Is Windows Marketing Nothing or Something?

The first TV commercial, featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, aired last night. Jerry helps Bill buy shoes. Microsoft's press release explains what I had already figured out: "Some may wonder what Jerry Seinfeld helping Bill Gates pick out a new pair of shoes has to do with software. The answer, in the classic Seinfeld sense of the word, is nothing."

Huh? Isn't advertising supposed to be about something? When I was a kid, singer Billy Preston had a big hit with song "Nothing from Nothing." The song wasn't my taste, but it was a No. 1 hit. From the lyric:

"Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin' You gotta have somethin' If you wanna be with me"

A commercial about nothing is nothing. Right? Commercials are supposed to be memorable. Advertising's goal is make an impression and associate that impression with a brand. Maybe I expect too much from Microsoft and ad agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. Maybe I don't have enough sense of humor. Or maybe nothing from nothing really is nothing.

Here's the problem: Windows Vista is a troubled product that has had little marketing support for about 18 months. Microsoft is spending at least $300 million on a new marketing campaign. I expected Microsoft to capture the imagination and endear people to Windows. The first commercial leaves the viewer remembering Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld and the "Conquistador" shoe.

Two different people I spoke to about the commercial bristled about racism, because of the churros, Hispanic onlookers in the store window and the "Conquistador" name of the shoes. I wouldn't go that far, but I will observe that more air time was given to the shoe store window than to Windows. My wife exclaimed, "Oh, lighten up!" She didn't see any racism in the 90-second spot.

She said: "To me it's funny—the Hispanic family in the window—because they don't say, 'Oh, it's Bill Gates.' It's the Conquistador." Oh, you mean Bill Gates isn't the Conquistador, honey?

She laughed at the commercial, by the way. Frequently. Is this like a woman thing, or am I just too much the sourpuss to laugh? The commercial did make an impression on my wife, who described it as "funny" but "strange;" she didn't see the connection to Windows.