I love Sony, but they are idiots, I bet they will try to top this D :

ffmusicdj

@Ajey: exactly!

ruba-dub-dub

haha - Tiny people inside big people never get old.

kosbee

@tok1879: me too! had a bit of a Ghost in the Shell vibe!

ruba-dub-dub

I dunno. I thought it was a pretty good idea. Didn't find it creepy at all.

LordPotato

@lumpi: heh, yeah. I just posted about her too. That's what it made me think of immediately.

ExistentialEgg

lol I just saw that on TV

Honchy

I'm glad the babysitting robot from A.I. is getting work.

ExistentialEgg

Wow, I can't wait to see the Halo 3 teabagging one.

Wubbytoes

@sascha23: If it fails at being a Sony Europe ad, that can only be a good thing.

Rectangle

Is it taboo to advertise the selling points of a product?

Wolfers

i thought it was sort a beautiful actually in a Artificial Intelligence sort of way. i didn't even know it was supposed to be an xbox ad. but know where near as weird as the "living" ads.

ruba-dub-dub

Gaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

Ahsayuni

I thought it was cool. And it lets the people know the 360 is now the cheapest box.

hagridore

Microsoft's ad campaigns in general have been lacking. First the Windows ads with Seinfeld and now this. Shit don't make sense.

shintobreak

This freaked me out so much when I first saw it on TV.

TheLoudCowboy

If I were Microsoft, instead of this weird ad, I would hire Jerry Seinfeld and have him do and talk about NOTHING that relates to... wait a minute....

Ajey

@Gofthick: They can try, but this is no where near those creepy baby commercials. That shit gave me nightmares. Do you now how creepy it is to have a weird plastic baby running around in your dreams, trying to eat your brain and replace it with a sixaxis controller? Do you?

psycoking

@[ZTF]:

How about you avail yourself of a little nuance and critical thinking, it'll help you realize that the best ads in the world don't make you drop everything and go buy something, and they certainly don't throw a product in your face.

Sometimes ads are simply supposed to make you think about a product in a different light, or get you talking a little, which is clearly happening.

Same deal with the Gates/Seinfeld ads.

akashhhhh

I bet they spent millions on that, too.

Kaonazhie

What the hell is up with Microsoft's ads? First the Bill & Sienfield one and now this?

SlashZaku

@dowingba:

This isn't for the hardcore crowd that know about the ins and outs and all the news concerning the "exclusivity" of games.

This is for the casual crowd.

They are going after all those who bought a wii/ps2 but weren't core/hardcore gamers.

Vecha

+ Watch video

lumpi

It's like trying to be like those weird Sony ads, only it actually shows something about the product.

Ajey

This kind of ad is not supposed to make you want to buy their thing.
It tries to make you choose their thing over other thing, when you think of buying one of those... things...

Anyway

It tries to make you remember the brand. Like those Mastercard ads. It doesn't make you get a matercard. It just sticks the brand name to your mind.

Dynosaulo

@Maximus9: Who exactly are they targeting? Martians?

YHWHMystic

@Gofthick: but microsoft's adds the coolwhip to that piece of creepy pie..microsoft FTW!

moremeds

That's surprisingly creepy. But it wouldn't make me buy an xbox. Especially with their use of GH footage.

poisonedsodapop

I'm still not sure where I'm at with marketing trends...apparently companies figure that if they just make their ads fuck-ass weird, then people will flock to their product. But of course every other company is doing the exact same thing, so the only solution is to make your ads even weirder...

Microsoft has officially joined this movement as of now. Some of their previous marketing was a little odd, but nothing like this. I soon expect to see an ad with Zunes flying around New York with tiny little people inside piloting them.

AvidAbey

That was kinda' odd.

Wickerman1972

WE here at Kotaku are NOT the target market for this ad, so I'm not surprised we (including I) have trouble 'getting it'. I'm sure they focus grouped this to death with the right blokes...

Maximus9

Are ads supposed to dissuade us from buying products? If so, this commercial is a success.

YHWHMystic

So that's how I play all four parts of the song at the same time...I'm going to go find my drill...

Rob Phelps

Saw the ad...and loved it!

tok1879

were they actually trying to copy sony's PS3 ads or something?

willyolio

this is one of the scariest commercials ive ever seen. not cool. Rock Band rules, but im not into little rock band people nesting in my skull.

foxhound417

Microsoft is after a piece of Sony's creepy pie.

Gofthick

@[ZTF]: Inform consumers about their product? Then they'd probably have to mention Red Ring ^_^

relax I'm joking (though I'm putting on my flame retardant skivvies just in case). Except for the odd plastic smile, I kind of liked the ad.

psycoking

lol the first time i saw this i was like...uh thats kinda gross...doesn't really make me want to buy an xbox

remixnzza

Hmm, at first I thought I had something...now I have nothing.

