It’s All About Family – XBOX’s New Ads

The new ad for the XBOX 360 features every day moments of life interrupted by the assembly of a make shift living via a team of hot ballooning gamers. We point this ad out for the same reason we mentioned the latest Playstation spots – they’re nice, friendly, warm, family oriented. More like the Wii and less like game commercials of old (see here and here). Both brands are taking a cue and looking to recoup all those dollars folks have spent with the ever-playful and community oriented Wii. “Technology was really starting to silo people,” said Mike Harris, global strategy director at the T.A.G. unit of Microsoft ad agency McCann WorldGroup.

It could also be that the ASA’s vigilant new modus operandi has made an impact on creative.

This new UK TV campaign for XBOX, which was a multi-million pound ad spend, is being supported with advertorials, as well as a mobile tour with the XBOX team setting up makeshift living room as seen in the TV ad in and around the UK. Not to shabby McCann, but then again, the UK version of the shop is far better than its Stateside sister, so we’re not to surprised that we enjoyed the spot.

The commercial debuts just as a new study announces that there is no real link between video gaming and violence. Also worth noting is that Microsoft’s XBOX and it’s music player Zune plan on teaming up for a some sort of content sharing.