New World Series PS3 ad is weak sauce
Sony aired the above turd of an ad for the PS3 during game four of the World Series last night on Fox (Go Tigers!). After the well produced ads from yesterday, it's hard to critique this one. It's just a pile of non-emotional, non-descriptive and confusing crap. A crying doll with "screenshot" devil eyes sitting next to a shiny PS3 in a white room. Doesn't make sense to us either, and we scrutinize video games at an unhealthy level.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
HoodOrnament @ Oct 27th 2006 1:06AM
PS3 makes babies cry?
h2c @ Oct 27th 2006 1:09AM
Holy shit.
The PS3 *does* make Baby Jesus cry.
RooDoG @ Oct 27th 2006 1:09AM
Joystiq and Sony Hate... Will it EVER End?
The add is a little creepy, but the add isn't supposed to overwhelm its audience with information. Its supposed to catch your eye, then mainstream people will see "Playstation 3 ind immediately be curious. The next round of Ads will push the console on the consumer a lot more.
iceatcs @ Oct 27th 2006 1:11AM
This baby doll remind me of "xbot am cry"
LOL
Stu @ Oct 27th 2006 1:13AM
That commercial creeped the hell out of me.
Bbnight3 @ Oct 27th 2006 1:14AM
What the hell was that????
That was an actual ad? That real people actually saw? People who were not Sony Fanboys?
Wow.
Happy @ Oct 27th 2006 1:16AM
You know you are a hopeless sony fanboy when you defend this crappy ad.
Ritz @ Oct 27th 2006 1:18AM
Those last two linked ads were good. This ad doesn't make any sense to me at all, though. I showed it to some friends and they didn't believe its a real ad...
Scott @ Oct 27th 2006 1:19AM
The PS3 made Chucky cry! Don't F with Chucky!
FuzzyPickles @ Oct 27th 2006 1:21AM
I guess the doll is crying because kids will be playing with the PS3 instead of him?
How creative. No wonder I don't have a job in advertising. I just can't shit gold like the geniuses who made this commercial.
Theron @ Oct 27th 2006 1:25AM
dude...we get it. Joystiq hates Sony. I mean, I totally do to, but I don't need to read about it 15 times a day.
NeverSage @ Oct 27th 2006 1:32AM
Joystiq doesn't hate Sony! That commercial was crap! Once Sony deserves good press, Joystiq will be the first to cover it.
ahhhyeaa @ Oct 27th 2006 1:34AM
ad board room:
congratulations everyone, even JOYSTIQ bought it.
*handshakes all around the room
heres a little something with advertising....they want you to say wtf, because most likely the people will want to know what they just saw.
now this ad is great for the sony haters. cause they will show their friends, post it up on the internets and bitch about it. and thus free advertising is born.
cause you know if the commercial was actually cool, the haters wouldnt care. but if the commercials were bad the haters would care and spread the word.
its ok joystiq it happens to the best of us.
Brian @ Oct 27th 2006 1:34AM
Joystiq wouldn't bash Sony if Sony would stop being retarded. Get over yourselves and stop reading the internet if information makes you angry.
Anyway, I watched the game while doing work, so I didn't really pay much attention to the commercials, but I saw this one a few times (it was on yesterday too, I think, when they thought the game wouldn't be canceled). I never got through it, because as soon as I saw that freaky baby I went back to work. It wasn't until JUST NOW that I realized it was a PS3 ad.
Not all publicity is good publicity, and you are absolutely kidding yourself if you think that this was the pinnacle of product-placement. Edgy? Sure. So is showing a man getting shot in the penis, but I don't think that'd sell Ps3's either... or would it?
Dan @ Oct 27th 2006 1:35AM
huh, looks like they're sticking to ///7 and hoping people will somehow puzzle out that it's supposed to be Nov. 17th. I'd really love to know who came up with that one.
Bbnight3 @ Oct 27th 2006 1:39AM
Anyone who claims "Joystiq is biased" or "Joystiq hates Sony" or whatever other defense mechanism they feel like using today without a shadow of a doubt, is a MORON.
This, along with many other things Sony has done in the past year, makes them deserve the bad press they get not just at Joystiq, but at pretty much any place that gives a crap about gaming or electronics.
If you didn't know what the product was and saw this commercial, would you A) be interested in the product and consider purchasing it or B) feel like some jackass who is making way too much money just belittled you as an intelligent human being?
If you chose A) then you're an idiot,
If you chose B) then do everything you can to make sure you and everyone you know won't buy this product from this pretentious company.
FuzzyPickles @ Oct 27th 2006 1:51AM
On the bright side, at least this one didn't insult my intelligence like the 1:30 spots from the other day. Yes, the were pretty, but damn. Five gigs is three flowers, 30 gigs is half a dozen or so, but 50 gigs is a whole fukken field!!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
T-Bag @ Oct 27th 2006 1:55AM
I'm sorry, was that supposed to make me want to run out and buy a PS3?
