The Computer is Personal Again

Jerry Seinfeld HP Commercial

“The Computer is Personal Again”

Video

This commercial advertises Hewlett-Packard’s line of laptop computers. There are a number of these commercials, the spokesman being Jerry Seinfeld in this particular one. This commercial aired in mid to late 2007, before the release of Bee Movie, in which Seinfeld stars in. Along side the laptop, this movie is also advertised, or “plugged” twice, as well as Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook. The plugs for Bee Movie are very explicit in the commercial while the plug for the cookbook is a little less.

Seinfeld’s fan base includes an older set of individuals, from around 18 to 35 years of age, including parents, which is important to this ad. Bee Movie is a family movie and the cookbook plug is to promote healthy eating habits among children. These help push the ad for the laptop forward. The idea driving this ad is that of the “computer being personal again” and there is nothing much more personal than the family.

These commercials intrigue me in the fact that as consumers, we are given very famous and recognizable spokespersons in the ads, but there faces are not shown. They are “hand commercials” as Seinfeld calls them. In the ad, the animations of the computer are in the foreground, the spokesperson in the background, with evolving settings behind them. Even though we know how famous the person is, they are secondary to how they connect (personally) with their computers, in essence placing our faces on their bodies figuratively. If we are interested in the computers, we too can have a personal connection with the laptops offered by HP. The face of the star is not necessarily important; we can enjoy the same computers as much as they can. The focus is thus on the computer and its capabilities rather than solely on the backing of celebrity.