Super Bowl LI was one of the most dramatic in recent memory, with an unlikely comeback for the New England Patriots to break the hearts of the Atlanta Falcons. Though a large global audience tunes in for the showcase every year, it's the enormous US audience that's the target for ambitious advertisers, of course - the many, many ads are a part of the event on the country's networks. In a slightly surprising move Nintendo joined in this year, spending an estimated $5 million - a ball-park figure for 30 seconds of Super Bowl ad space - to show off The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Nintendo Switch.
As a reminder, this is the 30 second ad that aired.
Ace Metrix, a company that 'measures the impact of video advertising', has shared some of its audience impressions data from the Super Bowl ads. Its method is to poll a group of 500 new viewers for each ad, 'demographically balanced', with each individual's scores "on creative attributes such as Attention, Likeability, Information, Change, Relevance, Desire and Watchability". Nintendo's ad, ultimately, performed well in this analysis.
In fact, Nintendo's ad secured 4th spot in the Ace Metrix analysis of ads that were 'new content' for the Super Bowl, which is quite impressive up against so much competition.
- Ford - Go Further* (appeared before and after the game)
- Audi - Daughter
- King's Hawaiian - False Cabinet
- Nintendo - Switch & Play
- Kia - Hero's Journey
- Skittles - Romance
- LIFEWTR - Inspiration
- Febreze - Halftime Bathroom Break is Coming
- Wonderful Pistachios - Ernie Gets Physical
- Honda - Yearbooks
Nintendo's trailer was among those to play well with audiences as it "was able to demonstrate an innovative new product with an entertaining ad"; it was also listed as one of the 'surprises' of the Super Bowl, in addition to its number four spot in the overall rankings.
Notably, at the time of writing the official upload of the 'extended cut' trailer, which shows various types of gamers and other Switch titles, has also clocked up nearly 3.5 million views on YouTube, with around 44,500 'likes' opposed to roughly 2000 'dislikes'.
Overall it seems that Nintendo's Super Bowl commercials (the shorter on-air version and the extended cut) have been well received. Nintendo of America will no doubt be watching data to see whether the pricey advertising spot proves to be a good investment.
Update:
TiVo has issued its own brief set of data, determined by "commercial retention compared to overall program viewership". It's simply a top 10, and the Switch advert (along with quite a few in the list above) aren't high enough to feature in those rankings".
Comments 209
That's what's up! The more positive news the better.
Sort of Ironic that when this commercial aired, the momentum (Switched) from the Falcons to the Pats.
One of the few commercials that weren't politicised. Sad that it lost to Audi's self-debunked propaganda, though.
The second place ad was sooooo manipulative of our currently extremely politically correct, social media driven, pop culture; it cashed in on what people think they want to hear, because it's what they've been told over and over and over, and apparently it worked on all the sheeple.
The Switch ad was cool, although interesting that they went with the short 30 second version.
@Gauchorino Yeah, I literally just said the same thing too. That ad was shameful.
Good on Nintendo for learning how to market their console properly.
Nintendo Switch and Strangers Things season 2 were my highlights, meh football lol
Doesn't the NFL purge anything and anyone who call ''THE BIG GAME'' the S**** B***?
I really like the Nintendo commercials for the Switch. I just wish they don't target USA only, 'cause I guess here in Europe no one is even aware that a new Nintendo system is coming. The last good commercials i remember were for the Wii
It's an impressive advert that I've rewatched several times and I've also downloaded the song because of it.
The amount of fantastic things I hear about the system already is amazing. I hear nothing but people talking about the Switch whenever I go into GAME stores and before I left HMV, I took many peoples details to notify them about pre-orders.
Awesome.
Let's hope this generates the hype the system needs. Sure hope it's not Wii hard to find for 2 years.......then again that means it's selling well.
Keep up with demand Nintendo and don't let this opportunity pass you by.
Nice news!
Can any of those people buy a Switch on launch day?
It should generate more sales and if not certainly awareness
Good deal!
For a 30 second ad, it did well, although I don't know how much of an impression it made overall with the general population. There's only so much you can do in that time space with a brand new console and showing what it does. It at least showed to many of us that Nintendo - given the high cost of the ad space - seems to be serious about marketing the Switch, which is always welcome news.
@impurekind You know, it is possible that those politically correct 'sheeple' you speak of just might have different opinions than yours?
It's really getting old that Nintendo continues to want to tell us how to play video games. I'll tell you how: laid back on my couch with a Pro Controller in my hands. That's literally the only way I care to play. Now that we've established that, show me ACTUAL GAMES Nintendo. Not a Wii U port either.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I hear eBay is a thing. 😉
I honestly had the same thought.
@HappyMaskedGuy I'm absolutely sure they do—and the advertisers played perfectly into their sheep mentality:
"Hey, this product has absolutely **** all to do with making the world a more fair and equal place bustling with opportunity, for either men or women, but we've made an ad that tells you it does and brainwashes mindless sheep like into believing it somehow must—BUY OUR CARS!"
And the mindless social-media programmed sheep voted it the second best commercial of the show.
Yup—sounds about right.
That's how you sell hunks of metal, plastic, and rubber, designed to basically get you from "a" to "b" but marketed as somehow creating a more fair and opportunity-full world for everyone, to a bunch of brainless but easily manipulated consumers—you sell them a total lie they're dumb enough to believe is some kind of ultimate truth that's going to make their world a better place if only they own your car. . . .
@impurekind So why bother insulting them?
But he wasn't on the CRAPPER!
@HappyMaskedGuy There's no point in telling them only the stuff they want to hear if I actually want them to see the real truth—this ad was deeply manipulative and insidious—and to wake them up from the dream I have to shake them a little.
It's a bit like how I don't sit here sucking up to Nintendo all day long (regardless of what positive spin it and its fanboys try to put on everything), because I actually want things to get better rather than just stay the same. That's ultimately better for ALL of us at the end of the day—despite what all the fanboys believe.
It's time to pop the bubble, awaken from the dream, open our eyes, unplug ourselves from the Matrix, and face up the truth of the world around us. . . . Guys like those who made that particular ad are our enemies (they knew exactly what they were doing and how manipulative and insidious it was)—I'm being serious—and we absolutely need to call out and stand against people like that is this world instead of applauding them.
That ad made my skin crawl.
@NintySnesMan
Yeah but awareness and buzz boast tends to last about a week after the Superbowl before dropping to normal basically having no effect. But this is basically the Switch world premiere in terms of advertising and we are basically 4, 3 weeks away from the launch. Nintendo need to keep pushing like hell until then.
Anyway it would be interesting to see how the Switch is trending in two weeks.
Nice. Nintendo is definitely doing a much better job with the advertising of the Switch than they ever did with the WiiU. I hope it makes a difference.
@HappyMaskedGuy Wish the snowflakes and hollywood understood that.
How did the Skittles commercial rank so low on this list? I thought it was the best one!
@impurekind
Man, way you talk you'd think video games were a matter of survival against an oppressive fascist government rather than a 1st world hobby you choose to partake in during spare time.
edit
My bad, you're not referring to video games. Carry on
@impurekind if you're talking about the Audi ad, i liked it and personally think we need more messages like them to be publicly broadcast, especially in the current climate.
Anyhoo as for Nintendo I think they hit the nail on the head with this advert. Clear messaging and a wide audience is miles ahead of anything they did with the WiiU. And even if it doesn't translate to loads more sales day 1 at least people will have heard of the system!
