sein language

"what??? WHAT???"

looks like skepticism was the right reaction when microsoft announced it was hiring jerry seinfeld as its new $10 million pitchman. after seeing the new ad, you might wonder what seinfeld helping bill gates pick out a new pair of shoes has to do with software. the answer, in the classic seinfeld sense of the word, is nothing.

nevertheless, as commentators rightly point out, the brand ad is getting its primary job done- getting people to talk about microsoft (without even mentioning the word). microsoft officials who phoned reporters Friday (to "explain" the commercial) said it is indeed a campaign to re-brand windows, "the start of a conversation... easily the largest marketing campaign we've ever had."