Playstation

The advert: A woman ventures from her bed into the lounge of her flat, still wearing the clothes from the night before. She is ashen faced and her eyes are hollow. The grey lighting tells us she's feeling the full effects of a night of horrible excess.

She surveys the room, shame and pain restricting her to using only one eye. Before her the aftermath of a particularly destructive party - scenes maybe not shown in an advert since the days of the Yellow Pages. Chairs lie upturned and snacks are strewn across the beer-sodden carpet.

Then the flashbacks start.

She's dancing on the table. She's screaming down a karaoke mike. She's gyrating in front of her friends who look on shocked and embarrassed. She grabs her head, but she cannot stop the broken memories of her behaviour from the night before.

At this point I'm thinking this must be another advert from the Frank campaign - the latest anti-drug series of adverts (Their website has an interesting game where you give drugs to a teenager). Behold youngster, see the danger of drugs and excess alcohol.

But wait, it's a Playstation advert.

I attended a party on Saturday that involved a similar (if slightly tamer) use of the Playstation - I think that one of the games from the advert was used where tunes had to be guessed. And let me tell you, it was rubbish. It was like playing guess the ringtone. (Ok, I lost, but that's not the point).

Playing the thing sober must be pretty damn dull - and maybe Playstation realise this. They aren't going to lie to us the consumer, they're going to tell it like it is. The only way you're going to wring any enjoyment from these overpriced pieces of plastic is by supplementing it with a considerable amount of alcohol. It's basically a serving suggestion.

Category:Advert