@Ricube Then you aren't paying attention. The Switch hype is amazing here in Scandinavia. And the UK got a 4-5 min. trailer at the same time the Super Bowl ad was uploaded.
@DiscoGentleman People believe what the media wants them to believe.
I thought it was a good commercial. I'm just glad Nintendo is putting some marketing dollars behind the Switch.
@Gauchorino
Woah, even nintendolife attracts right wing nutjobs
Let's be cool
@KirbyTheVampire
You are so ignorant its scary..
@Gauchorino there were no losers, sir. Everything isn't always 'win' or 'lose'.
@flapjackashley2: I was talking with my 70-yr old admin about the Super Bowl commercials this morning. She complained that they were generally disappointing, but "that game you hold and then slide into the thing and it comes on your TV is outrageous (good). That will be huge this Christmas". I am stunned it resonated with her.
(My 8 year old son was also very excited to see it).
@otterskateboard Please expand on that.
They have to make up for the Wii U since their marketing team was apparently asleep during its life cycle.
I liked the Imagine Dragons choice of song 'believer' for the commercial. That's was money!
@Xaessya lol! Amen!
@19Robb92 sure are. I often wondered why I barely saw any commercials for it.
That Skittles commercial was funny, I thought it was the best one.
@DiscoGentleman XD
@KirbyTheVampire And, it wasn't even the OTT PC social-media-driven junk that bugged me (although that did too); it was the particularly manipulative and insidious way these marketing "machine men" played into our whole pop-culture-sheep mindset in order to sell a product—a collection of metal, plastic, and rubber—to a bunch of mindless morons that literally buy into all this crap, hook, line, and sinker, like it's actually going to make the world a better, more equal, and more opportunity-rich place for them and their daughters if they do so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibmcsEGLKo (see the part about "machine men")
@DiscoGentleman It's not always like that, and it really doesn't have to be like that, but when it is I think it's our duty as decent human beings to absolutely call it out—for the sake of all our continued well-being, happiness, and ultimately freedom [from manipulation, exploitation, and unwanted control] at the end of the day.
@DiscoGentleman
Ayo! I avoid politics but that made me genuinely laugh.
@impurekind don't worry most companies don't profit off of the super bowl
@Setery10 They must in one way or another, or else they wouldn't spend the bucket-loads of money on the ads in the first place—that's basically the most fundamental and guiding tenets of most of these giant and unscrupulous corporations.
@Setery10 The whole point of these ads is for profit. Otherwise they wouldn't waste millions of dollars on them.
@DiscoGentleman There's no point in me sugar-coating things. The people that voted this ad up were obviously duped by it in exactly the way these manipulative and insidious marketing "machine men" intended. And those people are just as dangerous as the men pulling the strings imo, because they become their unwitting puppets in the stage of life (as dictated almost entirely by the immutable laws of business and pursuit of profit these days). So, I'm just calling a spade a spade—less everyone falls into the same dream [nightmare].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibmcsEGLKo (see the part about "machine men")
@Untempered-Link And that right there is entirely why I'm so utterly blunt about what this ad is: These men care about NOTHING more than your money and they will feed you any bull you want to hear in order to get it—whatever is the current zeitgeist. That is a dangerous, manipulative, and insidious world to live in—very deliberately painted as something that certain people can't see as anything other than the lovely picture on the surface. These corporations have fed you a beautiful lie in order to take from you the only thing it actually give a flying **** about in this world; but the lie is no closer to being a truth because of it. In fact, it might just be further than away than ever because of vile, insidious, manipulative, predatory, disingenuous, calculated, robotic, detached, entirely profit fuelled stuff like this—look, a colourful rainbow . . .—but the genius is in selling people a wonderful dream, by any means they can get away with, and getting filthy rich off of the back of it. They get filthy rich and we all stay poor and enslaved but hopeful of a better life, for everyone . . . and none of us get any more fulfilled, happier, or more free—completely contrary to the message in the ad (buying our car will make your daughter equal to all the sons of the world . . . and cue pretty image of landscape and father embracing daughter lovingly, who goes on to become the next female President of the United States, or whatever—we don't really care, as long as you buy our car. . . .)
I agree about Nintendo's Switch ad though.
@DiscoGentleman Not really. I don't really see the difference. Either someone bought into the ad—the totally manipulative and insidious lie that it is—or they didn't. I feel sad for the people that bought into it, but not enough to not bluntly call them out as basically being part of the problem by being too ignorant to see past the ads true intentions, actually supporting and applauding it, and therefore ultimately helping these corporate machine men basically rule and control the world and the 99.999% of sheep in it in their endless pursuit of power and profit above all else, and to the inevitable detriment of everyone and everything else in the process.
@impurekind
I do not know you personally but it is refreshing to hear from people like yourself who are wide awake.
The truth is we were always programmed how to think while being told we have freedom of will. These days technology has allowed for greater "mass brainwashing".
I try to avoid political discussions on these threads but in many ways fanboyism and political persuasions are not that far removed.
You mentioned fanboys and yes, there are fanboys that will defend Nintendo (or any brand they worship) to the point of distraction regardless of what the company does. It is pointless arguing with such people, but I believe this state to be self inflicted.
People brainwashed by media news, opinion and advertising I believe can be "unplugged from the matrix" - to use your reference.
something, something, mountains, molehills, something...
@Hotfusion Yeah, and in very often being so blunt and brutal I feel I'm just doing my part in helping to maybe unplug them a little—as I ultimately feel that's better for all of us in the long run. And, to take it back to Nintendo, I feel similarly when it comes to calling out Nintendo for any of its bull too, not just blindly accepting every bit of marketing guff it spews out, and maybe actually asking more of it—which, once again, I ultimately feel will be better for all of us in the long run.
@impurekind I thought the point of the advert was that Audi is committed to "equal pay for equal work", as per the subtitle. So I don't think it's about the literal product but the brand. I.e. We're a socially responsible company.
@DiscoGentleman Watch it and see what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6u10YPk_34
@impurekind Brilliant ad! Well done Audi
Everything lies in the marketing of Switch. They could be trying to bring to market a toaster with an LCD screen, but it's how it's sold to consumers that will make or break the product
@gatorboi352
nailed it.
I doubt 99% of people went out and bought an Audi today because of that ad xD! Anyways, I've seen that Switch trailer so many times and I must say I love it every time! Well done Nintendo
@8itmap_k1d Which is exactly what it wants everyone to think and believe—as they go out and spend however many tens of thousands buying Audio's new car, after watching its manipulative and insidious sales pitch, which has literally **** all to do with achieving that.
It's literally "We're telling you exactly what you want to hear—based on our market research of pop-culture and social media and of very precisely calculating exactly what we can say and show in this ad to dupe and entice customers into buying our car by linking into your hopes, dreams, and fears for the future—now go out and buy our car"
It is the very worst kind of advertising—and kinda goes to all that is wrong with this world (making profit by any means and above all other considerations).
+Impurekind
Ha ha ha we're all definitely not owned by Apple at this point! Trust us, Capitalism won't enslave you for another few years!
Okay on the whole I tend to agree with you on ads.
But I'm not sure what specifically Nintendo lied about in this commercial. Obviously they didn't cover the weak spots like the price, but they only had 30 seconds, they couldn't even show more than one game in that time.
@otterskateboard Now, I'm not entirely sure if you require the making of a badge or not. . . .
@impurekind Pretty standard practice for companies to be selling ideas/concepts for consumers to associate them with, no?