Something tells me that this is just the beginning of the mess of advertisements.

Saint Anima

Man that was stupid. And why aren't they advertising exclusive games? Unless they think the 1 month exclusivity for RB2 is gonna mean anything to someone who is waiting for the PS3 version.

dowingba

It tries to be crazy/weird like a euro Sony ad, but it fails in my opinion.

I actually loved the original 360 ads from Europe. Some seriously cool indie-style stuff.

sascha23

SO OLD

Glare

I really like it. It's not creepy at all to me. I'm just glad to see *some* kind of advertising.

MrBionic

Now we just need the Wii to go into the super creepy commercials and we are set.

TheNexusRebound

@Trowble (XBL/PSN):

-hands you a cookie-

There you go.

Vecha

@moremeds: LOL. Was it a live band ?

Nexus6

tomorrow = 360 for me

bakura

Holy crap, I totally crapped my pants!

Thief

I get it! In her mind she's a rockstar! Hence, playing Rock Band 2 in the background.

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

actually its a very creative ad, i don't see why its soo creepy. i onced dated a girl that had 'other' things goin on in her head.

moremeds

That's kind of awesome.

LastFace

Here's a hint: instead of having console ads that are a waste of everyones time, inform the customer about the product.

[ZTF]

um. ok.

thedarkmarc

I'm don't know why, but I like it.

joefro

Well... that's really all I've got to say about that.

Saliu

I think it's cool. . . . Actually, it's kind of happy.

xMindPrintsx

this is almost as bad as the "this is living" ads.

ZinkO: preferred the old theme AND comment system

Following after Sony with the wierd console ads, eh!?

Metal_Slug_Solid

Yea, i really didn't see how that was supposed to sell xbox's, its just kinda wierd...

aspasticninja

I saw that commercial recently (was either during Heroes or Fringe; not sure which) and I thought it was one of the best ads I've seen in awhile. I spun the DVR back and called my wife in to watch it while I played it again.

Whether it happens to be your particular cup of tea or not has no affect on the fact that it's a great piece of work. This is not to say opinions are irrelevant, just that the idea and craftsmanship are above reproach.

jesterspawn

@ruba-dub-dub: Click "Classic View" before the first comment. Problem solved.

h_jeremiah

@[ZTF]: Unlike infomericials ads are used to expose consumers to a product, not stuff it down their throat....You would know that if you decided to be rational about your opinion before posting mindless garbage

ApolloCJD

I wonder if they mean that people who buy a 360 dont have a brain?

Veltis

@Ahsayuni:

+ Watch video

Nexus6

@Vecha: That wasn't nice :(

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

OMG, anyone else hate this new comment system?? it's needle in a haystack here!

ruba-dub-dub

Are those the little XBOX LIVE racist/homophobes in her head?

Cojo21

@remixnzza:
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one creeped out by this ad.

I don't know whats worse the fact that her head has a stage in it o that she isn't moving

roguemarvel

its an alright add. its not like theres better stuff out there anyways, I can kinda see what they were going for, shes watching someone play guitar hero and she can visualize the concert in her head. somewhat lame but its not creepy.

BryanGuitarDude

@xMindPrintsx: i felt happy while watching it too! i didn't even know it was an xbox ad! just music in your head. it's perfect!

ruba-dub-dub

I know that's not Elisha Cuthbert, but when she finishes that smile, it's hard to tell.

orionburcham

Hmm... I thought it was pretty cool. The severed back of her head is a bit creepy the first time I saw it, but it basically shows what makes gaming fun for us all. Shes playing rock band and experiencing a concert in her head due to the game. I think its a pretty creative commercial.

R3load

It's funny how that ad is clearly targeted at "casual" gamers (women, young kids, the elderly) but it's more likely to scare the pants off them and give them nightmares of how the Xbox machine will suck away their soul and the souls of their loved ones.

UnholyAvenger

I was going to make a comment about this advertisement and then I realized how completely retarded I was for having been suckered into watching an ad and feeling like I should comment about it.

Wow, I just failed twice.

adocious

They ran this ad during the season premiere of Heroes on monday... I was indeed... freaked the **** out.

Magapower

@ruba-dub-dub:

I like it for the most part.

What I don't like is the way it numbers the amount of posts and how it relegates fewer per page.

In my rules of Kotaku commenting, I am usually dissuaded from joining in on a conversation that has more than two pages already. For example, when I used to see an article with +300 posts, I'd read it and move on. Really, the only point in commenting for me is for some sort of feedback such as "I totally agree" or "You're a stupid ass for thinking such a thing".

