Nintendo rolling out live ads in UK cinemas
by John Bardinelli 
{ May 26th 2007 at 8:59AM }
Nintendo has teamed up with CommentUK to launch live, interactive adverts in a number of UK cinemas. Over the next two weekends, five pairs of actors will appear at nine cinemas across the UK. An advertisement will play on the screen as usual, with one of the actors planted in the audience as a teenage boy named Steve. The second actor, his mother Elsa, will enter the theater looking for her son. At that moment the on-screen ad will freeze and the house lights will come up. Elsa calls out for Steve and challenges him to a game of Wii Sports tennis in the theater, showing audience members how "exciting and easy" it is to play.It may sound a bit hokey in writing, but CommentUK's Dean McKain claims it's a remarkably effective form of advertising. Even if the ads go sour with screaming babies and theatergoers moving in and out of the room, after the movie Wii-related conversations are bound to be spurred.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ciaran @ May 26th 2007 12:38PM
wont this just be really annoying? you paid to see a movie and people start delaying it by playin wii?
Miz @ May 26th 2007 9:23AM
I like Nintendo and the way they've marketed the Wii so far, but this is a horrible idea. Like, PSP-blog bad. Not only does it sound absolutely cringe-inducing, but especially-irate audience members are bound to hassle the actors.
stafford @ May 26th 2007 9:31AM
Hopefully they will get Heckled badly "no one gives a shit about the WII!"
mo @ May 26th 2007 9:34AM
yeah horrible idea
WHOSE LINE ROCKS THOUGH!!!! good picture
@2
i will refer you to the sales charts, it is the PS3 no one cares about
Adam @ May 26th 2007 9:52AM
Sounds pretty lame imo.
Zachary Hinchliffe @ May 26th 2007 9:54AM
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is my favorite television show. Nice choice of picture.
That being said, this sounds lame.
Daniel @ May 26th 2007 10:10AM
Needs some audience participation, and to NOT be before the movie...
How about a Wiikend(sorry I just had to) wii party at a rented-out cinema.
Cabcru @ May 26th 2007 10:13AM
*plans to break into a rousing "Whhhy are we waiiiting..." if he ever encounters this shit in the cinema*
Roddie @ May 26th 2007 10:32AM
Or, "why are wii waiting?"...
Ashley Allen @ May 26th 2007 11:01AM
Ads at the cinema make me mad already, if this cracked off while I was at the pictures I'll probibly crack and chin them.
GunForHire @ May 26th 2007 11:31AM
If this happens when I'm at POTC3 tomorrow night, I'd boo the hell out of them and tell them to roll the bloody film. Who gives a shit? I want a movie, not some hammy advertising gimmick.
Mr Khan @ May 26th 2007 11:53AM
if they tried that here (US), they'd be charged for "terroristic hoaxes"
'cuz in America; guerilla advertising = terrorism
Icarus @ May 26th 2007 12:08PM
Whose Line rocks !!! I agree with #5, nice picture choice.
Judd @ May 26th 2007 12:43PM
The pic must be from the original "Whose Line is it Anyway", which was a British show hosted by Clive Anderson. Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie were on both the British version and the American one with Drew Carey. For a story about a British acting troupe, this is a good picture.
Oh, and to stay on topic, I think it would be cool to see audience members involved in a commercial. It's sort of like when theaters show "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and the audience feels like cast members.
F1ghter @ May 26th 2007 12:43PM
When I went to see Spiderman 3, the theater sent in a staff member to tell us about their new DLP technology (which is awesome, btw). The info was interesting, but the whole time I was thinking: "Why couldn't they have just made an advertisement for this?"
I'd imagine that this live advert for the Wii is going to be equally as annoying.
David @ May 26th 2007 12:50PM
Next week there will be an article "Video games cause violence at movies".
If I go to the movies I wnat the movie to start at the time listed, I don't want the bullshit ads to start then!