@DiscoGentleman I get what you are saying; but I'm just making the point that anyone who specifically voting this ad up (such that it got the number two spot on the chart), and thereby giving Audio's obvious intensions undeserved praise and false cultural value in the wider public's eyes, is missing the point—this was about selling you a car, by any means inhumanly possible, and literally nothing more—and is actually more part of the disease than the cure.
I just noticed at 0:18 that bosses have a health bar now.
@8itmap_k1d Sadly, yes. This example just stood out as being particularly manipulative and insidious given our current zeitgeist—and in a particularly "evil" way as I see it. So, I feel compelled to call it out as such.
@impurekind
I love your statement. I wish some company could of used it and made a commercial to enlighten some the viewers who were unaware of the Big Corporations true intentions.
I'm from Birmingham, AL and I can definitely say the women, men, soon to be transgendered, and all races and walks of life have an equal opportunity in my workplace. I work for a large automotive corporation and more than half of our managers are women. They have their position because they are awesome at what they do, not because we pretend ours and everyone else's workplace needs to treat our employees equally, we've been doing that for two decades now since our inception.
A great number of those adds were trying to win over viewers by caressing topics people are most sensitive about in recent times. The reality is that most these companies really are monsters and don't care about women's rights and immigration.
It's funny how there wasn't a commercial about possibly losing Obamacare.
Not surprised this commercial was well received. This and the extended commercial... are good commercials.
Not a Super Bowl/football fan, & probably never. I watched both the commercial on Saturday night(thanks NintendoLife), & the extended one found in the comments section(Thanks rjejr). (If people wonder why I don't always use the @ symbol, it's because something like this particular example doesn't require me getting a person's attention, unlike a conversation; also for something non-conversational, I do not think anyone wants to be pulled away from more important things in their lives.)
I'm not sure if Nintendo simply/just chose to take advantage of this particular opportunity, since it is their new, & upcoming system, or if they have started making correlation between advertising, & sales. Ask yourselves, would Nintendo have done this, if we were a year, or 2 into NS's lifespan. Would they opt for this high-audience-reaching known of a venue for their commercials, or just any commercials, into the system's lifespan?
I'm pretty safe in saying b/c it's their new as-yet-unreleased system, they're going to market it, but let's see if there are commercials into the NS's lifespan.
@remlapgamer Exactly.
@impurekind badge?
@otterskateboard Well, you've earned it—right?
I mean, you are top of the class; you've done us all proud, and enriched the world in the process; you are the person we should all aspire to be; you deserve applause and praise; you are our guiding light . . .
I'll get right on that badge for you. . . .
@impurekind Make sure it says 'proud SJW'
Whoever decided to match the action to the music aught to be rewarded. It even caught the eye of my all business father who never watches commercials!
@otterskateboard It will say all the things I added into my last comment above, and more.
@impurekind So a load of misinformed arrogant nonsense, got it..
@Donderpants Nintendo made a pretty reasonable and fair product marketing ad/campaign as far as I'm concerned. It's the highly manipulative and insidious Audio ad I'm calling out in this particular case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6u10YPk_34
@impurekind "this ad was deeply manipulative and insidious"
So it was a ad? Who's whole point is to target a demographic and sell to them. Unless it lies about what it's selling/promising I don't understand the outrage.
@otterskateboard Coming from the mouth of a truly ignorant person—who has no idea they're actually part of the disease rather than the cure when they buy into, lap up, and indeed support highly manipulative and insidious stuff like that Audio ad—it just gives me the feels to read your comment(s).
@Arehexes Not all ads are equal. There's marketing a product as is reasonably expected and then there's something rather more sinister and evil. The Audio ad, whether you understand why or not, is right on the side of sinister and evil.
Praise Nintendo's Super Bowl ad—it's actually a pretty decent albeit relatively simple and typical ad—but Audio should be publicly shamed for its Super Bowl abomination. I'm basically just doing my job as a decent human being by calling it out.
Eh. . . . And my entire point is that Audio totally and utterly lied about what it's selling—did you honestly completely miss that? It seems to me that you think it's just selling you are car and/or [commendable] corporate mission—LOL—which goes exactly to my point about why ads like this are so utterly dangerous in how manipulative and insidious they are.
The Devil is in the details—and apparently he just convinced you he doesn't exist (Yeah, that's a reference to The Usual Suspects).
@KirbyTheVampire @otterskateboard Its because people are still having post trumpmatic stress disorder
@Arehexes it was an ad where they stated they work for pay equality between men and women. Which apparently is horrible, insidious and the devil's work.
@otterskateboard Please stop saying everyone is ignorant/spewing nonsense and come up with an actual argument. You've so far contributed absolutely nothing to the discussion.
@KirbyTheVampire Which discussion? The discussion about the performance of Nintendos ad during the Superbowl or your shoehorned in whine about how an advertisement about men and women being equal upset you.
@KirbyTheVampire Your arguments are asinine, insulting and just ridiculous. This is the same sort of argument made to blacks when Obama was elected. Like racism just magically disappeared. No, it doesn't work that way. And because its probably worse for women in other countries, it makes it okay to just take it and shut up here?
I normally wouldn't go off topic on a site not related to issues like this. But as a father to two little girls, you better believe I am gonna try my best to make sure the world I'm living in is much better for them when they are older.
@otterskateboard I'd say it's pretty obvious which of the two I'm talking about. And for the record, I didn't shoehorn anything in. I was replying to that other guy about the controversial nature of the car advertisement.
@UmbreonsPapa Hear Hear
Glad to hear Nintendo is getting more positive feedback on the commercial! I didn't watch the game but they picked a great PR spot!
@UmbreonsPapa Mind giving some examples of rights that men have and women don't? Aside from the recent abortion thing, which is something we probably shouldn't get into here.
I really struggle to see how it's so bad for women here, aside from minor things like women not being represented quite enough in things like games and movies.
As for Nintendo's ad, I loved it the first time I saw it before last night and still liked it last night. I am excited for the Switch. Not because I'm some blind Nintendo fanboy. But because of its potential
@Arehexes The outrage always seems to pop up when it comes to talking about sociopolitical issues.
But I think it also comes down to perspective. If one leans realistic-to-cynical, of course one's gonna think the sole purpose is to manipulate people to sell a product by any means necessary.
But a realistic-to-optimistic perspective would say that, yeah, they likely are trying to sell their products, BUT the message shouldnt be outright ignored simply because of who was delivering the message.
Yet, it always seems to be the case. A company tries to bring up the issue, they're clearly trying to take advantage of weak-willed people to buy their product. A celebrity tries to bring up an issue, what are they complaining about? They're rich, famous, and should shut up and stick to entertaining us. And when all else fails, there the habit of either bringing up a "more important" problem that also wont be addressed (AKA: Whataboutism), or folks trying to explain to the disconcerted that their problem doesnt exist, whether through anecdotal evidence or that they should be thankful with what they got [and other places have it worse].
It's hard to get to the core of ANY social issue because, whether accidentally or on purpose, so many distractions get in the way... It also doesnt help that there's the stigma that social issues are linked to "SJWs" and thus, should automatically be ignored.
@BiasedSonyFan Yes, and then I'm going to turn around and sell it to you on eBay for triple the price.
@KirbyTheVampire It isn't so much about what rights women don't have in. Its about how women in general are valued and treated and how those rights are always under assault. Its the same with blacks in this country. On paper, the rights are there. But that hasn't stopped TPTB from using sneaky (or in some cases overtly) tactics to negate them or circumvent them.