Any sort of forum with so many pages also drives me away because I have a tendency to want to at least skim all the comments, but when there are so many pages, it makes me more aware that I'm wasting my time. Besides, I prefer actually contributing to the madness that is the Kotaku response system as opposed to just throwing words into the heap that have already been said.

I suppose I'm rambling now, but I do like the new comment system because (1) it's easier for me to tell when there has been a response, (2) it's easier for others to respond, and (3) I no longer have to scroll up and down or open a new window to reply to comments that are mangled up in the mush.

Mact

In before the "WTF iz diz adddd dur dur dur"-like comments like people do with the PS3 ads... It's not Sony/MS's fault that people are too dumb to understand any ads that arent just "buy my product!" and try to get people to think beyond the conventional.

dgonchild

rock band FTW

sc00t420

@ffmusicdj:
Obviously you are the idiot my friend.... I believe Sony had the creepy ad's going for them LONG before this ;)

Xuchilbara

Don't exactly think I would be smiling if my brain ran on 360 hardware... o_0

HEY! I'm kidding!

Ahem... so... yeah.

DustySword

Sony adds FTW!

Xuchilbara

Saw this Tuesday night.

In light of the brilliant return of one of my favorite shows, I turned to my episode-missing roommate and said it reminded me of Claire the cheerleader from Monday night.

Mact

@Metal_Slug_Solid: I don't think Microsoft can out-weird Sony. Because seriously, Sony has had some really dooked up commercials.

Salen

I get the idea but the presentation was crap. I see Microsoft was taking notes off of the Sony ads from a while back.

Quicksilver4648

@MouseCircus:
Decipher? I doubt the reason people dislike this commercial is because they can't "decipher" it.

DustySword

Strange, but it's awesome compared to the MS Windows/Seinfeld ads.

jeremyschultz

Heh, I thought "meh, how creepy can it be?" Silly me. I want a rewind button on life.

Mobus

One word: meh.

lionkitten

Creepy? It's going in slow motion. And ANYONE who has ever used a slow motion function on a camera or in a video game knows that sometimes, people have weird expressions on their faces.

Her and her friend are playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Not sure as I don't care for either franchise. And the stage behind her head is just to show that that's what she's currently thinking.

Is everyone here completely oblivious or is this mob mentality? I'm not sure, but it's worrying that my fellow Kotakuites can't decipher a simple commercial.

MouseCircus

Xbox 360
Jump in...
To someone's head!

tmanflys

@Metal_Slug_Solid: I was JUST gonna say... ^_^

HT Tenrai

This is suposed to make me want a 360?

EmeraldDragon

Not bad, you can actually tell what they're selling in this at least.

Ravioli_Sumo

@dgonchild:

Actually, it is.

The point of an ad is to be just that: an advertisement.

It is not the job of an ad, nor should it be, to expand a viewer's notion of reality or their overall thinking.

The point of an ad is to firstly catch the viewer's attention then to make them want to buy the product.

This ad does the first, but fails at the second making it an unsuccessful venture.

I'll go for the 'games can be art' nonsense that people toss around, but that kind of thinking doesn't apply here.

I often find myself accidentally paying attention to commercials and wondering if the people getting jobs in the advertisement industry get it anymore. Maybe the majority of them are just art majors who realized it wasn't a decent way to make a living... who knows?

My end point is that 'beyond the conventional' is nice if your goal is to enlighten the glazed-eyed viewers who obviously are so concerned with looking beyond the conventional that they can't help watching the commercials as opposed to getting up and doing something with the three minutes television gives you before throwing actual programming at you, but if your goal is to make sales, the cliched bit works.

+ Watch video

Q.E.D.

(Apparently watching several Zero Punctuation reviews in a row is bad because I now find myself unable to shut the hell up.)

Mact

Now they'll have RRoDs on each and every brain!

Crapy console...

JoseLuis

@DustySword: Looking through the comments section, people either think it's creepy or they just don't get it. My comment was about those two specific reactions, not about disliking it. I don't care if people dislike it because that's their own opinion.

Reading comprehension helps.

MouseCircus

Buy a 360 and we'll include a stage that you can attach to your head so you cant move and smile for no reason!

HELLSRIDER

it's pretty good ... conceptual yes, but it gets the message across. you get happy playing the xbox!

myslead

That girl is pretty hot. It makes me want to make out with her while playing Rock Band. Successful Ad!

Zenrick2.0

@JoseLuis: I swear these RROD comments are getting ever so clever!