My personal opinions, impressions, and questions on and about the ad:
- I found the ad terrifying, and I'm 20 years old. Just imagine what the really young gamers are going think. "Dad, There's a PS3 under my bed!"
- Was this supposed to overwhelm the recent god-like GoW ad? Or just make us see how a single game took out an entire gaming console?
- Bad publicity only works if you've had some good publicity in the past 2 years (in the very least). At this rate, Sony might as well just send a firing squad after their advertisement masterminds.
Dirk Dorkelson @ Oct 27th 2006 1:57AM
My g/f said this ad reminded her of Child's Play and Trainspotting. I'm not sure those are good associations to have.
Go Cardinals!
360us Maximus @ Oct 27th 2006 1:57AM
I've said it once and I'll say it again. These ads feel like Barney Gumble's movie in the Film Festival Simpsons episode.
"Don't cry for me... I'm already dead." -FIN-
PhantomVI @ Oct 27th 2006 2:00AM
They should have re-hired Chris Cunningham to shoot another commercial for them instead of ripping him off.
(unless he did actually make that commercial, which would make it Extra Spicy Weak Sauce [wait, that's an oxymoron])
klinko @ Oct 27th 2006 2:02AM
It's obvious what it's about- the kid is sad because his parents had to sell him to afford a PS3.
Ryan de michigan @ Oct 27th 2006 2:05AM
I get it, it's comparing what normal play is, ( a doll) to what the PS3 is ( emotion engine anyone?) Probably a little too vague for your average consumer, but strange, creepy, puzzling (segassem lanimilbus)Ads have been winning Sony ad awards for years. Besides its not to lure in new customers, its not even for early adopters (anyone who is getting one has probably already reserved it) its about... wait for it... the buzz
creepy @ Oct 27th 2006 2:06AM
creepy ad, probably appropriate for the season...
Negativecool @ Oct 27th 2006 2:11AM
ahhhyeaa-#13
Normally, you would have a point. This product and its ad is different.
A lot of people watching the World Series has probably never heard of anything PS3 related...Do you think they know now?...Hell no they don't. They are going to wonder "WTF was that?" and they aren't going to find out, they will still have no idea.
Some people watching the World Series are informed like us. THOSE people will judge its content, like joystiq and everyone posting is doing. The general consensus is... that ad sucked.
John Q. has no idea what he just saw and immediately forgets it. Gaming savvy Johnny Joystiq, on the other hand, is pissed off that it makes no sense and immediately hits the net to flame Sony.
They are now appealing with an adult audience (600 bucks ain't kiddy toys) so they should have ran something during the world series that makes adults sit up and listen in awe...Something like Sony's previous 2 ads about capacity of blu-ray and the cell processor.
Vince @ Oct 27th 2006 2:13AM
This is the full version.
http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/TravisMcEwen05/?action=view¤t=Picture147.flv
I think it's quite funny.
Internets @ Oct 27th 2006 2:20AM
Looks like I'll be having nightmares tonight.
... about the PS3 of course.
Nick @ Oct 27th 2006 2:21AM
i am by no means a sony fanboy. i'm all for the wii, but i have to give sony's advertising department credit for trying something different. i also liked the white psp ads... but maybe that's just me.
KawF @ Oct 27th 2006 2:25AM
OMG, SONY EATS BABIES FOR BREAKFAST!
No, seriously!
MidnightPlatinum @ Oct 27th 2006 2:39AM
How about having some real legitimate hate for Sony if you are going to hate them. Your whining pisses on my genuine dissatisfaction with their company.
Judging this ad without bias it is pretty good for a minimalist ad. In that all the Sony fanboys who haven't really spent much time with any thing other than their PS2 need their imaginations stirred. It will blow their mind when it comes out.
Which is sad...because I just saw the new Crysis video for PC today and the next generation is already here, and Sony isn't even out yet for this one! I would love to see Crytek make a commercial about the future of videogames that completely blew those 2 ads from earlier this week out of the water.
Jack Carver saying "Why, I can fit 50gb in my a**!"
Picture analyzing this ad though in a commercial design class. For what they are trying to do this is not too bad. At least they are not having long, OMG BUY THIS AMAZING PRODUCT THAT WILL BLOW yOU AWAY! commercials before this BRUTAL shortage forthcoming. Shoot, they already did this. The ad is still decent though! even kinda good. Plus, I like mysterious shit.. especially if I ignore the real crap its hiding.
I can still understand #16, Bnight3's take on this. They do come across as pretentious!