And as far as media representation goes, its only part of the bigger problem. It isn't the sole focus of the argument. But it is part of it.
Too many political comments. Watch out what you ask for NL....
iMAGINE Switch! I'm a believer
@Gauchorino I miss when super bowl ads were funny and creative instead of pushing their bs political agendas
@UmbreonsPapa I personally have never seen or heard of a woman here in Canada being mistreated only for the fact that she's a woman in recent times, and I've heard very little of that happening in America, but I'm sure it does happen, and that should be condemned, of course. However, things that the advertisement said like "Should I tell my daughter that she's worth less than her grandfather, her dad, and every man she ever meets?" is completely ridiculous and blowing things way out of proportion, not to mention the message about workplace equality, which is a federal law that every business needs to comply with. It isn't anything special worth making a commercial on. I'm not saying women don't have any issues in first world countries, but they're clearly just trying to appeal to the radical feminist SJW crowd with this advertisement. Either that, or they're trying to stir up controversy in order to get more attention, which clearly has worked for them, lol.
Let's be cool.
I'm gonna try to stay on topic and just say that I hope everything Nintendo is trying to do comes together as they envision. The Switch looks like a beautiful piece of hardware. The original games so far look fun. The ports look like enough new content to invest in again. I can't wait to have an honest try with it
@Minotaurgamer I think this has been a long time coming, actually. In trying to escape from talking about these "bs political agendas", they've bled into the very outlets we used to use to escape them.
It's like that comic with the dog in a burning house going, "This is fine." The sooner we get to the part where the dog goes, "THIS IS NOT FINE!!" the sooner we can get back to the funny, creative ads. The more we try to avoid it, the more likely we're headed to the "bad end" version of that comic.
@TheMONADO36 Just a heads up: When you enter any kind of debate (doesnt even have to be political), remember to leave the strawman at the door.
Doesnt matter which way you lean, or how much you disagree. That kind of crap does nothing more than get in the way of any potential discussion that could be had.
Nintendo Switch Commercial Didn't Make It On TiVo's Super Bowl Top Ten
https://mynintendonews.com/2017/02/06/nintendo-switch-commercial-didnt-make-it-on-tivos-super-bowl-top-ten/
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I dont know what bothers me more about that chart... the fact that TiVos can track what you watch/rewind, or the fact that people are still using TiVos these days. :U
@otterskateboard Facts don't care about your ad hominems, snowflake. Audi defended their payment practices, refuting their own "wage gap" propaganda of their commercial. http://www.dailywire.com/news/13121/audi-parrots-gender-wage-gap-myth-one-tweet-makes-hank-berrien
@JudgeMethos I was referring to the rankings mentioned in the article, sir. There are certainly winners and losers regarding numbers of views and audience reception.
@Minotaurgamer How dare you ignore my opinions! #banentertainment
I was waiting for that commercial to air so I could tap my friends to watch lol. One of them who hadn't heard of the switch said "That's clever what they're doing", so that combined with being top 5 in Superbowl ads tells me that they're "on the right track" with their advertising. All Nintendo has to do is keep that kind of aggressive advertising and supplement it with software and good things can come from it.
I find it interesting that they would show all these people playing video games at times where they might have had a better time enjoying the world around them.
But that's likely part of the point. You can keep playing, so you can play when it suits you, and not have to miss the things you personally think are important. The ad doesn't judge the guy for playing video games even before he gets out of bed. Or that other guy in the reveal trailer for playing games instead of playing with his dog and appreciating the sunset.
Nothing wrong (with) stating personal beliefs, & thoughts. I suppose (that), to some, politely disagreeing with others is out of the question.
Anyway, I agree with some commenters here on the issue of Nintendo needing to advertise.
"All Nintendo has to do is keep that kind of aggressive advertising and supplement it with software and good things can come from it." - I agree with MeloMan.
@dereq: "Anything I disagree with is trolling and must be eradicated!"
The fact that this commercial made such a splash despite its lack of politicism is a sign that most people watching the Super Bowl just want to be entertained, which is why the politicised commercials featured are in poor taste and out of place. Simply because you hold certain opinions doesn't entitle you to silence those who have different ones. By attempting to do so, you sound more religious than the theists you likely despise.
Wait, I'm confused. I wasn't watching the game and missed the commercial (was planning to just to see the Ninty commercial.)
Is this above ad the one that actually aired, or the one NL posted a few days back that was 1.5 minutes long, and showed the father & son playing Arms, and a bunch of 1, 2 Switch play?
Is the commercial that aired during the Super Bowl the above one that showed, all Zelda and only Zelda??
If so, I hereby rescind all my prior doubts about Nintendo's messaging in marketing regarding trying to recapture the Wii market with 1-2-S!
@NEStalgia
It only showed Zelda. I wish it was more similar to the reveal.
@NEStalgia Pretty sure it's just the Zelda one, which I'm happy about. No one wants another Wii.
I'm still chuckling at the idea of getting irate about one commercial because it's trying to sell people stuff by pushing their buttons.
That's.
Every.
Commercial.
@TheMONADO36
If you have an issue with anything posted here, try and at least have the courage to address them directly. Otherwise it just looks like you're copying and pasting inane drivel without any clue about what you're actually on about.
Anyway, kudos to Nintendo. It's a good as and a good sign in terms of hopefully demonstrating a new determination and understanding of the task ahead of them.
I skipped the Super Bowl this year. Combination of my team being out of it and all the politics that I refused to subject myself to. I did watch the Nintendo commercial online though, 3 times . March 3rd won't get here fast enough.
@impurekind For whatever it's worth, that commercial is just another reminder that the corporate coup d'etat of the US government and public mindshare is almost complete. One of the first jolts I ever received on the subject was learning that Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign won him the Association of National Advertisers' "Top Marketer of the Year Award" at their 2008 "Masters of Marketing" conference...
It makes me value commercials like those for the NS. Choosing to refrain from participation in propagandic trends takes more temperance than we may have thought.
@WOLF1313 @KirbyTheVampire Thanks, both. That's actually very encouraging that's the version they showed. I like the extended cut, it's a fun commercial and shows a lot of games, but with their push of "Wii-like experiences" featuring 1-2-S and Arms in a lot of their promo videos of late, I was getting concerned their introduction to almost every home in the US was going to be showing more Wii as the core concept for Switch. It was also a blurred message.
The way I see it there are two core selling points of Switch over the competition (in all forms.) One: The group play/party play aspect seen in the MK segment of the extended cut, and the arms segment, and the skateboard/basketball park segment, school room segment etc. That's the attempt at rekindling the Wii. Two: The ability to take very big games from place to place and experience it on the TV and away from the TV while doing other stuff. That appeals to mobile gamers who want bigger games to fit their lives, and us, the core gamers, that want our big games to fit our lives too.
The extended cut commercial goes heavy on the former, light on the latter, showing the Switch as a fun group activity, primarily, the one they actually aired doubles down on the "take your game wherever you go" aspect. I'm pleased to see the system's arguably single most important introduction to the most people here is the latter. That's the concept that makes me love switch, and I like that that will be the concept that settles into public consciousness.
It's also a more informative commercial. The extended cut is back and forth and all over showing tons of people in large numbers having fun using a Switch, but never shows you what a Switch is really about other than "fun people have fun with this". It flashes between dude playing zelda, then a bunch of other people playing other things, then a flash of a dude playing zelda again, then back to other people playing other things. What is Switch about? Oh another video game system? Didn't I have a Wii 10 years ago? Whatever, I don't need the new one.
