Classic PlayStation ad gets hall of fame award

21 Comments by Kyle Orland May 14th 2007 6:55PM
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Retro

Remember when PlayStation ads were fun and intriguing rather than creepy and depressing? The people behind the international Clio advertising awards do. At this year's Clio festival, the jury recognized the 1999 European PlayStation ad "Double Life" with a Hall of Fame award.

As Clio Television/Cinema jury chairman Mark Tutssel so aptly put it in an interview with Adoi Magazine, the ad "romanticized video gaming and deftly captured the essence of it – the personality transformation and the fantasy of gaming worlds. It got to the heart of what gaming is all about." This is in stark contrast to today's PlayStation ads, which get to the heart of turning eggs into crows. Then again, things always look better through the rose-colored lens of nostalgia. Maybe we'll be seeing awards for for exploding Rubik's Cubes eight years from now.

[Update: Changed text to reflect that the adwas for the original PlayStation, not the PS2.]

Tags: ad, advertising, Clio, Ps2

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Chris: May 14th 2007; 7:06PM

The American dream right there- I can't live the way I want because I've got two car payments, a gigantic mortgage, and $50,000 in student loans, but at least I can play Call of Duty and pretend I'm doing what I want...

losttoys: May 14th 2007; 7:10PM

I still love the PSX Jet Moto 2 commercial. The dude yelling at the grandma for not turning off the blinker makes me laugh every single time.

lorderk: May 14th 2007; 7:19PM

Take a look at this one...people bash the PS3 commercials for being over the top and bizarre and meaningless...PS2 commercials weren't much different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVNxbB3Bx8k

lorderk: May 14th 2007; 7:19PM

P.S. - In no way am I bashing them either, I love them!

Moe: May 14th 2007; 7:22PM

@2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MN4hakiaees
it's even funnier in ze german

Justin U: May 14th 2007; 7:24PM

1. The American dream right there- I can't live the way I want because I've got two car payments, a gigantic mortgage, and $50,000 in student loans, but at least I can play Call of Duty and pretend I'm doing what I want...

Except... Its a European Commercial.

Good call there, Einstein.

Shibathedog: May 14th 2007; 7:24PM

Yeah I don't really understand why people are bashing PS3 commercials for being weird when for PS2 they had freaking David Lynch do a commercial for them.

Although the PS2 commercials where better, they weren't any more normal.

Joshua: May 14th 2007; 7:24PM

These commercials are so BAD! It's just random BS that has NOTHING TO DO WITH GAMING!

Man, I just can't stand this crap.

Chris: May 14th 2007; 7:33PM

"6. 1. The American dream right there- I can't live the way I want because I've got two car payments, a gigantic mortgage, and $50,000 in student loans, but at least I can play Call of Duty and pretend I'm doing what I want...

Except... Its a European Commercial.

Good call there, Einstein."

Feel better? Good.

87th: May 14th 2007; 7:40PM

By the way, this is a PlayStation advert, not a PlayStation 2 advert. Sorry to nitpick, but it was annoying me.

Jim: May 14th 2007; 7:54PM

http://your-ps3-for-free.blogspot.com/

Meaningless maybe, but I still found them interesting to watch.

Grey Acumen: May 14th 2007; 8:19PM

what the heck is wrong with people. This clearly was an awesome advertisement and shows exactly what is wrong with the PS3 commercials.

PS2 advert showed that no matter who you were, you could experience this stuff, cause it had all these amazing games that made you feel like you were really accomplishing something, and indulging a few cravings, venting repressed violent streaks, etc. This is what video games are all about.

PS3 advert has guys playing hackysack with hand grenades, blowing up briefcases full of money, girls crapping on toilets, creepy dolls crying blood, and cup speed stacking. Sorry, not the same thing.

severian00: May 14th 2007; 8:34PM

I'm sorry, I may not be an expert but if I'd seen that commercial back in 1999, I woulda felt the same way about it that I felt about the this is living one that came out for PS3. I agree, that it is interesting how they have all these people who supposedly game, but the nonsense is overwhelming. Just goes to show that Sony never has gotten it right.

Diskoboy: May 14th 2007; 8:48PM

#7 - We expect weirdness from David Lynch.

The PS3 commercials probably confuse even David, himself.

Jamie: May 15th 2007; 4:17AM

That commercial would never fly in the US. We have strict guidelines against the inclusion of interesting content.

Burnt Meatloaf: May 15th 2007; 4:47AM

So... what's so inspiring about this? A long, drawn-out way of saying games are all about ripping people's limbs off to the tune of sleepy high-school graduation music?

You want good ads for blowing s#%@ up? Look for some Ratchet and Clank ads on YouTube. Classic.

Aberu: May 15th 2007; 11:08AM

Is this more proof that bad PR doesn't doom a consoles success?

Ghen: May 15th 2007; 5:48PM

@15

Truth.

mark: Aug 3rd 2007; 2:37AM

I liked it

--
http://free-playstation-3.blogspot.com/

mark: Aug 5th 2007; 12:27PM

I liked it

--
http://free-playstation-3.blogspot.com/

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