Rock Band's TV spots

33 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Nov 27th 2007 10:21PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm, Business

We have yet to see the new Rock Band commercials out in the wilds of TV-land, but they are amusing. The commercials play in a world where "the band" is on tour with their fake instruments and living room attitude in rock star settings. We hate the whiny guitarist, but that's the point.

No sustained gameplay footage is shown in the spot above or the two after the break, which we guess means that EA and ad agency Wieden + Kennedy expect people to be "in the know" of what Rock Band is. We're not sure how great it was to have a commercial about a music game play off the humor of rock clichés like some kind of slacker-style Spinal Tap homage rather than show people playing the game. The "platform" is $170, it's going to require some parental coercion for many children to get the game and it might be good if parents were prepped by a commercial or two. Oh well, if EA is right, the game will be sold out anyway this holiday. Carry on. And is that Billy Idol doing the voice over at the end?

[Thanks Vlad]

Tags: ad, commercial, rockband

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

SoxFan13: Nov 27th 2007; 10:40PM

I saw one tonight with these same actors except they were in a plane. It was on Comedy Central during South Park reruns.

GoldenS1104: Nov 27th 2007; 10:50PM

You missed the two videos posted after the break. The airplane ad is one of them.

Brucie B: Nov 27th 2007; 10:41PM

Grooovy

XanthouS: Nov 27th 2007; 10:43PM

Hah, those are cute commercials.

It's a shame there's no trace of gameplay footage though. I suppose word of mouth alone will be enough to fuel the game through the holidays, and commercials like these will have more staying power into '08 than 30 seconds of random gameplay.

Back to Foreplay/Long Time on Hard Drums >.

ThornedVenom: Nov 27th 2007; 11:07PM

Shame indeed, but with shots of the fake instruments, and the self-explanatory name of "Rock Band", perhaps it was a wise commercial decision to let people wonder about it a bit instead of shoving generic copypasta videogame ads in the viewer's face.

Not emphasizing on the skill, but on the attitude.

Joe: Nov 27th 2007; 10:45PM

I think the first one was better but they both are good though.

msh_hitman: Nov 27th 2007; 11:02PM

The Guitar Hero 3 ads work better all around, though they should be doing the commercials eventually with the animation from the cutscenes intermixed with some gameplay. They one did they did for GH2 with the animators from the Gorillaz was really good.

Capt. Castellanos: Nov 27th 2007; 11:06PM

i must say,
all of these commercials,
even without gameplay footage,
all have made me chuckle.

i like them.
just needs some gameplay footage at the end or something.

Secura: Nov 27th 2007; 11:08PM

I like how they misinform the public so that it looks like it's only on THE 360.

XanthouS: Nov 27th 2007; 11:18PM

Yeah, that's an unfortunate trait among multi-platform titles this generation.

Rock Band has been all Xbox at every turn, on the tours, on MTV, on television. They didn't even send our PS3 sets for magazines/websites to review. But the game's distributed by EA, who have been in bed with M$ for some time.

It's gone both ways though. I remember seeing a ton of Assassin's Creed commercials ending with the PS3 logo and having no mention of the 360.

Misinformation ftl. =\

Mr. G: Nov 27th 2007; 11:25PM

Microsoft probably paid for the ads to only mention the 360. Same for Sony on Assasin's Creed.

gonk: Nov 27th 2007; 11:27PM

yeah. it's the devs of the games that really lose out with that. they get cheaper commercials by sharing the costs, but will get less sales, which is kinda the point of going multiplatform

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School): Nov 28th 2007; 9:45AM

Just like PS2 last gen.

colin: Nov 28th 2007; 12:00AM

johnathan tran = WiNG
spamalot?

mccomber: Nov 28th 2007; 12:05AM

Considering I've already gotten a "we're getting the band together Saturday" email, I think the attitude of the commercials is perfect. I also love how in the second one a tech guy is setting up a monitor with a TV screen in it, great detail.

Chris: Nov 28th 2007; 10:03PM

Yep.. the tech setting up the stage monitor with a TV in it instead of a speaker was genius.

Yuccadude: Nov 28th 2007; 12:14AM

I'm more worried about getting a replacement Elite this holiday season, because no stores seem to have them in stock and my Premium 360 just died on me of E67 and one red quadrant. Hopefully I can get a new box by Monday, pending reciept of a refund by Best Buy.

WASD John: Nov 28th 2007; 12:19AM

Doesn't matter as any decent gamer should know what games are available for their platform of choice whether that be console, or PC.

samfish: Nov 28th 2007; 12:36AM

That commercial is about as effective as Sony's Crying Baby Doll commercials.

License to ill: Nov 28th 2007; 8:25AM

You're just mad because there's no wii Rock Band...

Yet!

Gavin: Nov 28th 2007; 3:06AM

Did anyone see the Rock Band Band special on VH1? (and no, I didn't type the word "Band" twice on accident)

http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/rock_band_band/

Dear sweet merciful lord, that was some serious crap.

Scaught: Nov 28th 2007; 7:23AM

I love Harmonix man. I love how they are bringing RAWK back to the masses!!!

baef: Nov 28th 2007; 8:28AM

Worse video I have ever seen.

baby sea tuna: Nov 28th 2007; 9:20AM

Huh...when they deleted that spam, this comment became homeless. Weird.

baef: Nov 28th 2007; 11:03AM

Yeah, I was talking about that guys post, I actually like these rock band spots. I like the last one the best.

Mojo: Nov 28th 2007; 9:51AM

I like these commercials a lot, but I REALLY love the animated one with the band on top of the bus playing Highway Star. That one is badass.

0ldb0y: Nov 28th 2007; 9:55AM

I went to Sheryl Crow concert last year. It was quite nice.

refinedsugar: Nov 28th 2007; 12:45PM

Why don't you just do the windmill?

WizarDru: Nov 28th 2007; 1:19PM

Rock Band isn't a casual purchase, nor one that parents/grandparents are going to just buy on the name, generally. And they're not the targets of these ads, regardless. You won't see these running on Nickelodeon; VH1 or MTV, sure.

Anyone who's going to buy Rock Band already knows what they want, regardless. These ads are just meant to increase brand awareness and sell you on the fun aspect. For those who don't, this ad will intrigue them enough to go to one of the websites like xbox, ea or rockband.com to find out more.

tothextreme: Dec 1st 2007; 10:24PM

Mr. T = hilarious

Lame 20-somethings pretending to be Spinal Tap = weaksauce

Leave the comedy to the professionals, MTV. Here's a wild idea - GET SPINAL TAP instead of trying to be as funny as they are. Worked for that car commercial!

Plue-sama: Dec 5th 2007; 11:49PM

Is that Coyote Shivers on drums?

Mike: Dec 6th 2007; 2:56AM

does anyone know where i can buy the black Pink Floyd shirt that the one kid is wearing?

Becky: Dec 9th 2007; 10:13AM

Can anyone tell me the name of the song and band playing at the end of the scissor kick commercial. I am drawing a blank. Thanks, Becky

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