Course, for $10 million, I'd do an ad campaign for heroin. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
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