It seems like Microsoft really is getting serious about raising sales for Vista. The Wall Street Journal says the company has hired comedian Jerry Seinfeld as one of the faces for a $300 million ad campaign. The core slogan for the campaign is supposedly "Windows, Not Walls."I wonder about the choice of Jerry Seinfeld. In the TV series, Seinfeld had a Mac in his apartment. Oops! Product placements are sometimes requested by the actors or directors, but more often come because of behind-the-scenes connections. Apple certainly appears in the media in higher proportion than its market share would justify. Steve Jobs' position on the Walt Disney board of directors probably helps. In the past, Apple has claimed that it doesn't pay for product placements, but there's always the possibility of under-the-table money to the props people. Or maybe they just like Apple because the products are more photogenic; it's hard to argue with that reason.

It's also hard to tell how the slogan "Windows, Not Walls" will play, and whether there will be any sense of irony in the way they use the term. The walled, proprietary nature of Microsoft applications, languages, and data formats has been one of the ways Microsoft has prevented users from escaping to other alternatives. The new ad campaign supposedly starts on Sept. 4.

Since Seinfeld is at least one of the celebrities that will be in the commercials, I thought of some slogans that might be more appropriate:

"Be master of your domain, install Windows Vista."

"Vista has great new features, new user interface, yada, yada, yada."

"Windows Vista: Because XP is old. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Windows XP: It's pretty much like Vista, only successful."

"Windows Vista performance: It's not a lie if you believe."

"No CPU for you! Come back one year!"