SONY PlayStation 2 Commercial - Fun
Anyone?
Article by: Dejan Petrovic
(SONY™ PlayStation® 2)
"The commercial will engage you with captivating
visuals of intense communal excitement.."
Ref: Sony PlayStation® Australia
From a perspective of a typical multimedia person, The "Mountain",
Sony PlayStation® ad has got to be one of the
best ads of the decade. What a brilliant combination of video, special
effects and vintage Shirley Temple track - Get on Board
Lil' Children.
EFFECTIVE
The "Mountain" is a part of PlayStation® new "fun,
anyone?" brand campaign. As always PlayStation®
manages to stay in touch with their audience and customers in a
way that Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonalds and other giants could only
imagine. While everyone else is trying to be cool and hip, PlayStation®
actively seeks and attempts to tap into all the possible wavelengths
of the youth today. Needles to say - their success in this field
is immense.
FRESH
PlayStation® commercials are always fresh, quirky, weird and
different. It seems that by bombarding the audience with the unknown
and strange we can actually wake the sleepy minds that have been
trained to filter out all forms of advertisement. Shock techniques
are not a new thing but there is something different with the ad
serial coming from PlayStation®.
ARTISTIC
Every PlayStation® ad that we see on TV seems to be a carefully
crafted short film with a true artistic value behind the commercial
facade. They are not necessarily dark and mean - often they are
vibrant, innovative and uplifting.
REALISTIC
The mountain ad simply makes you feel happy after you see it.
And what's beautiful about it is that there is no transparency in
their visual effects technology. Everyone today knows that almost
anything is achievable by video effects and 3D animation but this
ad simply leaves one in doubt - is it for real?
PRODUCTION
The producer of this commercial, Frank Bugden has used over 500
extras, and a production team of 300 people. Frank was assisted
by some of the leading producers, directors and crew members with
experience in gigantic cinema projects (e.g. Lord of the Rings).
We won't be giving any jewels away - you will have to visit Australian
Playstation site for the Fun Anyone? 60 second video clip.
Continued
on 2nd December 2003
Word of the author: To be honest,
I didn't expect such an overwhelming response to what
I've written about the Mountain ad. We've had around
1500 people on the ad review page already, and all the
feedback we have received was positive. It's unbelievable
how PlayStation advertisement got everyone involved.
So involved, that they are not just noticing the ad,
but are also actively searching the Internet for more.
The Internet, Multimedia and TV advertising / product
marketing have never been more important, and it looks
like many big boys are loosing the battle for the market.
I have a theory that revolves around TV being, not only the centre
of the family home, but also a perceptive window and a portal to
someone's domestic environment. Many companies think only about
launching their products and do not understand the true meaning
of television in someone's home.
As abstract as it sounds, the concept is really simple.
You don't want someone with dirty shoes to enter your home and run
around the brand new carpet. You don't want someone incompetent
and commercially driven stepping through your front door and giving
your children lessons on attitude, fashion, style, food and culture.
So why would we let two guys screaming their guts out in our home?
"Once in a lifetime opportunity to buy cheap stuff,
never to be missed out, product A, product B, product C - prices
slashed!!! HURRY!!!" louder and louder, ruining
the atmosphere in the house, disturbing and annoying the observer.
This commercial trash should be classified as (XC) extreme commercial
material so people have a chance to turn their volume down or change
the channel.
PlayStation ads such as "The Mountain" bring innovation,
fun and the quality content to our homes and that's what all advertisers
should strive to achieve - a polite and legal entry to someone's
household.
Well, in reality it isn't all so bad. Most of the ads today are
quite decent, but the real problem lies in the weak effectiveness
on the viewer. Many techniques have been attempted, some more and
some less successful.
REACHING THE AUDIENCE:
AVERAGING UP
Virgin Blue tries to get down to earth with their
language and presentation in order to appeal on the average Joe.
This reflects in their web site and TV promotional material such
as a provocative "Sexy guy ad - (Virgin 2 Virgin 5 cents),
which leads into a provocative sphere which also brings that fresh
splash of reactions - both positive and negative - in any case better
than no reaction at all.
ATTENTION GRABBING
Subway - have you noticed how some words in their
ads deliberately skip and double up? That's that crucial moment
when everyone looks towards the screen. That's the moment when they
capture everyone's attention. Mission accomplished.
Similar techniques have been used with other ads where producers
make the quality of the audio in the ad sound really bad. This causes
the ad to jump out of the grey sphere scoring a few curious looks.
Well, the "Mountain" ad has achieved just that by Shirley
Temple's kiddie voice which brings that cheeky and happy atmosphere
to the whole feature.
DOES IT WORK?
Grabbing the attention alone is not much of a useful process, unless
someone is genuinely interested in the product. What's more important
is what happens in the viewer's mind at the time.
During the commercial break we are all very likely to tune out of
the TV program and use that time to talk to others, make coffee
or just think about the program that we've just seen. By reacting
to an "attention grabber" in advertisement, we step outside
of our relaxed state and involve a bit of our intellectual effort
to understand, classify, categorise, recognise and eventually react
to the newly occurred event.
And THAT - is the moment where our brain opens up for input. Information
that gets across at that time is far more effective than any other
messages that appear on the screen at all other times.
HUMAN CURIOSITY
The human curiosity plays one of the major factors in the process
of marketing and advertising. Remember the Vanilla Coke ad - and
a guy peeking through the hole? Well that is more of an obvious
advertisement implying to the new product and human need to try
new things in order to satisfy the curiosity.
However, why stop there? Why watch someone else be curious, why
not engage the audience, why don't we make -them- curious? The element
of curiosity can be used on many more indirect levels and in combination
with current PlayStation marketing strategies, curiosity is one
thing that could be explored a bit more.
Combining all these factors with a wonderful artistic ad style,
PlayStation is bound to have, dared to say, one of the most effective
marketing campaigns so far.
Next Article: Our TV advertisement story continues
with the review of"Double
Life" ad by PlayStation.
Sony Playstation Ad - "Mountain"
Original Soundtrack with Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Song Lyrics
Get on Board, Lil' Children
(Dimples 1936)
The gospel train is a comin'
I hear it yes at hand
I hear the car was movin'
And a rumblin' through the land
Oh get on board, get on board, get on board
There's room for many a more
I hear the bell and twinkle
A coming around the curve
She's playing all her steaming power
And straining every nerve
Oh get on board, get on board, get on board
There's room for many a more
The fare is cheap and all can go
The rich and poor are there
No second class on board this train
No difference in the fare
Oh get on board, get on board, get on board
There's room for many a more
She's there and now the station
Or better don't be late
But come and get your ticket
And be ready for this train
Oh get on board, get on board, get on board
There's room for many a more
Oh get on board, get on board,
get on board
Little children
There's room for many a more
PlayStation 2 (UK): Mountain
PlayStation 2: Tractor Beam
PlayStation 2: Gravity Bomb
PlayStation 2 (UK): Winners & Losers
PlayStation 2 (UK): Dancing Robot
PlayStation 2 (UK): Laughing Mouth
PlayStation 2: Consequences
PlayStation 2: Signs
PlayStation 2: Eeeeee
PlayStation 2: Poles
PlayStation 2: Morphoray
PlayStation 2: Devastator
PlayStation 2: Decoy
PlayStation 2: Word on the Street
PlayStation 2: Such Fun
PlayStation 2: Brothers
PlayStation 2: Babies
PlayStation 2: Cops
PlayStation 2: Grandma
989 Studios: Intimidate
Sony: PS9
Sony: Coolboarders 2
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