Over the years, the media has had the common trend of targeting youth through familiar cartoon characters and promises of an action-packed product. More recently, with the rise of popularity in gaming, commercials have changed their approach and are beginning to use different tactics to sell their product. Videogames are the top trend now. A couple of commercials have stood out as being memorable.
Bluespace Storage facility
Probably one of the best commercials I’ve seen, and definitely the most relevant to their product. Even if you don’t know what the heck Tetris is, this commercial works because it gradually shows you how your house is gets cluttered and when you finally run out of room, the only choice left is to move it all to a storage facility. They even have the realism of the fruits rolling around on the table as it swivels! I think I’m not alone in wishing that my room would organize itself while I’m away.
Subway
This commercial almost makes me feel bad for the kid, because now he will only be known as ‘that fat subway kid’. The funny thing is that although Subway pokes fun at videogames like this, Burger King has taken the opposite stance. In “Sneak King” (a game released by Burger King) the player must sneak up behind people and present them a greasy hamburger so that they may stuff their face. Ironically, I think the BK promo for games did much better than Subway’s gaming approach, as they sold millions of those Xbox BK games. What does that say about the gamer health habit?
Coca-Cola
While no mention of GTA was actually made in the commercial, it’s clear that Coke is spoofing the hit game. For a moment there I actually wondered whether or not Coke was willing to get that risky and start showing some car crashes, hookers, and a rampaging shooter, but they completely turned it around. By the end of the commercial, Coke pulled out all the bells and whistles to emphasize their “Coke makes the world a happy place” message. In in Cokeland, we have dancing rats, cheery construction people, and a heap of policemen who appear to be trained in cheerleading. I was already a fan of Coke, and this is the icing on the cake.
Pontiac
So, I’ve never really been a fan of pontiac until I saw this commercial. I guess that means they must be doing something right. I mean, this car makes Mustangs look like a piece of trash…which I know for a fact cannot be true. This commercial is clearly based on the daydreams I have while I sit in traffic. Sometimes I just feel like it would be better with explosions, helicopters, and cars that have spikes come out of their hubcaps. *sigh* reality is so mundane.
Nike
I don’t actually own any pair of Nikes, but if they promise to throw me though at least 6 different dimensions of videogames, I’m down to get some. Also, I’m pretty sure he was feeling up Lara on his way down. I played through the commercial in slowmo to make sure, and yes, he does cop a feel. But hey, honest mistake considering he was falling through an uncertain rift in ‘videogame’ time. If only this type of cross training actually existed! Being chased by dinosaurs, aliens, basketball players, and a peeved Lara Croft would definitely get me in shape.
Toyota
Now, WOW fanatics might be critical of the fact that there’s no such thing as explosive arrows in the game, but there’s no denying that just about everything else in this commercial captures the essence of the game. You got a bunch of guys who are on voice chat planning out their raiding strategy. One guy, who just doesn’t give a whit, rushes into battle. And epic music to go along with all that madness. Suddenly the Tacoma is the coolest model Toyota has in their lineup. I was hoping that they would make a series of these commercials with WOW as the theme, but so far, this is the only one. Which is too bad, because it was not only great entertainment, it also made gaming fun to watch, instead of making it seem like a delinquent’s hobby.
I’m surprised that incorporating games into commercials to sell your products is not used more, as it definitely seems to work, if done right. Most of the items were more interesting to me because they specifically targeted me as a gamer. Most of the times in media, gamers are represented in such negative light, which we all know is completely untrue! Right? Or mostly untrue.
Also, be sure to check out The Great One’s compilation of Top ten videogame commercials worth reliving . A great article about some of your favorite videogame commercials!
Good blog post. I like watching the World of Warcraft, Tetris, and the Pontiac commercials. The Pontiac commercial was my favorite though.
i like the nike one
The Wow commercial was the best. I dont play Wow, but I always laugh at it everytime I see it.
I’m surprised I have only seen half of these. I always thought the Coca-Cola one was neat.
I remember first seeing the GTA one during the Super Bowl and I liked it so much because of how similar it was to GTA3 and that was my favorite GTA! I also really like the WoW won. Haha it’s almost as good as the ones with Mr. T.
lol I just love the GTA Cola comercial, I’m a major fan of both! Coca Cola and GTA. The WoW looks funny xD
Impressed by the Pontiac ad. The fact that this was the ONLY Pontiac ad I ever remembered in all my years is saying something. Maybe because i use to pump quarter after quarter into the Spy Hunter arcade game.
Congrats on being on Kotaku: kotaku.com/5487388/kotakus-top-five-list…
I like the Tetris One. XD
the tetris and coke ones were awesome
Good job on the list :)
some of these made me laugh
Before this article I had only seen the World of Warcraft Toyota commercial. I looked up the rest and they were very entertaining! Thanks.
The Spyhunter one is awesome.. I loved playing that game as a kid
lol i like the subway and toyota ones. i think the nike one was really dumb and way too long!!
My favorite is the WOW, Coke, and Tetris commercial The Nike one is a little too hectic and yeah, he totally copped a feel.
That coke commercials probably the best commercial cokes ever done.
Lerooooooy JENKINS!!!!!!!!