I think the "Circus Club" commercial starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates has a certain charm. Microsoft is obviously getting drilled by the Apple "Mac & PC" commercials (and the inconvenient truth that Mac is a better product).If you deconstruct the "Circus Club" commercial, though, you discover interesting things. For instance, the Conquistidor shoes fit tight. This is repeated in English and Spanish and is obviously a reference to the Vista operating system. It is subliminal mea culpa - "sure the Vista system has problems but it a quality product and it will get better if you keep using it!" ("It fits tight, but it will loosen up.")
Further subliminal theater - "Bill Gates is a 10."
The loopy lull of the commercials are obviously intentional (stuff like this does not happen by accident). And, as allegedly bad as the commercials are, they are effective. Are people not talking about them?
And, more importantly, don't we all know what Bill and Jerry are selling (even though it is not mentioned once in the commercial).
A lot of really funny and clever commercials are ineffective because when all is said and done the viewer doesn't recall - specifically - what was being sold. The Apple vs. Mac commercials are a welcome exception to this rule - which is why Uncle Billy is lauching this 300 million dollar campaign.
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