Sep 18, 2008

Mktg - Microsoft to end effort with Seinfeld & Gates

BOSTON Jerry Seinfeld's classic sitcom ran for nearly a decade before it went off the air. The iconic comic's tenure as a Microsoft pitchman will apparently last just two commercials.

Valleywag today broke the news that Microsoft's much derided effort teaming Seinfeld and the software giant's chairman and cofounder Bill Gates would cease.

Microsoft could not immediately be reached, but a company representative told the LATimes.com's technology blog: "All along we said we were having a teaser campaign. We're getting ready to start the second phase. This was the plan all along."

The first spot, "Shoe Store," which runs 90 seconds, broke two weeks ago during NFL coverage, while the second ad, "New Family," more than four minutes in length, debuted at online venues like YouTube less than a week ago.

Though panned by most critics -- Adweek's Barbara Lippert offered a mixed review -- the work by Crispin Porter + Bogusky generated a level of intense media and consumer interest usually reserved for Super Bowl advertising.

The push, which took a soft-sell approach and featured slightly surreal humor reminiscent of Seinfeld's TV show, was part of a broader $300 million campaign.

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