Microsoft Asks You to Make an "I'm a PC" Ad

The campaign began with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates trying on shoes, then left it to Pharrell Williams, Deepak Chopra and other everyday users of PCs to discuss their affinity for Microsoft products. Now Microsoft is going straight to the people.

Starting Monday, Microsoft began airing user generated advertising in line with it's "I'm a PC" campaign. Now PC users can upload themselves stating the campaign's "I'm a PC" tagline and some other information about themselves on Microsoft's I'm A PC website. Together with ad agency Crispin Bogusky, Microsoft will choose which of the ads will run on television. 

Says the site:

"If you're a PC, now's your chance to stand up and be recognized. Raise your mouse-hand high and show us what kind of PC you are. You could become the face the world see in online advertising, on this site and even on TV."

Microsoft is also finding passersby in Times Square to participate in the campaign and have their image beamed onto Microsoft's large digital billboards around Broadway. When I walked by recently, the guy holding a Microsoft clipboard was having trouble getting people to sign up, but that could have more to do with tourists' ingrained distrust of people screaming at them in Times Square than anything else. 

In keeping with the ongoing ad war between Microsoft and Apple, it should be noted that Mac also went to users for an ad campaign where enthusiastic iPhone users were featured showing the benefits of the phone in television spots. Those people were compensated. PC users picked for the campaign will not receive the same compensation. From the FAQ:

So, since I am part of your advertising campaign, am I going to be paid like a celebrity?                    

              Sorry, but no.

However, Microsoft does not discriminate against Mac users:

I have a Mac, can I participate?                   

Of course you can. A Mac can be a PC too, most notably when it runs Windows Vista.

And for those of you wondering about Microsoft's John Hodgman look-alike, Microsoft has an answer (though they can't be made to spell the last name of Apple's spokesman correctly).

Who's the guy on the home page (the guy that looks like John Hodgeman)?                    

That is Sean Siler. He is an actual software engineer at Microsoft. You can reach him at sean@windows.com and see what he is working on.