
Though Bill Gates doesn't much work for them anymore, and Jerry Seinfeld is mostly associated with American Express these days, Microsoft enlisted the pair of them to convince America that despite its troubles getting documents to print or iTunes to function, Windows is the cat's growl. The spot they put together is, sigh, pretty clever, as you would expect from the Seinfeldian school of thought. And Gates, despite his billions, comes across as relatable, cute, and our dad. Will it make us ditch XP for Vista anytime soon? No. But that's not what this ad is intended to do. After seeing it, you're supposed to start thinking warm fuzzies about Microsoft, rather than making it a punchline while waiting in line to buy a MacBook Air.
This ad makes it official: Bill Gates is mental. All the phony philanthropy and retired comedians in the world can't rehabilitate his public image.
To learn more about the IT world's equivalent of Michael Jackson, check out my Google knol "Bill Gates."