Thursday evening, during the NFL season kickoff, Microsoft launched the first in a series of ads which are part of a counter-campaign to Apple’s “I’m a Mac” commercials.

The software giant hired popular television and standup comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who was reportedly paid $10 million to appear in the clips. The first such appearance, starring Seinfeld and Gates during a chance meeting at a discount shoe store was... odd to say the least.

The video was also posted on YouTube and you can watch it here to form your own opinion. The commercial has little to do with Microsoft products themselves and instead presents Seinfeld and especially Gates as middle aged, loveable and funny nerds; at least this must have been the concept. Responses by press, bloggers and the general public have generally been negative, with the clip being called such things as “an obnoxious waste of money” and a miserable failure. Others however, such as ReadWriteWeb editor Sarah Perez, have appreciated its humor, dubbing it “Funny, effective branding”.

Whichever side of the dispute you’re on, you must admit, the moment at the end where Seinfeld asks Gates if “Are they ever gonna come out with something that will make our computers moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while we’re working? If it’s yes, give me a signal. Adjust your shorts” whereby he promptly does so is slightly... surreal.

This is only the first ad in a series starring the famous comedian though, and it will remain to be seen how the next ones will be received.