Seinfeld is gone and you’ve probably seen those new “I’m a PC Ads.” They’re interesting, but they’re defensive and that type of advertising won’t work for Microsoft.

So they’re burning through $300 million. I don’t know how much of that Seinfeld got for doing the two, pointless commercials with Bill Gates. Who cares? It was a dumb idea and the fact it was dropped quickly proved that point.

Now we’re on to phase two.

In a direct response to the Mac/PC guys ads, Microsoft has a bunch of seemingly regular people saying, “I’m a PC” and then adding a few personal comments. It’s the propaganda technique called plain folks. The idea is to get the viewer to connect with some of the regular, normal people in the ads. They’d say, “Hey! That’s me. I can be accepted because I identify with so-and-so in the ad.”

Sometimes Plain Folk works. It’s never worked for me. The ads are attractive, but they’re also defensive in that they are a response to the Mac/PC guy ads. So the comparison is deliberate, but it’s also weak.

Say Microsoft gave me the $300 million. I’m sure I could escape to Brazil and probably live well for a few months before they found me. But should I decide to do an ad for them, it would look like this:

– The PC guy is playing a game on his PC.
– The Mac guy is trying to install a copy of Sim City 4, which Apple sells on their web site.
– The PC guy is having a great time
– The Mac guy is watching his Mac crash.

Tag line: Sure, he looks cool in his jeans and casual shirt. But you’re ruling the galaxy while he’s restarting OS/X for the fourth time. PC may not be sexy. It might seem to be only for business. But its games kick alien ass.