While I was watching NBC Football (or rather, I was surfing FriendFeed and my husband was watching football), when, all of a sudden, I looked up to see Bill Gates on the screen! Yep, it was the first commercial from the new Microsoft ad campaign from Crispin Porter + Bogusky (backstory here), the ad agency that just won the big $300 million contract with Microsoft. You may not have heard of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, but you’ve definitely seen their ads: the Burger King “King” ads, Miller Lite’s “Man Laws,” and those freaky VW ads where unsuspecting drivers and passengers are sideswiped by SUVs and trucks in real-time.
The Microsoft ad that aired was not as harrowing as those VW ones, though, thank goodness. Instead, it was pleasantly goofy. Jerry Seinfeld spots Bill Gates buying shoes at a shoe carnival and goes into to help him out. Bill comes across as a lovable geek – and be sure to catch his Shoe Carnival card for a hilarious photo. But don’t leave it up to me to summarize. You can watch it now.