The real commercial here is VERY focused. In 30 seconds it shows you "It's a game system with a really big looking game on it, and it's portable, it's in bed, it goes around, you can play it while doing other things with it and waiting around, and you can keep playing it on your TV with a normal controller." 30 very concise, linear, non-confusing seconds of "This is what a Switch is for."
Well done Nintendo. Very well done. And thank you, Reggie, for figuring it out! 15 years late is better than never!
@impurekind Superbowl ads are a contest on which one will be talked about more. Nintendo lost this contest because it wasn't as exciting as the others. Most commercials are mindless humor or emotion. The ad you are talking about appeals to emotion to attempt to be popular, and it succeeded.
@PlywoodStick @impurekind The amazing thing about that second ad is that they proudly proclaim that they ran they ad for precisely the exact opposite reasons the ad claims to represent. I think "low" is a much too kind word for that ad, and apparently the company as a whole since they've been planning that for months and nobody bothered to think "hey, you know, isn't this exploitative?" They were so oblivious to that they proudly stated their intentions after the fact!
@NEStalgia Yeah, it was tight and showcased the system effectively. I think it was good that they chose to focus the single aspect of 'Switchability' (arguably the most central), rather than muddying the message by trying to condense the whole extended trailer into 30 seconds.
In fact, there was a refreshing focus on 'the product' rather than just footage of happy people enjoying the product. Perhaps it's naive to think that a modern advert can succeed without some completely tangential appeal to emotion or laboured narrative, but to me it seemed effective.
@KirbyTheVampire It's not the type of thing that gets on the nightly news (for a sinister reason), but those who are involved in unions and worker's rights encounter so many more violations and unfair practices against women than men every day, it's scary. And that's just counting women who do have representation in the workplace, I don't even want to think about the national trends for those without representation in the work place...
Of course, men aren't exempt from unfair practices, but let's just say there's a lot more going on than just lack of maternal leave and significantly lower average wages for women than men. I wish that was the extent of it..
And it's about to get a whole lot worse...
@DiscoGentleman Ditto RE: the Patriots. Seeing the game end the way it did was miserable.
@Maxz Absolutely agree. Especially since Nintendo has said so many times that with WiiU they failed to convey the message of the second screen, it's just amazing to see them actually not make that mistake again. Especially after seeing the extended trailer, they finally snatched victory from the jaws of near defeat rather than the other way around. A rare result for them. $5M well spent.
The single most important message they needed was to show people what a Switch IS...and I think this nailed it. Even in the October reveal the focus was on the switchability. The backlash post-presentation has been the focus on Joycons rather than switchability. It was a concerning SWITCH(click!) in messaging. This reasserts on the biggest stage that the switchability is the key. A big win.
And absolutely agree on modern messaging and happy people enjoying a product....I get the aspirational marketing angle, but it's so overplayed. And nobody needs a brand awareness lesson on Nintendo at this point. "The product" was the one thing they needed to do, and they actually did it! (Can't believe I"m saying that about Nintendo! )
Blowing 15 million dollars on 30 second ad is (In My Opinion), very bad investment, but at least it got a good impression, which is nice.
@dereq He goes overboard sometimes (well... okay, maybe more than that ), but he's not a troll. Just extremely disillusioned. He's been around here in some capacity for almost 10 years now, no troll would stick around that long.
@TreasureFan $5 million*
@PlywoodStick Whoops, my mistake, but still a lot of money for 30 seconds in my opinion.
@TreasureFan Well considering around 80-100+ million people(at least in the US) watch the Super Bowl, it seems well worth it shrugs. Now they need to continue the momentum and advertise during Prime Time with shows like Big Bang Theory and what not.
@impurekind if that short 30 sec vid cost 5 million... just imagine the whole trailers worth... 0__o
@gatorboi352 with the joy-con controllers you can play laid back with your hands apart.... think about that for a second. And, bro they just spent 7 years making Zelda, give them some credit.
@impurekind I always find it hysterical when someone boldly proclaims that it is everyone else who is blindly opinionated.
My favourite thing about the Nintendo Switch ad was that there was no political bs in sight! Also that it showed a bit more Zelda
@TreasureFan Normally I think Super Bowl commercials are overrated and nonsensical these days. However, a brand new product launch right within weeks of launch is possibly one of the best marketing plans possible. That reaches a whole lot of people, all at once, on one of the only occasions people are intentionally watching the commercials as main content rather than zoning them out. 48H ago, not many people in the "mainstream" knew what a Switch was. Today, 100+M people know that the Switch is coming out in weeks, AND know that it's an important and monumental enough product to warrant a Super Bowl ad. That elevates it from nerd toy to "important tech product" in the public mind in the US. $5M is a bargain! (Heck Nintendo made $2.9M from FE: Heroes in 1 day (gross, not net). $5M is like reaching at the bottom of their pocket for some vending machine change )
@djtwenty9 It costed 5 million to put it on the Super Bowl, not to make the advertisement itself.
Any positive attention that the Switch can get is welcome! The only thing is, that's a relatively small sampling to poll; I personally would have used a higher number.
Make that money.
@MisterKorman But the ads push these lies such as there being some status quo of women being worth less than men in the Audi commercial even though the wage gap has been proven to be nothing but a myth.
The Superbowl commercial of Switch was really amazing. I'm glad kids were included on Switch commercial.
@PipeGuy64Bit The "wage gap" is just an SJW tactic to make people feel sorry for them.
holy poop the amount of people in the comments who make an article about the reception of the Switch all political, and then claim that they don't like it when things get all political. This comment section is just one pot calling the kettle black after the other.
@KirbyTheVampire @TheMONADO36 You know that the only meaning "SJW" has to to reveal the reactionary thinking of the person using it, right?
@KirbyTheVampire well duh, but I am saying if they ran the extended trailer, it wold have cost a lot more
Personally, as a 29 year old woman, my favorite ad was the one with Christopher Walken and Justin Timberlake for Bai or whatever. Of course, it was targeted directly at me.
@PipeGuy64Bit @KirbyTheVampire http://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/income/data/tables.html
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/mobile/womens-earnings-83-percent-of-mens-but-vary-by-occupation.htm
I would invite you two to do some research, before spreading the words of propagandists. The legal field is a particularly flagrant example of the average wage difference by sex, with women often earning barely more than half of men's earnings, even for the same or similar work. (My own mother is subjected to this, as well.)
That's just the tip of the ice berg, anyways... I wish that was all there was to it...
@gatorboi352 In your quest to make a smart-alecky remark you stated exactly what the Switch and this commercial are about 'However, Wherever - Play it however you arceusdamn like'. You either 1) didn't watch the commercial or 2) just view everything Nintendo does through negatively.
Yikes, also as a 29 year old woman, I am not going to dip my toe into this thread any further, but suffice it to say I have a "Nasty Woman" shirt and did not vote for The Donald so you might be able to gleam what I think anyway...
@TheLobster Were you at any of the marches? The one in DC was too crowded to move near the epicenter...
Personally I don't care for politics society or the people in it, do people really watch this poop.
A smart move by Nintendo hopefully it'll pay off.
@PlywoodStick I went to one in my capital. There were tens of thousands of people there and I'm from a small state. Edit: A small red state, lol.
@PanurgeJr I'm sure you do.
@dereq And that right there was spoken like the perfect blind little fanboy who will defend and excuse Nintendo no matter what. The perfect example of this being where you deflect the issue to my misspelling of Audi—like that's the real important point here. lol.
