On Microsoft.

Everyone agrees the Microsoft ads featuring Seinfeld and Gates were mind-numbingly lame. And, we all kind of agree that the new creative direction is sort of cool, but fairly unoriginal. (They humanize PC in a National Geographic way.) Where we all disagree is over the effectiveness of all that press. There are two schools of thought:

1. For better or worse, those ads shifted the conversation away from Mac vs. PC and got everyone talking about Microsoft. Therefore, Microsoft wins.

2. A major brand does not benefit nor build equity from people ridiculing it – especially when the ridicule comes from everyone, everywhere. Ideal brands invite people to embody their cool, not mock their shortcomings.

Our Monday staff meeting got pretty vocal about both sides of this argument. For what it's worth, staging an accident where an 18-wheeler spills your product all over the Interstate will get people talking, too. But is that effective? Guess we'll all see how Microsoft fares from here.

At Burns Marketing, we're quite eager to watch the rest of this campaign. This effort is certainly making a strategic, lasting impression.