I watched it. Once. Twice. I watched it three times and still I couldn't connect to it. On the contrary, it distanced me from the game and made me wonder if WoW really is the game of my heart. The only conclusion I can draw from it is that something must have gone seriously wrong with the new marketing video for WoW.
I guess I'm seeing this from a strictly European point of view. But since it's posted on the European fan site as well as on the US, I must assume that it isn't intended for US citizens only. However that was how a guildie of mine explained it to me when I confessed that I've never ever heard of any Mr T, that I don't have any relationship to him whatsoever and the new commercial leaves me cold. (I even had to look him up at imdb to understand that he was an actor.)
"Larisa, this isn't for us. It's for the Americans. It's really funny if you already know about this guy", he assured me. But I'm not quite so certain that's the whole explanation. The guildie is a teenager and I'm over 40. There might be more than a geographical aspect in this.
So Larísa, come to the point! What's the big deal? Why don't you like this movie? Everyone else seem to fancy it, they think it's hilarious.
Well, the thing is that the guy they're featuring isn't only unknown to me - I can't identify with him at all. It doesn't in any way reflect what I experience when I play WoW. Putting masquerade costumes on other players, either they like it or not, has never been any favorite of mine. I've rather felt a bit embarrassed as I've been hanging around just outside the horde area in Dalaran so I can transform an orc, a troll or a nightelf just for some achievement. To me it's rather childish and pointless (and yeah, I'm probably suffering from some anti-social tendencies). My game is mostly about raiding, a little bit about immersion and I believe I've got a potential roleplayer dwelling somewhere deep inside. But messing around with the appearance of other players isn't anything I enjoy doing very much. No matter how "cool" the hairstyle is supposed to be.
But Larísa, this movie isn't intended for you! They probably have another target audience. They just want to expand their playerbase by doing some advertising. Let it go! More subscribers to WoW = more money for development!
Yeah, I know. That's why I'll try to ignore the movie as much as I can. I'm glad that I hardly ever watch any TV with commercials. It isn't even certain they'll show it in Europe, and if they do I'm likely to miss it.
Still. I want to make a little shoutout, even though they probably couldn't care less about what a tiny little pigtailed gnome thinks about this. So here's my objection:
What Blizzard seems to forget in this picture is that as much as you're trying to catch a new group of costumers by advertising, you're also affecting the relationship you have to your current customers. Ideally the campaign will confirm their relationship to your brand. It will make them renew their vowels to remain loyal to it. It will inspire them and reinforce the connection you have.
Mr T has just the opposite effect on me, which makes me wonder. Either they haven't bothered to try it out since they're lazily expecting everyone else to have the same taste as they have. Or they just don't care, since I represent a minority, so small that it doesn't matter to Blizzard's financials.
I get it, this is crap according to Larísa. What kind of commercial would I rather like to see? What could Larísa possibly relate to?
To be honest, I'm not an expert on how-to-make-commercials. I work in the PR area, but I'm not making ads. But I know what kind of style I would rather like to see than this blunt "look-at-me-I'm-talking-with-a-funny-voice-please-laugh-don't-you-think-I'm-funny" approach.
I would for instance love to see something that was inspired from the fantastic movies made by Cranius. You know Big Blue Dress, Darrowshire and most recently The Story. He knows how to touch and involve the audience, how to tell a story that you want to listen to. Or if you want a more realistic and/or humorous touch, you might take inspiration from The Guild, portraying different sorts of players, showing the diversity in the playerbase and how much fun you can have in an MMO.
Those are just two examples. I'm sure there are many other, better ways to capture and communicate the soul of WoW. All I know is that Mr T fails at doing it. Miserably.
His game is NOT my game.
I guess I'm seeing this from a strictly European point of view. But since it's posted on the European fan site as well as on the US, I must assume that it isn't intended for US citizens only. However that was how a guildie of mine explained it to me when I confessed that I've never ever heard of any Mr T, that I don't have any relationship to him whatsoever and the new commercial leaves me cold. (I even had to look him up at imdb to understand that he was an actor.)
"Larisa, this isn't for us. It's for the Americans. It's really funny if you already know about this guy", he assured me. But I'm not quite so certain that's the whole explanation. The guildie is a teenager and I'm over 40. There might be more than a geographical aspect in this.
So Larísa, come to the point! What's the big deal? Why don't you like this movie? Everyone else seem to fancy it, they think it's hilarious.
