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WoW Archivist: WoW's craziest TV ads
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Nefarian swallows a truck. Two women duke it out in a supermarket. A trio of singers shouts, "No means no!" Mr. T introduces a new race and Chuck Norris roundhouse-kicks a kodo. Those responsible for advertising World of Warcraft have hit on some crazy ideas. This week, Blizzard debuted its first TV ads for Mists of Pandaria. As I'm writing this, I've just watched them air live on Monday Night Football. That's a big-time slot for a commercial here in the States and runs a cool $325,000 per nationally televised spot. The ads feature clips from the official trailer. If only the Bengals had put up as much of a fight as that panda. But not all of WoW's commercials through the years have been quite so ... straightforward. Let's take a look!
Sony kicks off an Xperia Ion TV ad campaign for the US, meets your daily explosion quota (video)
Sony isn't known for rolling out the red carpet when one of its phones arrives Stateside, although that's partly because US carrier-endorsed versions are few and far between. It clearly sees the Xperia Ion as worth the five-star treatment it's giving the rest of the 2012 Xperia line: the company is starting a rare TV ad campaign to pitch its 720p wunderkind to an American audience that might not have noticed the Ericsson badge going away. As you'd expect, the pseudo single-take spot ends up being as much a vehicle for pushing other Sony projects as it does for the Android phone in question; we hope you don't mind getting a brand overdose. With that in mind, there's more action and explosions per square capita than in any other smartphone ad in recent memory, so if you're upset that other smartphone ads are just too... peaceful, click Play and get your fill of danger.
Twitter airs first TV spot during NASCAR, implores racing fans to discover the magic of hashtags
Given #thescope with which Twitter has #invadedpopularculture, it may come as a shock to realize that the company hasn't really ventured too far into the world of television advertising -- but then, it seems that it's been doing a pretty good job getting enough #freeadvertising as is. Clearly the folks at Twitter saw an untapped resource in the form of the #NASCAR audience, using the weekend's race to launch its first TV #adcampaign, revolving around fittingly pithy spots capped off with the TWITTER.COM/#NASCAR URL, which redirects to a landing page for the weekend's festivities. Relive the #thrilloftherace with a slew of Twitter ads #afterthebreak.
Three new "Get a Mac" ads premiere, aimed at Win 7
Domestic TV watchers who tuned into the NBC Thursday comedy lineup or the Yankees-Angels playoff game on Fox were treated to three new Get a Mac ads in heavy rotation tonight, all focused on the launch of the latest Windows version. You can watch all three ads (Broken Promises, Teeter Tottering & PC News) over on Apple's site. While these ads are pretty funny (Broken Promises, in particular, features some excellent work by the wardrobe department), it's not clear if the message of upgrade challenges from XP to Win7 is going to resonate. Apple's marketing team may describe Windows 7 as 'antiquated tech,' but the big M clearly is expecting plenty of PC users to buy brand new machines to run Win7 rather than upgrading their old gear. Will they consider a Mac as part of the mix? We can certainly hope so -- but by all indications, Windows 7 is no Vista, and it's quite a bit harder to sell against an operating system that doesn't actively shoot itself in the foot. Heck, it's possible that there may even be a few Mac diehards in the opening day lines to buy Win7. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
The Daily Grind: Mainstream advertising
It seems like every website I visit these days, from MMO-centric wikis to the LA or New York Times has adverts on it. This is no big surprise as it's the perfect way of making money on free content but what does surprise me is the number of adverts for MMOs like EVE and WoW. Coming across such adverts on gaming sites is understandable but I get a little shock whenever I see them on news sites or even on TV. I watch quite a bit of Sky (British satellite television) and I've noticed more and more commercials for games over the last few years but the first time I saw one for WoW, my exclamation of amazement sent my cat scurrying for cover.But I wonder, constant readers, how much effect do such adverts have on people, especially gamers and folks who already play MMOs? Are you more likely to play an MMO if you see it on a gaming site or TV? Do the Flash ads offering 7/10/14 day trials entice you to defect, even temporarily? Have you ever seen one of the numerous WoW ads on the TV and been inspired to try the game? Do you think MMOs are just following the same trends as mainstream video games in order to attract players? Drop your thoughts in the box below.
John Hodgman on being recognized as PC
This past week's episode of the best thing on the radio, This American Life (available free via the podcast until Monday, then streaming or via audible.com) features longtime TAL contributor and 'PC' John Hodgman on the perks and perils of being a TV personality. Hodgman's segment, the first one on the hourlong show, features his observations and experience now that he's recognizable.Best moment? His description of his rock star reception at the Apple Store Soho. Priceless.Thanks to those who sent this in.
Apple posts new ads
Apple has posted those new ads Dave pointed out to the Get A Mac website. The ads, available in glorious Quicktime, once again compare and contrast the Mac and the PC. 'Out of the box' highlights the Macs easy setup, 'Touché' touts Boot Camp, and finally 'Work vs. Play' positions the PC as a lame spreadsheet box whilst the Mac is for creative types.What do you think of these new additions?
TUAW poll results: Mac ads
We asked, and you answered. The results are pretty clear: The new "Get a Mac" ads are a hit. Here's how our very unscientific poll broke down: 39% said "Pretty funny" 38% said "They're fantastic!" 14% said "Cute, but won't sell Macs" 6% said "These are terrible" (you can't please everybody) "Typically vague" and "Another poll = slow news day" each generated 3% of votes. Personally, the network spot is my favorite.