:|

scotty

@ruba-dub-dub: yeah, I completely agree. Way less weird than I thought it would be. It's a cool visualization of the 'in your head' concept :D

and I love the music :)

Sandbox_Emperor

You can't out-weird SONY. Watch, now Sony will come back with an ad with a room full of creepy children with controllers instead of hands, watching a 20 foot projection of Ken Kutaragi Laughing on top of a pile of corpses with xbox 360 and Wii consoles in place of heads.

.... I hope SONY's marketing department didn't read that.

labrats5

@MouseCircus:
I only see people saying it's either "weird", "creepy" or "stupid". I don't see anyone saying they don't get it.

Not being an ass helps.

DustySword

Next 360 Ad, a woman shoving a baby into the 360's drive bay...

gpturismo

HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING FROM SONY?

SuperStingray

It would appear that Sony and Microsoft have a competition to see who can put out the most oddly driven campaigns. Though, to Microsoft's credit, this particular ad is understandable. I still can't wrap my head around the last Sony ad.

B33

I had to watch it a few times to shake off the initial creepiness. But I kinda like it.

I think they should have had the fireworks going off from the beginning. so you knew that something was going on behind her head. It would be less of the shock you naturaly get from seeing someone with the back of their head missing.

yashichi8bit

God, Microsoft can't come up with anything of their own, can they?
The newest offenders being this (Sony), and the "I am a PC" commercials (Apple).

milkmonkey

OMG! I saw this shit earlier in the week while watching TV and freaked out! Thank god I'm not the only one that thought it was disturbing, or one of those WTF were they thinking moments!..

Ambiguous Blob 2.0

I don't think its creepy either. And as someone mentioned, its very ... happy. It made me feel happy. That's a weird feeling sometimes. Maybe that's why some think its creepy. Feeling happy is creepy. We are a sad, sad little people.

DARTH_TIGRIS

I just saw this commercial, and thought it was for Men in Black 3, I cant separate this woman, and the alien living in the face the robot guy.

Talleh

@[ZTF]:

So you're saying all ads should be more like crappy informercials, or those warehouse clearance ads where the narrator screams at you for 30 seconds: "SALE! SALE! SALE!! 50% OFF!! 60% OFF!!! 70% OFF!!!"

-These kinds of ads = good, quirky, somewhat entertaining. As opposed to simply shoving a product down your throat.

khdownes

I think the best ad they ever had was the finger gun play gunfight in the airport/mall that got banned

+ Watch video

Daggre

@Xuchilbara: Perhaps I'm the only one not thinking of this as 'creepy'. It's 'in your head', but literally. I mean, you have to think about it, but it's pretty good. Sort of like brain ninjas swinging in and replacing your brain with... a rock concert. :P

Paladin58

interesting.

joeloliol

Not quite the way it works. Ad agencies hired by MS or Sony hire a guy who has some abstract idea. May be a good one, and he's able to pitch it successfully to the company. Then something gets screwed up in production and it doesn't quite hit it's mark, randomly does well through non-accurate testing, etc. Somewhere along the way something goes a little wrong, but either MS/Sony understands and believes in it, or it's too late and not to bad to cancel. Either way they make so many they figure it's not a big loss.

What it doesn't mean is that we're stupid for critiquing it. Thanks.

orionburcham

But this ad actually makes sense. She's a rock star in her own mind. What did Sony's ad say? "We're out of our minds"

NoBullet

that commercial scared the shit out of me... i was wondering if you guy were going to comment on it. glad you did. glad i'm not the only one who's creeped out.

AroundTheFur

very competitive region with entrenched competition, just say it MS, you mean Ninty, don't fuck us over Microsoft, let Nintendo have the Grandmas and Soccer Moms.....

CerberusXTX

woooo, go rock band 2!!!

masterbanana

10/10 for creativity, 0/10 for targeting any audience that lives on planet earth.

Walker

Ahhhh!!!!1111 Shes weird and has a band in her brain!

flukielukie

@moremeds: Well having things 'going on' in your head is one thing, but to have half a head hollowed out with a live band playing inside it is another.

Iarwain

Actually, I think it's really...cute.

Rutt

Microsoft is usually on par with it's scene culture advertising.
But this one doesn't seem to hit the normal/typical audience. Perhaps they're going for a slightly askew group for this season.
Personally though I DID love that "Lips" advertisement.
Call me zany.
Just don't call me Betty.
-Adam

ApocalypseVII

I think it's pretty cool!
And the whole living (being)-the-game thing makes sense, unlike the "This is Living" ads...

henri1kk

Her expression and that music just make it really creepy. What were they thinking?

pjcard

@Sandbox_Emperor: Same here, I remember seeing it on TV and thinking "Neat. I didn't know where were bands in my head :p "

agustin2489

What's so creepy about it?... I kinda like it. Those old PS3 ads were creepy. I kinda didn't like those. :P

RammyX

I found it oddly appealing ... or appealingly odd. I'm not sure which. But I do know what they were going for and I like it.