Well, the thing is that the guy they're featuring isn't only unknown to me - I can't identify with him at all. It doesn't in any way reflect what I experience when I play WoW. Putting masquerade costumes on other players, either they like it or not, has never been any favorite of mine. I've rather felt a bit embarrassed as I've been hanging around just outside the horde area in Dalaran so I can transform an orc, a troll or a nightelf just for some achievement. To me it's rather childish and pointless (and yeah, I'm probably suffering from some anti-social tendencies). My game is mostly about raiding, a little bit about immersion and I believe I've got a potential roleplayer dwelling somewhere deep inside. But messing around with the appearance of other players isn't anything I enjoy doing very much. No matter how "cool" the hairstyle is supposed to be.
But Larísa, this movie isn't intended for you! They probably have another target audience. They just want to expand their playerbase by doing some advertising. Let it go! More subscribers to WoW = more money for development!
Yeah, I know. That's why I'll try to ignore the movie as much as I can. I'm glad that I hardly ever watch any TV with commercials. It isn't even certain they'll show it in Europe, and if they do I'm likely to miss it.
Still. I want to make a little shoutout, even though they probably couldn't care less about what a tiny little pigtailed gnome thinks about this. So here's my objection:
What Blizzard seems to forget in this picture is that as much as you're trying to catch a new group of costumers by advertising, you're also affecting the relationship you have to your current customers. Ideally the campaign will confirm their relationship to your brand. It will make them renew their vowels to remain loyal to it. It will inspire them and reinforce the connection you have.
Mr T has just the opposite effect on me, which makes me wonder. Either they haven't bothered to try it out since they're lazily expecting everyone else to have the same taste as they have. Or they just don't care, since I represent a minority, so small that it doesn't matter to Blizzard's financials.
I get it, this is crap according to Larísa. What kind of commercial would I rather like to see? What could Larísa possibly relate to?
To be honest, I'm not an expert on how-to-make-commercials. I work in the PR area, but I'm not making ads. But I know what kind of style I would rather like to see than this blunt "look-at-me-I'm-talking-with-a-funny-voice-please-laugh-don't-you-think-I'm-funny" approach.
I would for instance love to see something that was inspired from the fantastic movies made by Cranius. You know Big Blue Dress, Darrowshire and most recently The Story. He knows how to touch and involve the audience, how to tell a story that you want to listen to. Or if you want a more realistic and/or humorous touch, you might take inspiration from The Guild, portraying different sorts of players, showing the diversity in the playerbase and how much fun you can have in an MMO.
Those are just two examples. I'm sure there are many other, better ways to capture and communicate the soul of WoW. All I know is that Mr T fails at doing it. Miserably.
His game is NOT my game.
46 comments:
Well- I never knew the guy until WoW adverts. So i'm in the same boat as you, and I'm a teenager.
However, What I do find hilarious is how it breaks the pattern of the other commercials, he makes his own class. Then, second advert he challenges the "people who think he isn't smart" and greats mohawk grenades, its very funny to me, but I like silly, harmless funny.
HOWEVER:
When I sit and think about it deeply, I understand why it can be a bad thing. Its not tpyical of WoW, and a newcomer could look at this commerical and go "wow is about having fun and throwing grenades at each other and doing silly things".
In a way, they are right. In real-life the world is a playground, and I treat WoW just like it too. Sometimes when all you do is Kill bosses farm stuff and pvp, its nice to have some fun, isn't it?
the soul of wow is What ever the person wants it to be. For me its immersion and fun, this covers the fun, silly and random side of my soul and my very personaility, as I'm sure you know from my outburts-- and being in a fantasy world, thinking about traveling to fantasy places is the immersive side.
Mohawk grenades are not immersive, but WoW has to cover for a wide range of audiences, like you said, and I hope you can just survive being a "NIGHT- ELF, MOHAWK". :).
I'm sorry but we can't like everything and I don't like some things in WoW, but theres so much other stuff great I can ignore it,
I hope you can do the same :)
I have to agree with Kromus. It's harmless fun.
t0xic
I can't stand the Ozzy ads or his "special" appearance in the latest Blizzcon. The guy is most distasteful to me, and a profound damper on my interest in a game that willingly associates itself with him.
Others nearly worship the guy.
There's just no accounting for taste. WoW functions because its net is cast wide; there will inevitably be parts of it that aren't desirable to any give player. *shrug*
A commercial with Mr. T is going to appeal to children of the 80s and the parents, which is a nice variety of players to amuse with nostalgia.
