Leo Burnett - Cultural Fuel

Ok, it looks like I dissent with the blogosphere about ads these days.

Number 1:

I liked the Jerry Seinfeld / Bill Gates spots, and everyone else seemed to hate it. I liked it regardless of the weird rapport between Gates and Seinfeld (Seinfeld never has a rapport with people/charcters, that his shtick!) because finally it was a spot that wasn’t dictated on Apple’s terms, and Microsoft came across was self-confident, yet self-ironic, quirky. Ok, it didn’t change brand perception all that much. Hello? you cant change brand perception in  2 weeks, and you certainly cant do it with ads, anyhow.

Number 2:

Now everyone says the Microsoft sequel spot is much better and I hate it. Again, it starts with an Apple lookalike actor, then everyone says “I am a PC”… Booooooring AND dumb. Boring because you hear the same line from different faces a gazillion times and dumb because: people aren’t friggin PCs. But the real doozie for the brand that has 97% of market share against Apple is: the whole thing is an ANSWER to Apple’s idea, so again, Microsoft looks like a defensive, insecure dufus without self-confidence having to reference a brand that, well, is just cooler. Microsoft owns the market and still feels like it has to come out with a justification and reason for being against Apple? Hello?

Number 3:

Okay, and now everyone is all over the Tina Fey / Scorcese spot for AMEX. Ok, I love that spot too. Really do. You know why? Because, surpriiiiise, like everyone else, I love Martin Scorcese, plus it’s a great continuation of the first spot.

I just wonder: what the hell does it do for the brand?

Thanks AMEX for entertaining me for a couple of seconds. How does it feel paying millions for making Martin even more popular? Geez, you watch that spot, and think: Scorcese is a bigger brand than AMEX. It’s so ill-matched. Also, it’s a non-sequitur par excellence. He sells a timeshare and then it’s about travel advice?

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