@Gauchorino @impurekind Totally agree with you guys! Ads are meant to advertise, not give a political message.
@djtwenty9 Expensive stuff—but in this case almost certainly worth it in the grand scheme of things I'd say.
@PlywoodStick Tell me about it. I can totally respect smart and well done advertising—and this can include a little bit of pulling on the heart strings or touching on nostalgia and the like too (when it's handled with respect for the consumer)—which is what Nintendo has done with the Switch ads almost entirely (and some of the recent Pokemon ads and the like). Where I draw the line with advertising/marketing is when I see something like that Audi ad, which is just blatantly manipulative, insidious, and absolutely playing on and abusing the zeitgeist of the times. And it's extremely sad for me to think about just how many people are buying into it and drinking the Kool-Aid as I type. . . .
@PlywoodStick There's a big difference between EARNINGS AND WAGES. Women can't get paid less for doing the SAME job as men since that's illegal and the company practicing such would face legal trouble. Women on average earn less on average than men if you put all jobs together due to many different possible career paths.
@djtwenty9 I'm not sold on the right analog stick placement of the R Joy Con. I do like the prospects of playing with both Joy Cons separate, but i fear long play sessions and the R Joy Con won't play nice together.
@PlywoodStick So your mom earns less than the men do in her line of work? Pretty sure that's illegal.
And, here ya go:
http://www.inceptional.com/2017/02/07/all-the-official-nintendo-switch-ads-i-could-find-so-far/
My pleasure.
@impurekind
Regardless of whether I agree or disagree with what you are saying (I don't want to talk about politics) your puffed up sense of self importance and talk about "waking up the sheeple" is really cringey. Just saying.
@KirbyTheVampire @PipeGuy64Bit Not illegal if you work for the federal government. Long story short, she didn't want to climb the ranking ladder, so she gets the work of a high level attorney with the pay of a paralegal... About half what she should be paid for her pedigree. Also, she used to have her own office due to seniority and various achievements... Years later, they took it away from her and crammed her into a little cubby as the grand prize for all her hard work over the years.
(The women who did climb the ladder don't work as hard as she does, and get paid more than her... But still less than the men. And yes, there are higher ups who realize what is going on at her office...)
@HyliasHero Well, I care a lot what you think of me and . . .
I got bored.
@dereq You're such a fanboy you can't even see constructive criticism when it's staring you in the face; half of my posts make extremely clear suggestions for alternative approaches Nintendo could take and/or at least point out what the issue is, where it could be addressed, and why it really should and how it maybe could be—that is pretty much the literal the definition of constructive criticism. lol
But, I guess you want me to do it with a smile on my face and a cheery on top. . . .
@dereq
Ah... I love your statement for being a true Nintendo fan.
Here, I give you +1 .
@impurekind
Cool story? It's the internet. That kind of goes without saying. No one cares about anyone's opinion and this may shock you, but that applies to you as well.
@NEStalgia @Santiago316 I know 5 million seems like nothing to scratch at, but Nintendo could use that for something a little bit more worth while in marketing. Yes, the Super Bowl attracts 80 - 100 million viewers however any profitable return for such an investment has gone dramatically down over the past few years, with online advertising being much more profitable, but it was still pretty cool commercial nonetheless.
I'm buying Audis for everyone, who wants some? We can play ninty switch while driving in our cars and making the world a better place
@TreasureFan
Eh... is Nintendo Switch commercial also appeared on same Super Bowl by Lady Gaga ?
@SMEXIZELDAMAN
I love to play Switch. Can't wait for them.
But be careful to not playing Switch while driving a vehicle (Unless if you are a passenger).
@Anti-Matter Yes.
@TreasureFan
(Gasp)
I'm sure Lady Gaga will like Nintendo Switch too.
@TreasureFan Ordinarily I'd agree about the returns on SB ads, but in this case, for a new product launch in a category that only happens every few years (and it's been almost a decade since a mass-market noteworthy launch from this company, after their recent reintroduction to the public with mobile), it was probably a good bet to suddenly get the word out in a spontaneous all at once fashion.
More importantly it depends on the company, but online advertising for Nintendo is relatively free, and tends to mostly reach the audience they don't need to advertise to anyway. Their struggle hasn't been getting netizens to notice them, netizens never shut up about them. It's getting the kind of people who are watching the super bowl to notice them that's been their struggle. It's certianly not ALL of their market they're trying to reach, but for a lowly $5M they reached a big chunk at once 26 days before product launch. It's better than a Thanksgiving float (which they of course have as well )
Plus it was the second most watched SB of all time. Free upgrade for their ad spot!
(Edit: Full disclosure: I was not watching the game, nor do I ever. I was playing on my WiiU at the time...football's not my thing. But they need to reach the people who ARE watching the SB instead of playing WiiU )
@MisterKorman As with any type of commercial or medium, it's not really that difficult. Just put out-of-place or unwanted characters or themes in it with which you want to spread awareness, and then explain in clear terms what message you're trying to get across through them. See the Audi commercial mentioned above as an example. Also, most people are generally apolitical and don't want any sort of propaganda to be distributed during their periods of consuming entertainment, whether it be the progressive "you're terrible and give me your money NOW!!" kind or the libertarian "THE GOVERNMENT!" kind.
@PanurgeJr As long as you're consistent in that accusation by likewise applying it to those who flippantly label anyone they disagree with as racist, sexist, fascist, homophobic, or "literally Hitler", you may be making a good point.
@impurekind Actually, most women in the US disagree with third-wave feminism, so uninformed Audi is trying to appeal to an audience that doesn't exist (meaning their "sheeple" is a relatively small group compared to most who watched the game), most likely because their elite friends in the corporate world misinformed them based on their own baseless misunderstandings. Hence why Trump got elected despite Hillary running entirely on identitarianism. Audi's also shooting themselves in the foot (sales/reputation-wise), as their intended audience is apparently not pleased with the propaganda in the commericial It's a good sign that we're moving towards rationality and economic prosperity again!
@NEStalgia I see now, I guess your right about non-netizens seeing the Switchs advertisement and being interested in it. And having a large portion of them seeing it all at once.
@PlywoodStick Sorry to butt in, but if your mother has been working in the same position for the same amount of time and for an equivalent number of hours as the male employees where she works, it seems her employer is violating federal law. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Pay_Act_of_1963
Concerning your statement about the validity of the "Wage Gap", I looked at the sources you linked to to see what data or conclusions you're referring to.
The first source was almost a database and is highly imprecise regarding exactly what data supports your statement. I would link to the exact chart from there that supports your statement, instead.
The second source you linked to noted that its findings were based on a "broad level", most likely referring to an average of all men and women in sets of vague catagories. That specific language used there causes me to suspect that, as with most "wage gap" claims, it disregards occupation, position, education, numbers of hours worked, and job tenure in each of its conclusions it made. I'd try finding those specificities out about the claims it makes before using that as a definitive source again, if I were you.