A movie like you were talking about, where its an in-game cinematic, is less likely to catch the attention of someone who doesn't pay much attention to commercials. Mr T. on the other hand creates a "oh snap, it's the guy from A-Team" response.
For the most part this is American advertising in a nutshell. Since the birth of television, we've had celebrities telling us how cool a product is. It's been working so far, no surprise Blizzard would do it too. And they're reaching an older market by using Mr. T.
Plus the 80s nostalgia thing has been pretty big in the US for a the last few years.
Oh, and to make a comment towards your implications about it being funny for that guy because he is a teenager. The guys I work with that play wow all found the spot really funny, between the ages of 25-35. When we were kids, this guy was awesome.
Mr. T was a super cool role-model who told us drugs were bad, and made obeying our parents and helping our communities seem awesome. These kids who grew up with him are in their 20s and 30s now.
I think you are being too hard on a tv spot that you are detached from because you weren't immersed in that pop culture. It's like when I watched the WoW celebrity commercials from Europe. I didn't understand the humor/appeal, but I realized that I wasn't part of the society.
See, this is the wonder of not owning a TV. I have no idea what anyone is talking about in terms of the commercials.
@Elnia
This is the original one;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epBdCZWZSuU
This is the new one;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98uDkyzVvSc
The thing is, this
commercial relies on another commercial. About two years ago, Blizzard made a series of commercials for Wow where various celebrities represented different in-game characters. You had William Shatner and his tauren shaman, Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer and his gnome mage, Jean-Claude van Damme as a troll mage, and some Spanish guy named Willy Toledo as a human paladin. By far the best of these was Mr T and his "Night Elf Mohawk" - and when the "director" tried to cut and tell Mr T there is no Mohawk class, T responded "Maybe Mr T hacked the game. Maybe Mr T is pretty handy with computers. Didn't think of that, did you?"
So essentially, this ad is a shout-out to the old ad.
As for Mr T himself, he is mainly known for his role in the TV series "The A-Team", which was a humongous hit in the early 80s. He's done other stuff (including Rocky III), but the A-Team is what made him actually famous.
Yeah you had to grow up in the USA watching the A-team during the eighties to get this. I don't think anything has gone really wrong, it's just a funny pop-cultural reference in a game which has always been full of them.
I just have to agree with Bell on this, it seems like you're really looking for things to get all worked up and upset over.
It's clear this ad, and the related temporary in game gimmick, haven't connected to you.
But why the expectation that everything should?
If Blizzard does something you, personally, don't like, why does it make it bad?
This is a game, and games, in their essence, are meant to be escapes, amusements, light entertainments.
This ad and the in-game item, to me, cater to that spirit of fun.
It's a game. It really is. If this, and so many other things tied to the game bother you so much, maybe it is time to take a step back and make a connection with the real world.
Really, I don't mean to be rude and I know this will seem like it, but if you seek out such a deep immersion in the game that your psyche is deeply affected by something this... this silly, then perhaps you're in the game a wee bit too much.
It's still a make believe world. It's not real. It's for fun.
Staffan said it all. The ad is part of a campaign that started a few years ago. To complete the list there was also an ad of German rap stars Thomas D. and Smudo enacting a pvp-duel with their toons - a rogue and something else.
It's all about the effect of celebrities playing "your" game and enjoying it - and the toons lookong very similar to the celebrities.
As a footnote Mr T. also starred in one of the Rocky movies as the bad guy.
As a child of the 80s, I think it's funny. However, it doesn't make me want to play World of Warcraft any more or any less than I did before. For sure though, if I didn't play at all, this commercial sure wouldn't make me want to suddenly buy the game and sign up for a monthly subscription. It's a little too much of an inside joke. It would be fine if it only stayed on the official WoW site, WoW fansites and YouTube, but using it as an actual tv commercial just doesn't really make much sense to me.
I liked him from the Rocky movie, never watched A-team.
I get why some people will not like these adds. However Mr. T's first WoW add, was by far the most popular of the bunch they made, so it's no real suprise that they would try and replicate that.
However this add, has some of the same basic problems that I have with the so-called funny "the guild". You have to feel apologetic becuase you enjoy playing a computer game. It seems that even Blizzard embraces the idea that you have to be a "nerd" to play computer games - and by extension be a social inept idiot aswell. - That part bugs the hell out of me.
