Sony continues incoherent PS3 advertising

by Ed Stasick { Mar 15th 2007 at 9:30PM }

I'm not sure what's going on inside Sony's marketing department (besides some apparent heavy drinking), but this advertisement for the PS3's impending European launch has me scratching my head.

Like a car wreck, I can't look away.

Tags: ps3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sy @ Mar 15th 2007 9:45PM

Dunno. It seems Sony got some sort a notion about Europeans that Americans don't get. Maybe its a "this thing will blow your back account up" message.

jigzat @ Mar 15th 2007 10:03PM

O my God, it makes want to buy an X360....ohh wait! there's a hot chick...never mind, it makes want to buy an x360

Yah...itsaPS3..sowhat @ Mar 15th 2007 10:31PM

The POINT of the commercial is to get you to visit thisisliving.tv It is specifically meant to be understood by fanboys (like us) since we do/should know what 'this is living' is referring to.

I'd say it does that.

SKI @ Mar 15th 2007 10:40PM

The PS3 doesn't burn up your savings account, it BLOWS IT UP!!

Charl3z523 @ Mar 15th 2007 10:52PM

Europeans like commercials that actually make you think instead of the usual bullcrap they throw on American tv. In general, Europeans appreciate commercials that are more creative unlike the average Americans like yourselves who go "lol it means bank account blow up!"

ngS @ Mar 16th 2007 12:06AM

"Europeans like commercials that actually make you think ....... ....."

if this makes ANYONE "think"... I don't believe said person should be proud of that (or allowed to live freely).

NeverSage @ Mar 16th 2007 12:22AM

@Charl3z523

So this ad makes you think? Broadens your horizons? You're an idiot. This ad doesn't mean anything. It was designed to mean nothing. This way arrogent, selfdeluded pricks like yourself go to their website to feel superior because you "get it." In reality Europeans are paying more for the inferior version of a product we got months ago. You truly are better than us dumb Americans.

Charl3z523 @ Mar 16th 2007 1:03AM

I actually live in Arizona, but ok. I'm just saying what's true. Europeans like advertising like that, I know from first hand experience.

Yes you're right, Europeans are paying for an inferior version of the PS3. Sony's doing a good job in making advertisements that appeal to them to make sure they still go out and buy it despite the compatibility issue.

NeverSage @ Mar 16th 2007 1:14AM

@Charl3z523

It was the "Americans like yourselves who go 'lol it means bank account blow up!' " that set me off. Actually, I didn't think you were European in the first place. And if I hadn't read your post I would have said that I like this commercial better than all the other PS3 commercials so far. Mainly because it made no sense (and not in a nightmare baby sort of way). I still thought it was cool looking. Just anyone that believes that there's anything more to it than a silly ad to sell videogame systems isn't using their whole brain.

Broadside @ Mar 16th 2007 2:06AM

well it has people talking about the ad so it has probably done half its job already, there will probably be later ads that tie it all in together to the product.

Don't try and second guess an ad executive unless you too are buzzing with illegal substances up your nose.

Arnie @ Mar 16th 2007 3:10AM

Dear Sony,

I understand that you are loosing money on each console you sell in order to get it back on the games, however surely that concept doesn't extend to your marketing division?

I have a solution that could resolve you marketing problem...

HIRE ME... I could do better than that!

Laurens Holst @ Mar 16th 2007 5:48AM

It’s not so bad... Playstation ads are always like that, they have a recognisable style now. The ad wants to show you how PS3 can be exciting, be a gangster :). It looks pretty good and artsy so it works for me, it’s better than most others that I’ve seen. And it says playstation real big in the end, so it’s kind of hard to miss what it’s about.

~Grauw (European, yes)

Hammer @ Mar 16th 2007 7:40AM

As a European, if I wasn't a gamer and familiar with the PS3 and the 'This Is Living' slogan, I wouldn't have a clue what the ad was about. It doesn't seem like it was designed to appeal to the mass market.

It's still quite an intriguing and well shot piece, and it does make you think, just not about the PS3.

maverick_saturn_626 @ Mar 16th 2007 7:36AM

I saw this last night on TV while watching goodfellas, at first I was like WTF? And then at the end, the man says "This is living", I knew I heard what he said, but there was no PS3 logo, so I wasn't sure my mind was working properly, maybe I was just hearing things. But I was certain that he said "this is living", I mean I knew Sony ads were odd, but this one beat them all down. Only when I checked here did I realise that what I heard was correct.