Factually-speaking, the "Wage Gap" as commonly defined is patently false and is illegal by current US law. As noted above, it bases its claims on undefined and imprecise statements and data. Once those specificities are revealed, it becomes virtually non-existant. The reason for these discrepancies is because, overall, most women tend to willfully choose to take more time off from work than their equivalent men do and to work in occupations that require less higher education, even though they legally have the right to do whatever men are allowed to do. Liberty of the individual doesn't always meet our personal expectations. Also, common sense tells us that, if woman were getting paid less than men working the same hours and in the same position, employers would be completely idiotic to not hire an all-woman staff to save on costs. On the contrary, though, for many occasions for at least nearly the past decade, women working the same hours and in the same position as men have been paid more than men doing the same, on average. http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2015274,00.html
To infer that women are commonly discriminated against in the workplace and in academia is factually innaccurate, as well. 55% of college students in the US are female. 55% of the US federal electorate is female. 58% of graduate school graduates in the US are female. These statistics indicate that women in the West have it better off than men do (overall), despite the purely emotional and unchallenged statements about the contrary that we're constantly told.
I appreciate your sentiments about keeping propaganda out of entertainment and your willfulness for civil dialogue, so I hope you didn't mind me joining in.
@PlywoodStick I definitely sympathize if that's what's happening, but that's purely anecdotal evidence. Just because your mother's employer is breaking the law and paying the female employees less than the men doesn't mean that's the case for all women.
This is 2017 my man, and the days of women having fewer rights or being paid less than men are long gone, at least in first world countries. Of course, there are exceptions like in your mother's case, but your mother's employer could pay the men less than the women just as easily. They would still be violating federal law either way.
@3MonthBeef I don't see how the wages of an electrical technician has anything to do with a wage gap between men and women.
I was highly disappointed with Nintendo's commercial. It only aired once.
On the other hand, I agree with @impurekind and @KirbyTheVampire 's views on Audi's highly subliminal message in their ad on Sunday, which is flying right over the heads of people like @otterskateboard, who are not seeing past the immediate surface.
To find it, you have to take into account what it actually is. It is an advertisement for their cars. I'm gonna say that again. It's an advertisement, to get you to buy their stuff. Anything they put into their commercial is there to make you want to buy their products even more. Hence, them putting the fact that they're supporting equal pay and such for women working there, is there solely to get you to buy their cars. Yes, women equality is a critical necessity for the world to truly go 'round, but it doesn't belong in an advertisement for automobiles, on the night of the Super Bowl, which they know millions of people will be watching and think: "Wow, Audi believes in women equality! I'm gonna buy my next car from them because I'm looking to support the cause!". In the end, it's all about marketing strategy, and it all comes down to the ultimate question "How can we make more profit?"
Do you see how manipulative it is of Audi to use that in their product marketing? It's rather hard to see past the initial point Kirby and Impure are getting at, but once you do, you understand the core motives and goals of Audi during the Super Bowl.
One more time. Audi is being highly manipulative of the masses to ultimately power their own gain.
Besides, it's not like their claims of "Every woman is worth less than any man she will ever meet." is particularly helpful to their image, either. Because that's just flat out not true. At all. Like, that has zero foundation for such an outlandish statement. They're driving their foundation on insecure people alone.
Very insensitive. Very manipulative. ...Very corporately clever, since the level of insecure people in 2010 and up is on the high rise compared to the 1990's. I can guarantee you that.
Hey Audi. Nice job breaking it, hero.
@iGen You've got that right about insecure people. Can't even blow your nose without offending someone anymore.
@iGen
I'm well aware of how advertisements are designed. I'm sure Audi would say anything if it meant selling more Audis. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy a well produced (if slightly saccharine) ad with a beautiful very much needed message.
All ads are manipulative, that's how ads work.
@iGen Now this guys/girl actually gets it.
@Gauchorino Good. I hope more and more people are starting to see the truth behind these kinds of blatant corporate lies and manipulation, and indeed the truth of the world around them.
@HyliasHero Except the corporations do care what consumers think to some degree, and it's the corporation named Nintendo that my rants are aimed at, not the likes of you. The very fact we know that certain people working for Nintendo claim to visit and read these kinds of sites even sometimes makes it worth raising issues like this in one of the only ways that gamers and consumers like you and me can actually make our voices be heard, even if only in a small way. And, unlike you, apparently, I'm not just happy to sit here quietly at let Nintendo believe it's done the best possible job it could have done when it hasn't, or worse, praise it for such a stellar job when in reality it still needs to do so much more in so many ways if it want's to satisfy more than just the same even-shrinking bunch of overly loyal fanboys once again. I want and expect more from Nintendo—and I'm doing my little bit to let it know so.
@Judgedean No, people in power try to make people believe what they want them to believe. It's not exclusive to the media, or Audi for that matter.
Take the current Whitehouse administration's 'Alternative Facts' for example. Now THAT is barefaced manipulation.
@impurekind Watching the commercial, I am now VERY confused- are you against equal pay for women? What is so insidious about the message of the advert? You do realise that Audi are simply stating a fact in here, and that women are statistically valued less and receive less pay than men for the same jobs? I do think it's somewhat clumsy to talk about equal pay with regards to their own male dominated board of execs- but if anything their own commercial will probably lead to changes in their own company, for the better. Im struggling to see genuine negatives in this situation?
Finally- are you only now aware of the fact that advertising is designed to manipulate consumers? Audi chose progressive politics as their platform- surely better than right wing witch burning? Or have you just got your boxers in a twist about this because it isn't Trump enough for your tastes? Personally, I'd be more worried about a tax exempt Church funding the State and influencing politics, but that's just me...
Anyways, have a lovely day 😊
@HappyMaskedGuy
Well said
But I get the feeling this guy isn't worth arguing with. He seems to have gone way off the deep end.
@HappyMaskedGuy You're clearly not paying attention to what's being said by me and people like me and/or unable to grasp certain things that aren't at a purely surface level and little else. In other words, you need to read between the lines a little more and stop taking what these companies are peddling at pure face value. They ultimately don't really care that much about creating a better and fairer world (irrespective of their perfectly crafted and calculated words); they're all about selling you the car. And the whole "better and more equal world part" rhetoric is nothing but a blatant example of excessively abusive manipulation of the things they know you hold dear in order to sell you that car—and that's not what all advertising is or indeed should be about (the excessively abusive manipulation part).
See iGen's comment #207; it's a great compliment to the stuff I've been saying. . . .
@otterskateboard "All ads are manipulative, that's how ads work."
No, that's a load of misguided bull that people like you spread around so most other people don't have to bother to question anything around them or distinguish between right and wrong, and good and bad when it comes to business, and high quality and mediocre quality, and fully polished and a little half-*****, an affordable and overpriced, and whatever else.
"All advertising is manipulative"—so why are you making a big deal out of this ad?
"All companies are just in it for profit and nothing else"—so why do you care if Nintendo makes the best quality of products and services as long as it makes a profit?
"All third party developers just care about cutting-edge tech and money"—so that's why they're not developing for Nintendo's consoles.
"Gaming is a very expensive hobby"—so don't buy the Switch if you think it's too expensive.
"Nintendo's never cared about third parties"—so why are you so bothered about it not getting them on Switch?
"Gameplay is all the matters and graphics aren't important"—so why don't you just go buy an Xbox One and PS4 if great graphics and presentation is all you care about?
It's pretty much all a load of worthless bull when people like you throw out garbage like that—which happens a whole lot on the Internet—and it doesn't address any of these issues or actually try to fix and improve things in any meaningful way.
There's minimum thresholds, lines that can be crossed, and in some cases it's important to expect and ask these companies to meet them and not cross them—from a gamer, consumer, and human point of view.