Kyou @ Oct 27th 2006 2:42AM
to ahhhyeaa:
Dude, the PS2 was my "last gen" favorite console by far. I'm not a Nintendo fanboy and Xbox has no games I want to play (except for Dead Rising). As you can see I'm pretty neutral about Nintendo and Sony. But... this ad was crap. It also creeped me out. And Joystiq keeps "bashing" Sony because they do something stupid almost every day. Sorry dude, but it's true. I do plan to buy a PS3 someday -- but not beacuse the console is good. I will buy it because it has a couple of games that I really want to play. Plus I guess it's nice to stare at pretty graphics from time to time.
ManekiNeko @ Oct 27th 2006 2:48AM
"Was that your ad, Homer?"
"I don't know!"
JR
Aex @ Oct 27th 2006 2:49AM
I unno, this didnt make me wanna buy a PS3. It made me interested to find out more about it. I did think it was kinda weak sauce, but that's because I was expecting more. Had I known nothing about the ps3 and if I were just a normal consumer that had bought a ps2, I'd say it did its job, getting the word out.
Also, I don't think this ad's purpose was to get people out of their chairs and into the store to buy a ps3. I came to this conclusion using 2 points of thought. 1) It isnt out yet. 2) It's going to be sold out at that date. I think the only purpose of this commercial was to grab attention, either good or bad. From the looks of things, I'd say it worked.
Einhanderkiller @ Oct 27th 2006 2:57AM
I liked it, but maybe it's because I'm a fan of randomness.
Kamikaze watermelon shooting rake nukes into the European remote control helicopter dog!
Aex @ Oct 27th 2006 3:04AM
Hehe, well, I liked the quiznos commercials with the... hamsters with overgrown teeth... So that could have been why I didn't think this one was so bad.
NintendoWarrior @ Oct 27th 2006 3:18AM
This Ad blows crispy turds...nice job Sony, but you just earned yourself the award for "MORONS OF THE MONTH"
ROFLMFAO @ SONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dotun.o @ Oct 27th 2006 3:28AM
There's the so-called "postmodern art" for you, or as Moe Syzlak so aptly described it, "Wierd for the sake of weird." These days, commercials don't have to make sense anymore, just catch your attention with weird nonesense and tack the product at the end. Some artists don't even have to work anymore especially if they're established names; spilling a paint can on canvas will suffice ("It shows tension, distress, conundrum of the soul." they will say; gibberish) What happened to the days of artists like da Vinci, Michaelangelo et al when artists treated their craft seriously and actually worked to produce art?
Sorry, I know I veered off path from the main topic but as an artist in training some of what passes for art today is embarassing to the whole field.
JChew @ Oct 27th 2006 4:01AM
Is it for F.E.A.R.? is that coming to the ps3 or did i make that up? cause it looked like that girl silouette in the ps3 at the end. and the screen shots in the dolls eyes looked like the fire from it. and maybe the ///7 means it's coming out in 2007...?
i feel like i should work for sony and make confusing ads.
Pal @ Oct 27th 2006 4:10AM
This is going to drive Sony's sales up the wazoo!
Backslider @ Oct 27th 2006 4:20AM
If you're talking about the ad, then it did it's job.
FuzzyPickles @ Oct 27th 2006 4:33AM
"If you're talking about the ad, then it did it's job."
Were Joystiq a blog on any other topic in the world besides gaming, I'd agree with you.
Dealjobber @ Oct 27th 2006 5:15AM
That's the creepiest thing I've seen since Rubber Johnny.
jahmillionaire @ Oct 27th 2006 6:44AM
i love that shit. awesome. PS3 cometh, bow down before it's awesomeness you joydiqs!!!
Anna @ Oct 27th 2006 7:01AM
Weird as crap but it beats racist dustballs and squirrels.
nea @ Oct 27th 2006 7:21AM
play beyond what? 3D?
chenry @ Oct 27th 2006 7:23AM
buy a PS3 and be assaulted by possessed babies?!
Neeks @ Oct 27th 2006 7:49AM
...
Hoo-rah for the Contact reference!
Stephen King @ Oct 27th 2006 7:55AM
Jesus. Don't you guys know your video game ad history? The Red 'E' in Play Beyond hearkens back to the old "You Are Not Ready" Sony themeline. And for all we know, the crying baby might be rendered off a Cell processor. This 'ad' is missing 13 seconds off the front, so I'll withhold judgement until i see it in full.
Cardinals Will Win World Series 4-1 @ Oct 27th 2006 8:19AM
Hmmmm...Show the games on the commercial.
Joe @ Oct 27th 2006 8:26AM
Quote from EX-Sony Ad Rep: "Because nothing says EXCITING NEW CONSOLE LAUNCH like a lonely, crying baby doll in a desolate white room filled with emptiness!"
Boy that new GOW ad kicks ass though. Oh and the one with the 360 and all those GAMES? Man how bout all those GAMES! Remember GAMES Sony? Yea...you remember those things don't you? From the days before BluGhey? Remeber?
Thanks for making the hating easier.