Pixe1 @ May 26th 2007 12:54PM
I went to see a film today at one of the cimemas doing these live ads. The lights dimmed, the Wii advert played. I waited intently for it to pause and the acting to start...
Nothing happened! The advert played to completion. What a ripoff. The film turned out to be poor (and it was given 5*). Grrr. When I left the cimena, I saw that they had set up a Wii stall that people could play. Shame.
Anyway,
This "gimmick" is a great idea. In the UK, this sort of advertising would go down very well. There are always ads before films, so why not make them new and interesting?
The adverts are being shown at the Arts Picturehouse. We're talking about arty cinema-goers that may never normally pay attention to games adverts, let alone buy a console. This marketing could be what's needed.
Charron @ May 26th 2007 1:52PM
Judd, that looks more like the Drew Carey set. Those three have appeared on the US version together multiple times.
Wolfrider @ May 26th 2007 1:57PM
I would take me ten seconds after seeing a stunt like that to leave my seat, demand my money back and never walk into the theater again.
Judd @ May 26th 2007 2:46PM
Actually, the third guy (Brad Sherwood) has appeared on both versions of the show.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whose_Line_Is_It_Anyway#Participants
I was just trying to figure out why they would show a picture of Whose Line in an article about UK performers, and I figured it must be because that photo is from the British version of the show.
Rubang B @ May 26th 2007 3:29PM
I thought we already had previews before movies so this is just a different preview that wasn't delaying the feature?
kihadat @ May 26th 2007 4:28PM
i'm reminded of this simpsons clip
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1o-aXmyftDw
Donald @ May 26th 2007 4:35PM
One of those actors is going to end up with a bloody lip after 30 seconds. Like George Zimmer, I guarantee it.
And I have three words for the Whose Line fans: "The letter H!"
James @ May 27th 2007 11:43AM
I'm already pretty pissed off that I go into a theater, shell out like 10 bucks a seat to see the damn movie, and now there's about 10 minutes of paid advertisements before the previews, which run another ~15 minutes before the movies.
I worked at a theater back in high school, and if you had told me people would be willing to PAY to sit through Coke ads, I'd say you were crazy. Now, the prices keep going up, and they're still looking for other ways to milk a few extra bucks out of you. URGH!
tactics @ May 27th 2007 1:45PM
i hope somebody records this at some point and throws it on youtube. i'd love to see it.
i can't believe so many people here are so "outraged" about this... i agree that watching 15 minutes of ads before a movie is absolutely nauseating and ridiculous, but it seems to me that a little "trick" like this would break up the monotony a bit. i guess i'm just a fanboy, but really, i'd rather be surprised by this little acted-out stunt than sit through a 4 minute "preview" of some movie i don't care about. seems like those "previews" are so fucking long, you feel like you've already seen the whole movie after they're through. (and in the case of most comedies, you feel like you've just seen ALL the funny parts, destroying your desire to ever pay for the movie anyway)
again, it might just be my fanboyishness, but i think this is a great idea, and an outstandingly clever way to reach a new audience.
-"superfan" tactics.
TeddyN @ May 29th 2007 9:26AM
Chill out guys, this would beat your average ad by miles.
Would you prefer to watch some ad about saving money on your car insurance, or watch some people playing Wii sports? That's doesn't even count as an ad to me! I watch others playing wii sports when I'm at home!
Incidentally, it's also one of the few games from which I can get enjoyment out of watching others play.
Ted @ May 29th 2007 9:30AM
Oh, and also to the wannabe hecklers... it's one thing saying you'll do it on the internet, it's quite another actually being rude to a harmless human being's face! After all, it's not the actors that decide whether there are going to be advertisements.
anton @ Jun 4th 2007 3:02AM
this a cool idea and will be a lot more entertaining than te run of the mill ad stuff you have to sit through in cinemas - well done commentUK for having an idea that isn't just like everybody else - that's really hard now now isn't it?