Also I hate when others force a costume onto me in game.
Having said that, using MR. T. is certainly not a gimmick to get the teenagers involved, but rather trying to get the 30+'s to try the game. He is big only because we (old people) remember him from the tv show. Where where you in the 80's Lar? ;)
...also, the first add was great imo!
The Rocky Movies were 70's and early 80's...well they keep going but ya, really middle age guys know all about Mr. T. He has been off TV in the USA for 20 years.
If Larisa was in Sweden in the 80s (like me) - then she would not have seen the A-team. Back then most people only had access to the two terrestrial Swedish TV channels and they did NOT like American stuff. (Don't get me started on the topic... ;-) ) So a lot of what is considered 80s pop culture is virtually unknown in Sweden unless you picked up on it in some other way (or later when cable/satellite was more available and you saw re-runs).
I vaguely know what the A-team is from seeing parts of the odd re-run since I moved to the UK, but don't really know much about any of the characters. However, the original Mr T WoW commercial really tickled my fancy with the "I am a Nightelf Mohawk" "Cut, there is no Mohawk class" dialogue. It made me laugh and so I found this follow-up ad quite amusing too.
It seems like a strange ad to make though as unless you've seen the original one it isn't particularly funny at all and says very little about WoW.
Regardless of whether you get it or not, the part that has most caught my attention is that druids can shift and when back in nelf/tauren form, the buff is still there.
Maintaining the "fun" buffs has always been impossible for me on my feral druid. That they've figure out how to do it is a HUGE thing.
As for the Mr T buff.... I just click it off.
You are definitely not the target audience though not to your age as previously mentioned. I am 25 and grew up watching reruns of the A-Team and of course the Rocky 3 movie.
What I really love about the original series of "What's your game" commercials was the wide spectrum of celebrities they got. They didn't get the current heart throb or slutty singer, they got people from our past and of all varying personalities.
I think the different types of people play true to the melting pot that is world of warcraft.
Maybe its just me but the fact that I could be playing WoW with someone who in RL has a mohawk is an awesome thought.
Awwww...Larisa! I pity the foo' who doesn't know about Mr. T!!!!
Actually, Mr. T was part of an American TV show in the 80's known as the "A Team". It was an action show about a bunch of crime fighter-esque people that went around and saved the world or some such thing, and was fairly popular. I think they made a cartoon version of it at some point as well.
Mr. T had a mohawk, wore ungodly amounts of gold jewelry, and has always talked funny :)
Really, Mr. T is more of a nostalgic figure to those who fondly remember the 80's, I think. I'm sure there are a lot of the younger playerbase going "who the F is Mr. T!?!?!". Of course, Mr. T admittedly actually plays WoW as well (fun trivia fact!) although I can't remember the class from the top of my head. This is ultimately why I think he had a part in the commercial :)
Remembering watching the A Team, and various Movies featuring Mr. T in his heydey, I find the whole thing hilarious. But I can certainly see where those that were never exposed to Mr. T would feel a bit lost.
I am a little curious on something else though: What were your feelings on the Ozzy Ozbourne advertising campaign? I guess I'm just curious if you felt different about an iconic European pop figure, although certainly popular in American culture as well. I'm sure at the very least you felt more connected?
I find the pop icon WoW commercials to be cute, nothing more, nothing less.
I don't think they would have a strong effect on whether or not people play the game, but they're a fun answer to the questions of "if this celebrity played WoW, what class would they play?"
I think another message the commercial are trying to get across is that WoW can be enjoyed by all sorts of people, not just hardcore gamers.
I think another message the commercial are trying to get across is that WoW can be enjoyed by all sorts of people, not just hardcore gamers.
Hence the tagline "What's your game?"
WoW is a big game, played by multitudes of different people, of different cultures, and different ideas. Not everything they do will be popular with everyone, you only have to look at the pre-expansion zombie invasion as a very polarizing example. If you don't like it, don't pay attention. It's a fun little thing they're doing for their 5th anniversary that will go away soon enough if you don't like it.
@Kromus & Xor: No, I agree completely! I love WoW because of the diversity and all the different aspects. The menu is impressive! I'm just a little bit wondering seeing this commercial. Does it really address a majority of the WoW players? Couldn't they find something more of their customers have in common?
@Tesh: I agree. Can't understand the choice of Ozzy either. Is it really necessary to use "famous" people, who will only be interesting to a minority of the player base?
