Dennis McDonald's Web Site

The most interesting thing (and I haven't read his explanations if he provided one yet, nor the comments on the commentary) is that Microsoft is smaller than PC or Mac in the comments.

However, this has little to do with the effectiveness of the advertisement. First off the people commenting on his blog are hardly the people the ad is after. Secondly, they're commenting about the ads first and the brands second - and given the fact that the Mac ads are 'called' Mac vs. PC (as opposed to Mac vs. Microsoft - although that's what they really are about) - it's not surprising.

The end is that you're asking people critical about technology and marketing overall what they think about something that's not targeted at them. The echo chamber doesn't get much louder.

James, another thing Jeremiah's blog post and comments points out is the fundamentally different philosophies people have about using social media as part of advertising.

Some folks go for orchestrating a bottom up "groundswell" which is what I think Jeremiah is proposing, while others will attempt to work directly with "influencers" and "A-List" bloggers to influence their followers.

I have no way of knowing if that's what Microsoft is trying to do with this "campaign" but they are both examples of attempting to influence perceptions and subsequent purchases via social techniques. If that's the case, then attempting to dismiss comments on a blog since they represent "the echosphere" might be misguided as no one really knows what Microsoft's goals are here.

Jeremiah's suggestions on how Microsoft can use social media to its benefit are just as valid as the opinion of the "man or woman on the street;" I bet you a cookie that Microsoft cares about both opinions!