wii u the pitch commercials

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scotland171
Posts: 816
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby scotland171 » December 11th, 2013, 9:12 am

Have you seen this ad campaign for the wii u where kids make a sales pitch to parents? My opinion was the campaign was unremarkable until this one: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dN8813T4qvs
From an American point of view I see an african american family but then the ad reuses footage from a white family as the pitch kids say that 'they think they're better than us.' and dad gets his game face on. I know Nintendo meant better at video games, but in America that left me thinking not about the wii u but that Nintendo made a error in judgement on an ad campaign about a sensitive topic in the states.

What do you think?

Atarifever1
Posts: 3892
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby Atarifever1 » December 11th, 2013, 11:29 am

[QUOTE=scotland17]From an American point of view I see an african american family but then the ad reuses footage from a white family as the pitch kids say that 'they think they're better than us.' and dad gets his game face on. I know Nintendo meant better at video games, but in America that left me thinking not about the wii u but that Nintendo made a error in judgement on an ad campaign about a sensitive topic in the states. What do you think? [/QUOTE]


Do you mean that the commercial has negative racial undertones?  Because I actually really like the fact that it is a minority family playing against a white family, without anyone at NOA shutting the ad down.  The only way to true equality is for things like this to just be.  Cheerios ran an ad last year with a mixed race couple with a child, and there was a huge amount of press on it.  The thing was, the commercial was very simple, and the  message was basically "eat Cheerios."    That was the big deal.  The ad wasn't "biracial families eat Cheerios too."  The ad was "eat cheerios" full stop.  That does a lot more for equality than making an issue about something like that ever could have.  It normalizes things we are otherwise uptight about.  I think commercials like this, that simply assume the racial thing won't be an issue, are the only way forward.

Weekend_Warrior1
Posts: 376
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby Weekend_Warrior1 » December 11th, 2013, 12:49 pm

I still don't like the word "upgrade" being used when talking about the Wii U. It literally makes me think of the Sega 32X "upgrade" for the Genesis. 

darkrage61
Posts: 1678
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby darkrage61 » December 11th, 2013, 2:14 pm

I remember Sony got in trouble for a PSP ad featuring a white women and an african-american woman fighting over a PSP(or something like that).

Greisha1
Posts: 707
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby Greisha1 » December 11th, 2013, 6:55 pm

I agree wholeheartedly with Atari.

NewModelArmy1
Posts: 100
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby NewModelArmy1 » December 11th, 2013, 7:00 pm

So let me get this straight Nintendo, you want me to drop $300 to play a game I may already have (and not included with the WiiU) and has been out for seven years or so. Brilliant. Also, you really think family's are going to compete against each other? Fire advertising firm immediately.

Rev1
Posts: 1777
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby Rev1 » December 11th, 2013, 7:26 pm

I don't know if I would consider the commercial insensitive or anything like that. It could have very well been completely unintentional. I took the "they think they're better then us" more as a "gamers like to compete" kind of thing instead of black vs. white or anything like that. 

@Weekend_Warrior

-my thoughts exactly. Why is Nintendo still saying the Wii U is an upgrade? It makes it sound like an add on to your Wii, not a whole new console. My partner doesn't play videogames at all and he had no clue it was a new console. Terrible choice of words.

scotland171
Posts: 816
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby scotland171 » December 11th, 2013, 9:10 pm

I remember that Cheerios ad too, and I agree with Atarifever that its awesome to just let images be and not worry about being perception.   I agree too that such ads are a way forward for America. A cold as it sounds though, the mission of advertising is build brand and move product.  When General Mills, an American company does it, I'm pretty sure they understood exactly what they were doing in pushing the envelope in such a casual way, and well done to them.  It helps us see Cheerios, the bland cereal, as something chic.  When Nintendo does it, even as NOA, are you as convinced it was intentional?  Considering they reused footage from a previous ad in the campaign in this one, it strikes me more of an oversight.    

Astrosmasher1
Posts: 1107
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby Astrosmasher1 » December 12th, 2013, 1:27 am

Not being American I cannot see what all the fuss is about.

Atarifever1
Posts: 3892
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

wii u the pitch commercials

Postby Atarifever1 » December 12th, 2013, 8:45 am

[QUOTE=scotland17]I remember that Cheerios ad too, and I agree with Atarifever that its awesome to just let images be and not worry about being perception.   I agree too that such ads are a way forward for America. A cold as it sounds though, the mission of advertising is build brand and move product.  When General Mills, an American company does it, I'm pretty sure they understood exactly what they were doing in pushing the envelope in such a casual way, and well done to them.  It helps us see Cheerios, the bland cereal, as something chic.  When Nintendo does it, even as NOA, are you as convinced it was intentional?  Considering they reused footage from a previous ad in the campaign in this one, it strikes me more of an oversight.    [/QUOTE]
I'm not 100% sure it was intentional, and I'll be happier if it wasn't.  If there was a marketing meeting where they ran this and no one at all brought up the race of the people cast, I'd be surprised and pleased. 

However, I doubt very much that the race thing was missed.  These ads would have been made by Golin Harris as far as I understand, and those guys do or have done the advertising for brands like Wal-Mart, Dove, and Johnson and Johnson according to their Wikipedia page.  The chances that a major American advertising agency with accounts worth over $100 million would have missed this is likely pretty small.  Now, the main question would be if they went with it to be like Cheerios or Archie comics, where they did what they wanted and knew what would happen, or if they just noticed it and said "who cares."  Either option sounds fine to me.  [smile]


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