As much a potetial buyer of the PS3 I am, I sometimes wonder if Sony landed on Earth from outerspace and thinks us humans like these bizzare alien popular advertisements, what happened to thier PS2 ads, the PS2 ads were much clearer and cooler, where did the PS3 marketers go? Did they get fired or something? Who is makiing these ads? Is it Ken? Sure looks like it...

Bored @ Mar 16th 2007 8:14AM

Sony trying to appeal do David Lynch fans.

Macrike @ Mar 16th 2007 11:08AM

I don't think it's the best ad of a Sony product, but it isn't really that bad. I'm sure this wasn't designed for the casual market, since only us gamers know about the This is Living slogan, and can relate it to PlayStation 3.

I live in Spain, and I can say that, even though this ad does apper on TV, there are alos other ads of PS3 which do make sense, promoting the Sixaxis, the Bluray and such.

Look at this ad for Spain.

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

NeverSage @ Mar 16th 2007 3:36PM

@maverick_saturn_626

Yeah, those PS2 adds were hot. The "PS9," the "Live in your world, play in ours" series. All awesome. Even Sony's other products have great ads. I just... I just don't get it.

boodah @ Mar 16th 2007 5:56PM

This ad is a few weeks old. You guys need to get out, er, stay in more. :D

John @ Mar 17th 2007 12:13AM

This is actually classic Dadaism. Read about the Dadaists, and Salvador Dali. Trying to push multiple buttons by hanging tea bags from the ceiling of the emporium, so that when you walk in, you're like... wha...?

They are also appealing to people who tend to be private.

This is based on market research. There's a reason that Playstation owners don't go online as much as Xboxers... they often prefer their own space.

(And it could be argued... who wants to go online with a bunch of War Tramps on Xbox live, anyway... Oh, Look! You're insulting me! You deserve a bonus! I graduated from the 3rd grade, also!)

So this thing tries to appeal to that, tries to appeal to privacy, to say, in effect, you can be your own freak, and we support that.

But I think they're either too far ahead or too far behind the times.

We're all our own freaks already, we don't need someone to tell us it's okay, or that we can get that from Playstation. After all, we get that from our computers, which are plugged in 24/7...

So I think they missed it. It ends up looking gaudy and staged, like a cabaret gone wrong.

You thought you were at the theater, but you were at a night club.

Still, maybe these marketers know the audience better than me, maybe there are a bunch of people out there, a majority of the people who would buy the Playstation brand, who will respond to this; maybe it will prick their particular heart-strings.

But I still don't think so.

Sony should take their lessons from Honda, another successful and highly-revered Japanese company.

Honda comes out with these goofy, cheesy, flower and butterfly commercials that only appeal to people who already own Hondas.

Kinda like Apple.

You already like it, you just want to be assuaged.

When you see the commercial, it reinforces the reason you made your purchase.

Doesn't sell a lot to new buyers, but the old buyers keep coming back for more.

Sony tried to do this, but also appeal to those buyers who haven't bought, yet.

But what they didn't figure is that the reason they haven't bought yet isn't because they're not sold on the product-- hell, they're bent over.

They just can't afford it. They can't afford an Xbox360, and they can barely afford a Wii.

The advertisers should have told these people, in essence, you need Playstation 3 more than you need a bed, or sex.

Not more than food or water, we have to have those.

But we can do without a bed or sex.

Had they done this, I think it would have succeeded on a number of levels.

Poor people would find a way to buy one, or at least lust one (thus increasing the word of mouth importance) and people able to afford one would see this as humorous, and purchase it on a whim, some of them placing it right beside their Xbox360 and Wii.

Alas...

Going to marketing school may not teach you all these subtleties.

The market is like an aura, and it changes, rapidly. By the time you've finished even 2 years of marketing school, you're way behind the market.

The PS3 will succeed or break on technology or word of mouth alone.

Now, if we can just do something about those haters...

John @ Mar 17th 2007 12:13AM

Oh, and let me point out that people like #4, well... we all know that an Xbox360 comparably equipped to a PS3 costs the same... these people always say the same thing, always ring the same bell. Even when I was a busboy, making minimum wage plus some measly tips, I could tell the difference between $0 and $100:

I spend an extra $100, I get a Playstation3. I save $100, I get an Xbox360.

Oops. Not so hard to spend that extra $100, is it?