The second installment of Microsoft's new campaign, "New Family", seems to be creating even more discord than its first. In fact, it seems designed to provoke discord.
It's at least as difficult to parse, and even more bizarre, than "Shoe Circus," and, at 4 minutes and 30 seconds, it defines an unexplored new format for video advertising as compressed situation comedy.
First, the spot reinforces the casting of Bill and Jerry as a comedy team duo, two strangers in a strange land. This strange land is inhabited by "real people," and Jerry reveals that they're on a quest: "We need to connect with real people." It quickly becomes clear that these "real people" and our anti-heroes are fundamentally ill-equipped to deal with each other. This incompatibility is revealed through a series of vignettes that paint both the duo and their hosts as tragicomically devoid of empathy. Again, the spot's feel for human nature is reminiscent of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," while the landscape seems conjured out of David Lynch's vision of small-town America.
Again, the spot is pure brand (no mention of the company or product), and again, it seems almost intentionally designed to illicit a "WTF" response from its audience.
What struck me as most unexpected is the self-deprecating positioning of the two anti-heroes. There are some indications that they are a metaphor for today's personal computing experience, but this formula hardly seems to burnish Windows or Microsoft. The final scene echoes the conclusion of the previous spot, but takes its futurist theme in an ironic direction. Walking away from their adventure, Jerry gratuitously remarks, "Bill, you've connected over a billion people," to which Bill echoes his earlier answer, "I have." Then Jerry recapitulates his speculations on some ridiculous future innovations and pushes Bill's butt wag acknowledgement embarrassingly beyond the audience comfort zone, as Jerry directs him to dance like a robot and then urges him to catch up, which he submissively does. Not exactly a positive characterization of innovation.
As best I can tell, the main aim seems to be to hook the audience in the mystery of where this is going and create buzz, which I suspect it's already done. The fact that the buzz ranges from perplexed to hostile can't be unintentional, which leads to a new theory of what's going on.
First, we must give up on the idea that Bill and Jerry are meant to represent Microsoft, Windows or Apple - they're something else. This story, still in its early chapters, has to be about transforming perceptions, as Microsoft intends to do with Vista and perhaps its leadership role in general. So the spot deliberately starts out establishing and reinforcing the perception that our team has a problem: Despite their vast resources and accomplishments, they're disconnected from the needs of real people. Look for the introduction of Windows as the agency of this connection. As our protagonists are humorously cut down to size, Microsoft must enter the picture as the tool of their rehabilitation.
At least, that's my best guess as to what's going on here. Any other thoughts?
I agree that the spot was created to invoke the type of buzz that's been seen. My take is that when vista was released, there was a similar reaction, some people loved it, others hated it, while some simply thought "WTF?". My guess would be that the audience will be led to reevaluate Bill and Jerry, before being encouraged to reevaluate their perceptions of other things in their lives, like oh, maybe vista. I think it's worth noting, as you point out, that while Bill and Jerry have their faults, the small-town American family isn’t without fault either. So maybe part of the blame for the bad perception of vista also lies with the people who interacted with it. Or so the message goes.
Of course this could be way off base, but it’s my current take on it.
Holy crap did they show this on TV? Tragic. At least there wasn't any racial slurs as so often is the case with Seinfeld. But I just found it so uninventive. So blah blah blahhhhhhhh. My analysis is that Seinfeld has to cut people down to find comedy. But his jokes are never on himself. He is always the superior character. These ads are the result of people who have lived lives in an abnormal fashion for an abnormally long period of time. Period. End of analysis. They need help. And what book was Gates reading the kid about "good design doesn't mean inheritence or polymorphism"? That was just so Lamo.
