Microsoft's expensive new advertising campaign in the US, which features comedian Jerry Seinfeld, premiered on Thursday night, but was entirely devoid of any talk of Windows or Microsoft.

That was oddly appropriate, considering Seinfeld's eponymous hit 90s comedy was described by both admirers and detractors as a "show about nothing".

The minute-and-a-half commercial (available on YouTube - see below) is the first of many.

It co-starred Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and was set in a shopping mall. Seinfeld, who did most of the talking, helps Gates buy a pair of shoes called the Conquistador while asking if Gates ever wears his clothes in the shower. The commercial ends with Seinfeld asking Gates if Microsoft will "come out with something that makes our computers moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while we're working". Gates wiggles his rear to answer in the affirmative.

The commercial ends with the Windows logo and the phrase 'Delicious'.

Immediate reaction online was almost uniformly negative, with bloggers calling the commercial baffling and unfunny.

The part that bloggers liked the most was when Gates showed off his 'Shoe Circus Clown Card'. The picture was of Gates' notorious mugshot when he was caught speeding by New Mexico police in 1977 at the age 21.

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