Have you seen the new commercial for Gears of War, video game coming out for the Xbox? It's all over the tube now, but is making quite an impression in "www-land" as well. Here is the commerciall.
If the song sounds familiar, then maybe you remember Donnie Darko where the Michael Andrews version of the song made a strong statement within the context of the film, and this is the same version used in the Gears of War ad. Here is the video for the song itself which is quite interesting.
But the real reason I bring the commercial up is the contrast of the action and the song. Unlike Donnie Darko which fits the song STRONGLY - the Gears of War advertisement is a bit of a contrast. One person responding to the commercial on a blog stated, "that's a fan-made piece of stuff, not an ad. I can't really see Microsoft using "Mad World" for an ad for Gears of War."
This same person said, "then again I might be wrong" - well guess what skippy? You are wrong. The rules, they are changing. Microsoft and companies like it are adapting the way they communicate to people. Less, let's follow a method, and more, let's make a compelling stand-along piece that moves people to react to it. Watch the commercial and tell me if you had a reaction - I'm interested.
I love the contrast as well, then again I'm not the type that has to have everything spelled out for me with the ear shattering audio pointed out before. The subtlety of the music in contrast to the gameplay I think was brilliant!
Posted by: thelastone | 01/08/2007 at 10:49 AM
Being the first (apparently) to respond to the commercial here from the gaming community, I'll add that it does make the game appealing, if only because it's a shooter commercial that doesn't try to break your ears (for example, the Call of Duty 3 commercials) and yet shows off the action in the game. Plus, people creative enough for that mix were also likely to be involved in the game itself, which adds to the suspected value.
Posted by: AndyB | 12/02/2006 at 01:38 AM
Hubby and I ran across this commercial on tv and I had him watch it to see what he thought... now when we're fast-forwarding through commercials on our DVR, he stops and watches that commercial every time!
Posted by: AmyWafl | 11/27/2006 at 12:48 PM
I think it's excellent! Which would make me wonder how people from the target market are reacting to it.
Posted by: AmyWafl | 11/22/2006 at 09:47 AM
To me it feels like the right solution. Not because I happen to like the song (which i do) or because i can be called a gamer (which i can't) but because it's unexpected. It's also a little provocative, i don't think the two elements go together very well at all. But that's just it, the creative force behind the scenes here took a risk by blending two unrelated pieces and in the end, we're here talking about it on a blog...jobs well done.
Posted by: Young Mr. Arvizu | 11/21/2006 at 03:13 PM
Maybe it's because I'm not the gamer type that Microsoft is talking to, but this didn't do anything for me one way or the other. Sounds like a good song though. I'm not sure where this fits, but have you seen the XBOX 360 games that Burger King is selling in their stores? They have like 3 games featuring the King character. I wonder if that is bringing in more peeps to their restaurants?
Posted by: twiggyD | 11/21/2006 at 02:03 PM