The few times I actually attend the orchestra (at Minnesota's amazing Orchestra Hall), that's the sort of blissed out feeling I get. And thinking about it later, yes, I could see my head becoming transparent and a little orchestra playing inside as I sat there with a goofy "after-sex" grin on my face.

Yikes. My comment ended up being even scarier than the ad.

Sloopydrew

Well, at least they show a video game in this commercial. Does anyone remember those stupid jump rope and cops & robber commercials they came out with 360 at launch? Those were dumb and terrible...

pupaboy3

Thats kind of rad.. in a, I don't know why its rad, kind of way.

Smidget

who cares about the back of her head when her face is amazing

Sabakusousou

Straight out of the PlayStation Europe's handbook.

Andronix

It's definitely weird... but I don't think it's a bad thing. It has crossed my mind if my neurons were having a party when I was playing rock band.

joey1234

@Salen: Dooked up? haha. Yeah no joke. Obviously Microsoft is following suit. they already defined Sony as an "entrenched" platform, and they do weird commercials, so they must be dong something right.

SeraphX2

Hahahahaaaa
It could have been me designing that ad.

Dragzonox

I still don't see what they did there.

Talryyn

How was that supposed to tie into the XBOX? What? she played the game and now she has a concert in the back of her head?

Too abstract, too ridiculous, and totally unrelated make this advertisement feel odd, and out of place. It wasn't even the creepy kind, I woulda liked one of those better, this just feels dull.

Acklan

I dig this ad! Microsoft has done some wierd stuff before, but they always tend to be on the funny, light-hearted side, as opposed to Sony's supernatural mystery style.

For me, though, nothing beats the "Catch That Tiger" ad with the imaginary shootout. That was just genius.

AntiheroKing

Forget it , Microsoft. The people who you'll be getting your money from are the people who'll be yelling down their headsets while playing Gears of War 2.

anNIALLator

@willyolio: er...that would be the casual and social segment of the population in the headline if you bothered reading it. I doubt most of us on Kotaku are anything but rabid hardcore players.

Maximus9

@Metal_Slug_Solid: i think that is, very literally, microsoft taking both nintendo, and sonys ad campaigns, and plucking out elements of both, and sticking them together with glue.

glue made out of some chicks brains.

that shit creeped me out....who gave that a green light?

karl_hungus

One of the least clever adverts i've ever seen. The girl looks like she's completely vegetable, in a coma. Not having fun.

RaepGoblin

@xMindPrintsx: Agreed. I like the concept of the music in your head being associated with Rock Band 2 and Xbox 360.

RedFive

Two more ads: Family Games: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKEmq-1984g Movie Downloads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Tq2Kdd6jg

BritCurry

I think that's very cool actually. But it took a couple of views for me to see it.

SanwariZeiram

Microsoft, just shut the hell up with that. All you have to do is ride your price reduction and not creep people the hell out. Count this as strike 1.

nickymouse

That is EXACTLY what happens to me when I'm playing a game, nice to know I'm not the only one...

IlanaHespera

Why won't this site let me register?

SnehaBates

I agree with your point, and I do like the concept. But the execution creeps me out (I've never seen an actual human downgraded to the uncanny valley)

LouisHamjam

It actually reminds me of the old sega dreamcast ads

peejmgs

I can't believe how miserably some if not all of the people who will reply to this article have failed. This commercial is all about living life, which is nothing but a serious of moments which we hold on to, to later call memories. The same memories that will serve you as prove, a receipt if you will, that lets you know that yes, you have done a few well lived things during your life time. The Ad basically says, enjoy each gaming section you have to the fullest. Enjoy each kill, head shot, point, trophy/achievement you gain. Heck, live the fucking moment.

JoshuaMyrtilus

Yeah....that was retarded.

HyruleCrusader

almost as bad as the Gates Seinfeld add...

darkwhitehair

Lolwut. This is almost as confusing as the "This is Life" ads.

almost..

-Scrixx-

This ad has sold me on a rear-mind projector device...waaa? Xbox 360? What does that have to do with it?

The ad is terrible. You can't hate "This is Living" and like this. They both stink.

johnnyrippa

Jesus, I think a whole heap of people just found a costume for Halloween.

Tampeh

maybe they should make the 360 more reliable before remarketing the same shit over and over.

1nut