He ALWAYS gets defensive in interviews, remember when he threw the chair in the 90s, he’s just not comfortable in an interview. There wasn’t a “ton” of MS marketing in reaction to it, there’s been two campaigns, and the first one didn’t hit until “get a mac” had been going on for two years AND Gates had retired.
Sure you’re not thinking about Bobby Knight?
Yeah, I agree that Gates is an odd duck. I think that was one of the reasons for their Seinfeld ads, was to make him more likable.
As to being retired, he may be from active participation, but the Seinfeld ads were from after he retired also, so he’s still very much the face of MS.
As to him getting defensive, that’s part of the whole personality thing that made the “Get a Mac” ads so annoying to him.