Chris Di Cesare, director of Xbox marketing, spent a few minutes rappin' with us about Microsoft's plans for the Xbox 360 launch event out in the middle of the Mojave desert. Since we've already covered the basics (all you need to know is that event tickets are being given away throughout the day today at participating websites), we'll spend a little more time deconstructing the event itself.
Chris noted that the event has been likened to the Burning Man festival that takes place annually in Black Rock desert, Nevada. That Microsoft acknowledges and even embraces the idea that this is "Burning Man meets E3" indicates that they're shooting for a completely different vibe than the Times Square/Toys-R-Us location they chose to host the original Xbox launch on November 16, 2001.
With the Zero Hour event, the company is shooting for “overtones of being something that’s more of a festival or celebration…. We wanted to do something that was different, and something that was true to the audience that the box was designed for, and that’s the gaming audience,” said Chris.
This isn’t the first time that Chris has adopted (some would say usurped) a fringe cultural movement. First, it was the wildly successful I Love Bees campaign that brilliantly adopted the ARG (alternate reality gaming) genre for marketing purposes, a success that subsequent imitators have failed to achieve. Now, by openly evoking Burning Man (and we assume designing the actual event so that it feels like Burning Man), Microsoft (and Sony for that matter) have been tirelessly campaigning to reform gaming’s image in a larger version of the reinvention personified by Xbox architect and Microsoft VP J Allard (pictured below).
Here’s a quick comparison of Burning Man and the Xbox 360 launch event.
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Burning Man |
Zero Hour |
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Counter-cultural event held in the desert focused around participation in interactive art, theatre, song, dance exhibits, where “you’re not the weirdest kid in the classroom.” (source) Also, simple “observation” is not an option and hands-on participation is strongly encouraged. |
Designed to launch a product to much hoopla while simultaneously validating the coolness of the weirdest kids in the classroom (those who would participate and win the Origen and Hex contests); it’s all about the hands the hands-on experience |
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Lots of naked people |
Few, if any, naked people (these are gamers, for chrissakes, you know not what you ask for!) |
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Strong pagan overtones, occasional mockery of Christian memes, post-modern invention of new rituals imbued with meaning |
Mockery of apocalyptic Christian extremism via Hex168 campaign (Hex168.com states “The Beginning Is Nigh” in tabloid format) |
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The Burning Man festival is bounded by a fence in the shape of a pentagon |
The Hex168 logo is bounded by a hexagon (Those zany marketers: always one-upping on the release numbers!) |
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Barter economy, very little commerce allowed, random acts of gift-giving strongly encouraged, socialistic, anti-capitalistic bent to festivities |
Best Buy will have an on-location kiosk selling Xbox 360s at 9pm PST on November 21; all attendees will be gifted with a limited-edition commemorative Xbox 360 faceplate |
Any fun comparison points that we missed?
