The first ads for Microsoft's forthcoming Surface tablets have hit TV screens across the US, forming just one part of what is believed to be a $1 billion Windows 8 marketing campaign.

Unlike Apple's iPad ads – which have adopted an intentionally stripped back, functional form of late – this first Surface TV spot focuses on movement and momentum, placing several Surface units at the heart of an intricate dance routine.

Pick a colour

Microsoft has also made the range of colours Surface's cover-cum-keyboard is available in key to the campaign, giving the ad a notably different feel to black on white approach of Apple's iPad spots.



The ad's official launch comes days after Microsoft's first Windows 8 ads – which depict the OS in use across multiple forms of hardware – were leaked across the web.

They have since been pulled from YouTube.