So, Audi deserves to be called out for this ad, and Nintendo deserves to called out when it's launch lineup is below par (and its console is slightly overpriced, and its peripherals overpriced, and its battery life is a bit too low, and the Virtual Console is worryingly absent for the most part so far, and we don't really know anything about its paid online service with only a month until the Switch launches, and . . . ), and governments deserve to called out when they make bad decisions and pass abusive and oppressive laws, and so on—whenever and wherever it makes sense to do so—don't just burry your head in the sand and say "That's just the way it is", which is in most cases a total cop-pout and basically makes you part of the disease rather than part of the cure.
@impurekind I take what you say on board. I don't want to argue with anyone on here, it doesn't change anything except make people angry and unhappy. I'm very guilty of launching into arguments, call it a flaw of character. I should know better. And yes- I agree- it is all about Audi selling their image, defintiely.
However-there are positives in there too! Gender equality is a subject which continues to require addressing. I just wouldn't get too wound up about it. Believe me- there are enough people in the world who are terrified of the current political establishments, both in America and abroad. Myself and many others feel it's a time to protect our liberal values. Audi are just tapping into that.
The mainly male board of execs- thing was pretty poorly judged by them to be fair. It doesn't help their argument. I am neutral on the commercial politics tbh. But I do strongly agree with promoting gender equality.
It's just politics dude- hasn't changed since the dawn of man
@HappyMaskedGuy Media and big corporations runs the government - there's no secret in that - they're the same. When Hilary lost, the big news outlets and corporations freaked out and ramped up the propaganda to the masses. There was a time when news was impartial, fair and balanced - now you have i.e. CNN broadcasting "their" opinions 24/7. People don't realised they're being brainwashed but that's the whole point about propaganda.
@impurekind
Imma man, bro.
@otterskateboard
But they shouldn't. It's deceptive and malicious and getting you to buy their product should not have any impurities within.
Yes the message is highly powerful, uber important, and must be fully addressed when the US/whatever gets to it, but WHY would it be in an automobile commercial? WHY do they need to proudly advertise it during a time where they know damn well millions of people are watching all at once? Don't get me wrong, as many people as possible need to see the message, but not from Audi. They are incapable of doing so. The message in the commercial is too good for an advertisement about cars. It belongs someplace much more important, where millions more people can see it, and this time, with a greater message behind the message. Because all I see inside the greater message behind the message, is Audi saying "Buy our cars because we do this thing.". You're not understanding, it's Audi turning a cause that should be treated and cared with utmost respect and accordance, into profit for them.
You buying a car from Audi right there and then, will not do anything for women's rights or equality. It will not contribute to the greater cause. It will not make the world a better place. It will not make a girl feel good for just that day, at the very barebones minimum least. This was a selfish act by Audi for only them to benefit from.
It's like taking the epidemic of starving African children, and a company saying "Every time you buy our product, a poor African soul will find what it means to live.". Do you see now? It's extremely insensitive and selfish of them to turn one greater cause, into their own personal financial gain doing diddly squat for the party that they're advertising will benefit from if you obey the company and buy their product. (I know Audi wan't saying that exact message, but let's not get technical here, it's close enough) This is not advertising. This is just terrible. Advertising is not terrible.
I've been around for a decade and a half, growing up on the entire world at your fingertips, all the while being absolutely bombarded with advertisements, commercials, spots, banners, flashy whatever else getting you to buy things all my life. I'm pretty sure that's not what advertising looks like, because it isn't. Advertising is much purer than that, I will just say that however, because that's a discussion for another day.
I don't know what else I could say. There is nothing else to say.
Your own judgement is all that's left.
@Judgedean If you are expecting me to believe that the Trump administration are being victimised, you can sell that snake oil elsewhere.
@HappyMaskedGuy Look beyond the media and you might see what is really happening. Some people are too afraid to see the real problem. Psychology is a powerful tool.
Anyway Nintendo Switch under a month away - can't wait
@TreasureFan Yep. If you break it down it's about $0.05 per viewer. They'd be hard pressed to hand out leaflets for cheaper than that!
@iGen Even without getting into the up and down ethics of the entire concept, there's a central pillar to the thinking behind that commercial that I think a lot of people in this discussion missed. It was covered in a USA Today article including comments from Audi's Senior VP of Marketing responsible for that ad.
Without pasting text from USA Today, the quote from the Sr. VP was something to the effect of them believing that to be a powerful emotional message to their potential customers, of whom their statistics have shown that 80% of all purchasing decisions for luxury automobiles are made by women.
You can re-read that section a few times for it to sink in.
They ran that commercial, to specifically make an emotional appeal to a market they've identified as almost entirely female, about the poor economic condition of women, whom their own data is telling them is almost the sole consumer of extremely expensive luxury goods in their category.
It's basically a commercial to sell the warm fuzzy blanket of victimhood to the modern Marie Antoinettes of the world whom they know to be their primary customers, so they can feel comforted that in buying an Audi as their next $55,000+ car, they don't have to feel ashamed for lording it over all those unwashed peasants they hold beneath them. "Here, repressed factory girl, I just bought a brand new fully loaded Audi with multi-zone climate control, walnut interior, Klipsch audio, and a triple exhaust turbo engine so I can run every stoplight in town (don't dare get in my way or I. Will. Run. You. Down.). And I did it all so you could have a better life. I'm amazing!"
THAT is what that commercial was selling. Guilt-free decadence.
All the politics, statistics, data and charts on wage gaps are unneeded to see the sheer cynicism behind the use of very data that inspired the creation of that commercial to begin with. They crafted a commercial about disadvantaged women to make more very affluent women buy their cars. Exploitation at its finest. There was zero public service message to be had in there.
When it comes to business, politics, and media, the safest rule is: If you don't see the self-serving exploitative angle of every positive sounding message, you're probably not searching deep enough.
@NEStalgia
Well now they're just worse by exploiting the less fortunate women. Terrible company which I will not ever be buying anything from.
Also, "80% of all purchasing decisions for luxury automobiles are made by women."
And so they tell them that they're worth less than any man they will ever meet.
Argument invalid. Point remains.
@iGen Oh I wasn't contesting your point at all. Generally agreed, but pointing out that the real insidiousness of the commercial doesn't need to get that metaphysical on the whole matter. It's far more base than over-analysis suggests once you know their thinking behind it and the numbers they used to support it
And yeah, I found the 80% figure interesting. That sounds like a number thrown out on a forum in a political argument. These are the hard numbers from Audi's own statistical research. So they're acknowledging that the luxury car market sells almost exclusively to affluent women and the men they own (whom they apparently allow dear hubby to buy the car.) And this is the commercial they formulated to appeal to that group. What does this say about them AND their customers or their opinion of their customers?
The commercial is just fail all the way around no matter what angle you view it from. Wrapping it in a pretend PSA just makes it so obvious that very few even are attempting to defend it. Somewhere, some ad wizard is going home today making a lot less than the 7 year old women running a lemonade stand next door
@NEStalgia
Fail. Agreed.
When an epic fail just isn't enough...
LEGENDARY FAIL.
@impurekind None of your criticism was constructive. None. So criticisms of others for not identifying it as such are invalid.
@impurekind
@KirbyTheVampire
@Gauchorino
@PipeGuy64Bit
I like you guys. Not gonna get into politics on a Nintendo website, but just wanted to let you know you aren't alone. Keep on fighting.
@happylittlepigs Cheers.
@PanurgeJr If you think that then you're not paying attention—or are just ****—you know the word— or something.
Lol. I vaguely remember there being an article about Nintendo not having enough time to advertise Nintendo Switch.
Seems like plenty of time to me.
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