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Fey and Scorsese school Seinfeld and Gates
For all the debate about strategy and rebranding with those ill-fated Seinfeld Microsoft ads, my real beef was that they just weren't that funny. Snappy dialogue and non-sequiturs can make for great ads, but the repartee between Seinfeld and Gates just felt weak. To see celebrity banter done right, you need only watch Tina Fey and Martin Scorsese in Ogilvy's American Express campaign. A new spot starring the pair aired during the Emmys on Sunday. Check out the extended version over on AdGabber. (The spot actually plays out the punch line of an earlier ad, "Airport Lounge," which broke in July.) Every line is a classic as Scorsese tries to sell Fey on a timeshare in Boca Raton. In addition to the sharp writing and great delivery, the ad goes the extra mile and creates a great new tourism motto for Boca: "The water's warm, and you like sharks." —Posted by David Griner |
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September 23, 2008 in AmEx, Finance, Griner, Ogilvy | Permalink |
Comments
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Wow, you thought that was funnier than the Seinfeld ads?.....weird.
Posted by: Jason | Sep 23, 2008 12:28:19 PM
come on, that punchline was so obvious - he didn't really want her in a movie? shocking.
Posted by: Chris | Sep 23, 2008 2:28:58 PM
To clarify: I liked the new, extended one about Boca. Not so much the first, more predictable spot about getting in the airport lounge.
But yes, either was funnier than Seinfeld's 474-minute Conquistador spot.
Posted by: David Griner | Sep 23, 2008 6:28:19 PM
Make it out to cash.
Posted by: | Sep 23, 2008 6:39:46 PM
Wow, Jason, you thought the Seinfeld ads were funnier than Tina Fey/Martin Scorsese?.....weird.
Posted by: Chuck | Sep 23, 2008 8:39:32 PM
I like the Windows ads way better than these amex ads. Neither are particularly funny -- they're both more absurd than funny. But the amex ad is absurd in a grating, conflict-laden, disappointing way, and the windows ads are absurd in a strange, curious, and sweet sort of way. I'll take bill and jerry in a middle-american house long before I'll take martin scorcese pushing 9 days in a time-share in boca.
Posted by: Dan | Sep 24, 2008 11:39:16 AM
