Analysis – “I don’t get it” was the answer we most often heard today when we asked people what they thought about Microsoft’s first Seinfeld ad that aired yesterday. Producing commercials is an art o skewing of perception, transporting underlying messages and achieve effective comprehension. So we thought about it and found at least 17 possible messages packed into a 90 second commercial. Some of them being funny, some very intelligent, some controversial, some boring and some may even be considered very disturbing. Join us for a journey on taking this commercial apart, piece by piece.

The team at Microsoft's marketing division has developed and released the first of several upcoming commercials, entitled Shoe Circus, designed to take on the successful and long running Mac ads from Apple.  In Apple's ads, two pithy contemporaries, personified Mac and PC characters, battle it out in some clever ways, while the Mac persona usually has an unfair advantage.

The ultimate goal of all this demonstrates that Apple can best PC in just about every way, making PC look foolish, slow and generally something less than desirable.  We had high hopes for the Gates-Seinfeld commercial, despite our doubts that Seinfeld is the right character. You may think the outcome is great or you may think it is a flop. But if there is anything we can agree on then it is certainly the fact that it is one of most complex commercials made in recent history in terms of the underlying messages. So we sat down and began translating it.

Advice: You may want to watch the commercial several times yourself and try to detect all those subtle hints.

Warning: We may interpret much more into this commercial than what really is in there. But commercials are about perception, right?


Introduction

The scene opens with Jerry Seinfeld opening a Churro and catching a glimpse of Bill Gates inside the “Shoe Circus” store working with one of the staff members.  Jerry is surprised to see Gates in there and looks up at the store sign reading its caption, "Shoe Circus, quality shoes at discount prices. Why pay more?"  Then he looks back inside and sees Gates standing there and questions, "Bill Gates?" and then takes a bite of his churro and heads inside determined.  Gates sees Seinfeld and says, "Jerry Seinfeld."

We are introduced to two celebrities, the Shoe Circus, a sales person and a churro. The churro recurs throughout the commercial and ends the ad as well. The story seems to be tied very close to the closing caption, which reads "The Future ... DELICIOUS ... [Windows Logo]".  So, we're left with the idea that the churro is a constant reminder of something that's delicious.  This fact is further reinforced by the fact that Seinfeld offers Gates his churro when he comes in the store.  Gates says "I'm good".

The scene is set for two celebrities who pose as normal people and a fancy Mac store (shoe store). And the audience is ensured that there is a real celebrity, Jerry Seinfeld, for which Microsoft obviously shelled out big bucks.



Chapter 1: The bad shoe

Gates is talking to the store clerk and says, "the left one is a little tight," to which the store clerk responds, "it will stretch," assuredly.  Seinfeld asks questioningly with his mouth full of churro, "you sure it will stretch?" The shoe is introduced as a product that is inconvenient and limited in terms of changes.

The next scene has Seinfeld on the floor in place of the store clerk helping Gates with his shoes.  He feels something at the tip of the shoe Gates has on his right foot and says, "is that your toe?"  Gates replies, "no."  "What is it?" asks Seinfeld.  "Leather" replies Gates.  And then there is an awkward silence between them for literally four seconds as they both nod at each other.  This scene was particularly difficult to analyze.  What could it mean?

If we accept the supposition that these Microsoft ads are in response to Mac's ads, then we can conclude that there would be some comparison between Microsoft and Apple products taking place.  The Shoe Circus could represent a Mac store.  The ineffectual store clerk could represent the Mac clerks (genuises??) who may or may not be able to help you.  And the lack of any "meat" inside of the shoe could refer to the Mac itself.  It just has a package, albeit leather, but there's no meat or bones inside.

Also note the signs “Why pay more?” throughout the store in the background, a hint to the prices of Apple products.

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