Is Microsoft Onto Something?

We've been watching the semi-bizzaro unfolding of Microsoft's new campaign, which has morphed from Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld at Shoe Circus earning Big Top points to the new back-at-ya-Apple "I'm a PC" series.

Crispin Porter+Bogusky can sometimes do avant-garde work for the sake of the work, but they might be onto something here.

It's a little early to tell, but is there a subculture of PC pride out there somewhere? The Chiat/Day Mac campaign is classic, but did CP+B find its weakness by telling all the PC users out there that it's time to tell Justin Long to just shut up for a while?

Now granted, in the ad biz, Macs are the rule, and (full disclosure here), I've been one of the lone PC guys in several agencies where I worked.

In an ironic twist, I was the computer maverick.

And I've put up with lots of Mac snobbery, even though people brought me files to adjust so we could give clients documents that would work on THEIR PCs.

So--is there a PC nation out there brimming with pride that will go out and wear T-shirts and get Windows tattoos and celebrate being part of an "in" crowd?

Doubt it. In fact, I can pretty much bet that this would never happen, even if you put Mohave-powered guns to their heads.

But CP+B has reminded me (and a lot of other people), with classic strategy, that if I'm happy with my PC, I can sit back and smugly let the trendy folks do whatever they want.