@Anonymous: By reading those comments I've understood that it was something from the 80s. Never watched much TV during those years, when I was a teenager. I was a punk rocker and thought TV was boring and commercial...
I'm really not trying to be hard in any way. I just express my own detachment from it. I don't demand that Blizzard changes their whole advertizing strategy just to please me. It's a free world.
@Staffan: Yeah, I remember those and tbh I was't very fond of them at that point either. The only of the celebrities I could relate to was William Shatner, but even if I'm a sucker for Star Trek it hasn't got anything to do with my connection to WoW. Would have made more sense to see him promoting the coming ST!
@Dblade: nothing wrong really, but I'd really like to see some other kind of advertising as well so I can recognize the brand as I see it.
@Anonymous: come on, I'm not that worked up!!! It's just a stylish rant post, ok? Try listening to the podcast Blue Plz with Totalbiscuit and THEN you can talk about grumpiness!
I don't expect everything to please me. And it's a game, absolutely! But hey, it's my blog and I like to rant about things that I like and things that I don't like quite that much. If you don't like the way I'm writing you're absolutely free not to read it!
@Kyff: The German rap starts were completely unknown to me as well. I don't get the celebrity kind of advertising. It's just not my cup of tea I guess. I like commercials that are more artistic and talks to the intelligence of the viewer.
@Cranyoldgnome: no, it doesn't make sense to me either. But maybe I'm wrong and subscriptions will skyrocket. Time will show.
@Dw-redux: In the 80s I did anything but watch TV. I went to rock concerts, I was into science fiction and making fanzines... So I guess it's no wonder I've never ever heard about A-team until now.
@Tufva: well, if it wasn't even showed in Sweden - and I never watched TV in those days - it's quite natural I've never heard about it. I saw the original ad and that wasn't particular fun to me either. I guess humor is a difficult thing. I have humor, but not exactly that kind of humor.
@Sassafras: I'm glad on the behalf of the druids who get tired of their tree and own customs! Grats!
@What's my main Again: well, as I said - I'm not a fan of commercials building on bought celebrities. I'd rather see players in them that I can identify with somehow.
@Falling leaves and wings: as I stated above: I'm not a fan of Ozzy Ozbourne. I do like mr Shatner but that doesn't mean that I think it's a good idea to bring him into a commercial for wow. Thanks for the detailed explanation about A Team. To be honest I think it's a bit too late for me to see it now. I suspect that it would feel severely outdated.
@Ophelie: yeah, I guess that's the idea. I would rather have seen non celebrities in it though. Less of the humor I don't understand. It's probably much the styling of it I don't like.
@Bri: yeah, it's not THAT a big deal to me. But it would be nice to see some advertising that I CAN identify with at some point. I'm still waiting... I hope the commercials for Cataclysm will be better.
I'm pretty sure that the A-team has been shown in Sweden more recently though, but not exactly during prime time. Nowadays, it's the kind of fare you'd see either late at night or during the afternoon on something like Kanal 5 or TV 6.
I would have thought a gnome of all races could appreciate a goofy engineering device such as a mohawk grenade ;)
Thank you for writing this article! You said everything that I felt after experiencing this appalling and childish advertising campaign from Blizzard.
This is a "jump the shark" moment for Blizzard and WoW. The way they recklessly destroy immersion by continually appealing to pop culture is disgusting.
Every month WoW subscribers are forced to witness another gimmick in the Blizzard bag of sideshow carnival tricks.
Not only that, Blizzard's greed seems to know no bounds as they will stoop to the lowest level to attract more subscribers.
Thanks for writing the article that I wanted to write. :)
@Wolfshead: thank you for the support! Judging from the comments you and I are in a minority, but at least I'm not alone in not being able to laugh at or identify myself with MrT and his mohawk grenades.
I'm 45 and European and I rather liked the advert and Mr T. But then I've always been a fan of macho bullsh*t, Arnie's one liners in his action film still amuse me greatly.
As a former WoW guild leader though I'm not really comfortable with WoW being sold like this. I've led guilds that had immature idiots who thought that messing around with other people was the point of the game. It was horrible.
Raiding only works when people have a certain faith in it. If your game is mohawk bombing people well it's a short step to ninja looting just for the lolz and ripping off guild banks and aoeing meeting stones.
I'm sure it's very funny if you're the one doing it and it's fresh to you but it's a royal pain for people who take on the role of herding cats through raid instances.
