Jerry Seinfeld hasn’t really had to do much since his sitcom finished all those years ago.
Still ranked by many as the ‘funniest thing ever’ and ‘really, really good’ and earning a hell of a lot of money for the people involved in it, Jerry Seinfeld obviously thought he could rest easy.
At least until a movie about a bee came about, which was clearly what he’d been waiting for all his life.
But now it seems the star of the sitcom with the bloke who drops the ‘N’ bomb on stage wants some more money – that has to be the reason, as agreeing to star in adverts for Microsoft isn’t something you do for integrity’s sake.
No, if reports are to be believed, agreeing to star in adverts for Microsoft is something you do for $10 million. The campaign is planned for the Fall (which is still called Autumn over here) and will see Seinfeld starring alongside the big man himself, Bill Gates.
No details have been confirmed beyond that, but we would wager the ads will be along the same vein – or a counter to – the awful, awful, awful Mac vs PC adverts of the other year. You know the ones – ‘oh, I use a computer to be cool, not for actual functionality – I’m a Mac!‘ and the rest of the bullshit they decided to cram down our poor, weak throats.
And lest we forget the British versions of the ads, which ruined the credibility of David Mitchell and Robert Webb.
Though, to be fair, they’ve now decided they’re happy to whore themselves out to any company that wants to sell anything ever, providing their stupid voices in exchange for cold, hard cash that they probably use to fund transport to their next recording studio, where they can then record another shitty advert that no one cares about.
Ahem…
Anyway, the hope is that Seiny-F will be able to slam some kind of ‘credibility’ into the ‘brand’ or some other marketing spiel. Speaking to CBS News, Brian Steinberg, television editor for Ad Age, said:
“Seinfeld does represent sort of a challenge. He’s not Dane Cook. He’s got a more sophisticated everyday take on things. He often comes across as a questioner of conventional wisdom but also can be kind of a crank. It’s a fine line to walk when you’re dealing with a younger person.”
A fine line to walk when dealing with a younger person would involve hitting them with a brick if they wanted to see Dane Cook in anything, ever – surely? Well, maybe not a ‘fine line’ – more ‘the right thing to do’.
Expect to see the credibility-destroying adverts aired towards the end of the year, and expect idiots to then believe that Microsoft are cool. These will be the same people that thought Macs were good, and not actually useless machines invented for particularly idiotic children. As we all know they are.
Plus didn’t Seinfeld have a Mac in his apartment in the show? And, in fact, we’ve just found (thanks to commercial-archive.com) out that Jerry Seinfeld once advertised Macs back in the early 90s. Look.
It’s a favourite word of ours, but still: integrity?
Pete Kusnick says
I don’t think comedians have credibility. they have or don’t have a sense of humor and the ability to make us laugh.
Anyway, people will watch the ads but I can’t think of why Jerry would make they want one. Now Jay Leno makes me want to buy a car from Pebble Beach. Warren Buffett makes me want to buy a company with derivatives from Lehman Bros. Lewis Black will make me laugh because he’s crazy. “Pineapple express” made me laugh, Jim Belushi, John Candy, and Chris Farley will make me klap in my pants but no Jerry won’t make me buy a PC from MS. I’ll do that because they’re cheap.
David Gerard says
There’s an obvious comedian Microsoft should have used … http://notnews.today.com/2008/08/21/30/
Adland says
You’re welcome. Thanks for the mention. :)
a546365 says
I’ve said that least 546365 times. The problem this like that is they are just too compilcated for the average bird, if you know what I mean