Microsoft Gets Pharrell Williams To Lie For Them

By SuperSpy on September 18, 2008 5:17 PM

And the Microsoft “Life Without Walls” narrative is rolling along with the latest Cripsin Porter+ launching some time tonight. It opens with a PC man who says, “Hi, I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype.”

The spot then features all of the super cool celebrities who got paid to say that they use a PC like Deepak Chopra, Eva Longoria and Pharrell Williams. Okay, maybe Eva uses a PC, but Williams? I mean… he uses an iPhone. He’s also on record, like, a billion times in interviews talking about his iPod (example). His store, Billionaire Boys Club, blogs about Apple’s incredible design. Yes, he did some HP spots, but um… dude uses a MAC, too. Watch the video above. He says he’s a MAC guy in it!!! Maybe for total brand loyalty CP+B/Microsoft should have paid him more. Dear Mr. Williams: “If you’re going to be a spokeswhore, watch out for the internet! It’ll get ya’ every time!”

This sort of “brand-fights-back” work is a CP+B specialty. They do it well (except for vetting the spokespeople apparently). Burger King anyone? Some of the kids (the geeks who game, the college students) might feel empowered about their brand of choice, the PC, after these spots begin to air. Nod to the planner on that one. It’s about the kids damnit! Yet, consider that my Mom totes sweats Deepak, but she already uses a PC and doesn’t feel at all bad about it. So, why didn’t they pay off another cool kid or pouty mouth celeb? No idea. Still, it’s the brand fighting back and that’s a very good thing.

Why didn’t they just skip all the Seinfeld madness and jump straight into the smart, messaging? Remains to be seen. I’d love to see this ad. If you’ve got a copy on your desktop please do send to superspyin at gmail dot com. I’ll owe you one, like, forever.

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