" More subscribers to WoW = more money for development!"
That made me laugh.
The correct statement is "More subscriber to WoW = more ivory backscratchers for Bobby Kotick and the same ~8-man design team wow has had since it came out."
He was in another WoW commercial, saying that he could hack into WoW, and this is just a follow up to the last one. (Remember the batch of commercials with actors and musicians? Mr. T was one of 'em.)Blizzard tried to make a funny commercial and didn't succeed. There's no reason to get so deep about it, its just bad marketing.
I grew up in the 80s. I watch A-Team. I find this commercial sickening as a marketing ploy. And the fact that everyone seems to be buying into it makes me sicker. Everyone seems to be acting just like the marketers planned -- like predictable cattle. I know that sounds horrible, but that's what it feels like. I must emphasize AGAIN -- I actually grew up in the 80s and WATCHED Mr. T when he really was Mr. T.
EDIT: I meant to say I WATCHED the A-Team; I'm not currently watching it. :)
There are 12 million people playing WoW. Not all of them will resemble you, and their experience of the game is no less valid than yours.
Mr. T is not a 'teenager' thing. Most of his stuff was in the 80's, so most of the people who actually watch his real shows are now in their 30-40's. But, of course, he is now pretty popular with the teen's, as the New Chuck Norris.
@Ringo
Larisa plays WoW. She won't resemble all of the other players, and her experience of the game is no less valid than theirs.
Works both ways.
Mr. T did one of the commercials more than a year ago that introduced the idea of "night elf mohawk". They're just playing on that original commercial by releasing the second one. I don't know if the Mr. T commercial actually aired in the European countries, since I think they originally got actors more relevant to the EU fan base when they did their original commercial promotions a while back.
While I think that this is somewhat unrepresentative of WoW, I think that is serves a few important functions. WoW is not the kind of game that takes itself too seriously, and that's fantastic. That's part of the charm. There are some pretty odd quests in the game, and that just adds to the zany appeal that underlies the game. There are pop culture references left and right, and the use of some (arguably, of course) B-list celebrities to promote WoW seems natural to me.
The thing is, WoW was marketed to your kind of person, the hardcore fantasy gamer. Why do these adds exist? Because everyone like you and me already plays WoW, and has probably been playing it for years. If the game is to expand, it needs to draw new audiences. I don't think this is an example of neglecting the old guard in exchange for a new draw - after all, Blizz still manages to provide excellent, compelling content for veterans, and that's why we're still playing. But I don't feel left out; rather, I think that this is a move that benefits the health of Blizzard and WoW, and thus benefits me.
Hmm, i'm 21 and a Brit, and I find it funny. I also don't see how the mowhawk grenades are anything to get -that- stressed about... i found the hallowed wands fun, and the pumpkin heads even MORE fun - and i loved getting pumpkined!
My friends, guildies and I really see it as a laugh.
I really doubt that in the grand scheme of things it promotes a noobish attitude as some people are suggesting either.
Each to their own though, and I'm sure I could name a bunch of things i hate that you love - variety being the spice of life and all!
K x
Well I'm well within the target demographic age-wise but this promotion doesn't do anything for me. Maybe it's because I'm a veteran of the game and this has nothing to do with what I signed up for. Or maybe it's because I was one of those nonconformist kids who liked Hannibal's style better and never stopped finding it funny when they drugged B. A. yet again so as to get him on a plane.
That said, give me a quest involving the solving of a Rubik's Cube and I'm all over that.
I understand where you're coming from and share your feelings. I'm also irritated endlessly that Blizzard thought it was hilarious to put a "PWN" License Plate on the Motorcycles (as if those weren't bad enough).
In both instances, it feels like the game is being aimed at teenagers, which I suppose it is... but it comes at the expense of those of us who pay our own subscriptions rather than let Mom do it for us... those of us who roll our eyes every time something like this intrudes into the game.
Admittedly, WoW is very tongue-in-cheek with a lot of pop culture references and subtle winks and nudges. But leet-speak and Mr. T Grenades? The tongue has shattered the teeth, eroded the cheek and is now wagging in the breeze.
I suppose Blizz can't appeal to everyone. Personally I didn't find it that bad, despite not having seen Mr. T in too much before (then again, I have heard quite a bit from my parents, who grew up in the 70s and 80s).
