COMEDIAN Jerry Seinfeld will star in a $US300 million marketing campaign to boost the image of Microsoft Windows, a person familiar with the effort said this week.
The centerpiece of the campaign, set to debut next month, is said to be a series of television ads in which Seinfeld will appear with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported details of the campaign, said Seinfeld would receive about $US10 million for his work.
Representatives for Seinfeld, who is best known for his popular eponymous sitcom, were not available for comment. Microsoft declined to comment.
The source who knew of the ad campaign said an immediate goal of the commercials was to counter public perceptions that Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest PC operating system, was clunky and hard to use compared with rival products from Apple.
The overall objective of the campaign was to rejuvenate the brand image of Windows generally, the source said.
The spots will reportedly employ some variation of the slogan "Windows, Not Walls" and the theme of removing barriers that prevent people and ideas from connecting and will begin appearing in early September.
The Wall Street Journal said the $300 million marketing campaign was one of the largest in the company's history.
For now, Seinfeld was the only celebrity taking part in the campaign although others including comic actor Will Ferrell were considered, the source said.
The attempt to rejuvenate Microsoft's image comes in the wake of Apple's "Mac vs. PC" ads, which feature a nerdy middle-aged man unable to keep up with his better-looking and younger counterpart.
The ads, painting Windows as stodgy and unreliable, have reinforced criticism about Vista's performance, stringent hardware requirements and lack of support for other software and devices such as printers.
More than 180 million licenses for Windows Vista have been sold since its launch in 2007, but the product still suffers from the public perception it was a dud.
Microsoft has said early problems with the operating system have been resolved.
Microsoft Hires Jerry Seinfeld to Promote Windows
Originally Posted by ares623
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