World goes mad as Bill and Jerry eat churros

Microsoft has debuted the first commercial starring its $10m Vista pitchman, Jerry Seinfeld.

The ad shows the funnyman spotting Bill Gates shopping at a discount shoe store, whereupon churros, foot sizes, wearing clothes in the shower, and chewy computers are discussed – anything but Windows Vista, it seems.

Reactions to commercial seem particularly divided. I like the bit. While it doesn't leave me rolling in the aisles, it's charming. Who cares if it doesn't mention Vista? Microsoft desperately needs to push out a positive image of itself. The company has been sitting on its hands for too long while the competition rips it to shreds.

He may be leaving the CEO spot, but Bill Gates is Microsoft. Gates is also such an awkward nerd that filming him trying to interact with another human being is almost guaranteed comedy gold. And who better to stir up awkward conversations than Seinfeld?

Microsoft's attempts to directly confront the negative image that plagues Vista with its "Mojave Experiment" commercials is a mistake. Interviewing people that say Vista is awful, letting them fawn over a new operating system called "Mojave," then revealing the OS is actually Vista is a bit like trying to sell canned pineapples by saying there's "guaranteed no razor blades hidden inside." It raises more suspicions than it corrects.

Others here at Vulture Central are on the opposite side of the fence. They argue that the Seinfeld commercial making virtually no effort to mention Microsoft as a software company and with absolutely no reference to Vista makes it seem like the company is ashamed of what they do. It appears as if Microsoft has thus far, accomplished very little for a considerable sum of money. At best the commercial doesn't change their opinion about its products one way or the other.

Let us know what you think. ®