I do agree with you, however, that more could be done for advertising rather than anonymous celebrity promotions. Perhaps it's aimed towards the American advertising industry, but for me at least (I live in Australia), it seems to stand out amongst other ads as being a little blatant and lame, especially to those who haven't already seen Mr. T in things or play WoW. I personally like your advertising ideas of Cranius, The Guild, or something along those lines - good fan-made content that could represent the game's community, which arguably is as large a part of WoW as the gameplay itself is.
I pity the fool who doesn't get the Mr T reference! /sarcasm Mr T was alright... He's a bit of a one-dimensional character, but good for a chuckle IMO.
If you are a Star Trek fan, you'll recognize Dwight Schultz. He played Howling Mad Murdoch in the A team, but he's probably better known as the nervous wreck, Lieutenant Reginald Barclay.
I find the Ozzy's WoW commercials much more annoying than Mr T's.
One of the videos I received as part of the Collector's Editions of TBC and WotLK have interviews with the Developers. Each Developer is very very different from what I've seen. For instance, Chris Metzen is someone I would definitely love to meet and game with. He and I share a common outlook on the game and gaming in general. There was another on the video, however, who just wanted to see players duel on the backs of gnomes. I can't identify with that at all and find it...well, dumb. But, maybe that's the point. Maybe the Developers feel that even though a viewpoint goes against the grain...maybe that keeps the game in perspective? Eh, I'm just trying to find the positive in this. /shrug
Obviously, a 40 year old European isn't likely to find the humor in Mr. T. Or Chuck Norris. Or any of the other people that Americans can both enjoy and make the butt of every joke. I honestly don't have any idea how, even being an over 40 year old European, you don't know who Mr. T is considering he was a big star 20-30 years ago.
In game, anyone that complains about the grenades, takes the game too seriously and doesn't have a clue about Blizzard's modus operandi.
But actually complaining about the advertising because you (obviously not even being the demographic it was targeted too) doesn't "get" it? Absurd.
So no, nothing "went wrong with the new marketing video for WoW." If Mr. T wasn't funny or people didn't connect with him, I wonder why, when the ORIGINAL Mr. T promoting WoW commercial came out, EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHERS were laughing about "Night Elf Mohawks."
Some people don't take the game, or it's advertising, too seriously and appreciate and laugh at the commercial. There probably is "better ways to capture and communicate the soul of WoW." However, Mr. T DOESN'T fail at doing it, miserably. Maybe he fails, for you, miserably. Maybe he even fails for all of Europe, miserably. In America, people are laughing about it.
You missed the joke. Move on.
Being the same age as the devs of this game as well as I assume most of the advertisers. This is them living out some their past. If you grew up in North America in the 80's you have seen The A Team. The Ozzy thing is the same I am sure most of the Devs use to listen to Ozzy back in the day, now not so much. There is so much 80's stuff in the game and its all for fun.
On a side note I remember like 5-6 years ago Mr.T was going through some rough times money wise and had some sort of medical problems Conan O'Brien put him on his show for a while and I would guess someone had a soft spot for Mr.T
good old mr. t.....
for those of the european persuasion, and those too young to have watched, mr.t was in an american t.v. series on nbc called 'the a-team'. the show was rather ssad.. imagine 20 people shooting 9 bajillion bullets at each other and nobody gets hit!
after seeing that show a few times, you come to realize the the dude is a parody, a joke (and a rather weak one at that, and you try to ignore him.
count yourself lucky over there in the e.u. that you never had to put up with him for all of these years!
You seem to be stuck on identifying your self with Mr. T, when that's not the idea of this ad.
The ad is a follow up to a previous ad, starting Mr. T, which was part of a series of ads showing different celebrities. That's been stated various times.
If you look at who's in the ads, they're mostly iconic figures from the childhoods of the target audience.
You said you didn't watch much tv during those times, which is why you have little to no connection with these ads. The large majority of (american) WoW players, on the otherhand either remember these people from their childhood or know of them through older siblings or parents.
The ads were never meant to be a "Mr. T is the living embodiment of WoW!" type thing. It was meant to be an amusing little ad to get a giggle or a smile out of people who know the people in the ad.
It would be like someone who didn't grow up on Nintendo saying the Mario and Zelda (among other game) references in WoW don't fit. Or any of the other pop culture references.
In short, it's meant to give a little humor to the target audience - which you are obviously not. Just like any other ad that doesn't fit your fancy - ignore it. I'm sure if you see [insert name of a product you don't like]'s ads on TV - you ignore them. Just do the same.
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