Friday, April 15, 2016

22 Years of PlayStation

Sony launched the original PlayStation in 1995 and their approach to advertising the console has evolved quite a bit over the years.

Let's take a look at some of their most memorable campaigns and TV spots over the last couple decades...

Here's one of the first broadcast advertisements for the North American launch of the original PlayStation. The campaign, "U R Not E" (Red-E, get it?), aired in 1995 and caused a buzz amongst the gamers for its intense tone and inclusion of 3D rendered game content. This was, after all.. a time when 3D was NOT the industry standard:

The 1996 advertisements for Crash Bandicoot were slapstick and comical, openly taking jabs at Nintendo's Mario:


PlayStation's Boycott Spyro campaign (1998):

A European PlayStation ad from 1999 made an effort to represent the diverse range of gamers the PlayStation brand had established:

1999, Y2K, The Matrix. Here's something unique, Sony's futuristic "PlayStation 9" ad from 1999:


Sony even commissioned David Lynch to make a PlayStation 2 commercial in 2002:

Sony's PlayStation 2 commercial for Mountain (2003):

The launch campaign of PlayStation 3 in 2006 had more of a fear-appeal, and it certainly created a buzz amongst consumers:


As the PlayStation brand became more established, Sony's advertisements took on more of a soft-sell approach. The ads relied less on gimmicky devices and in-your-face visuals, instead capturing the audience's attention with emotionally complex narratives.

Michael was part of the, "Long Live Play" PlayStation 3 campaign (2011):


And two of PlayStation 4's launch commercials...
Greatness Awaits (2013):


A Perfect Day (2013):

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