The second installment of the Microsoft Bill Gates Jerry Seinfeld advertising campaign is surprisingly better than the first. It is just as confusing but there was something about it which compelled me to watch and have real interest in what the characters are all about. After a short amount of time I admit I threw in the towel as to trying to understand some of the characters.

I should also mention the ad was 2:30 long making it five times longer than a typical commercial.

I do agree the acting of Bill Gates was good and Seinfeld — well he can’t seem to be bad — even if he tries. With the exception of course being the first installment of this commercial series.

I suppose the point of these commercials is to reposition Microsoft as hipper and more interesting without responding directly to the Apple ads. I would think in this respect this ad more than the first one succeeds.

One last thought is the ad actually casts Bill Gates — known worldwide as one of the most successful people around, as super-intelligent while simultaneously approachable person. To the extent Bill Gates personifies the Microsoft brand to so many people, this is exactly what needs to be done and perhaps this campaign is only going to get better — after all it, it couldn’t get worse.