AdFreak: Guitar Hero

McCann's gamers highly stimulated by Xbox

The dude's enraptured look toward the end of this U.K. spot (posted below) by McCann Erickson for the Xbox 360 is, to cop a phrase from another McCann campaign, priceless. One might say even call it orgasmic. At any rate, he's clearly enjoying himself as he strums on his Guitar Hero mini-guitar. Note also, if you will, the position of said instrument. I'm not panning this approach or the spot by any means. On the contrary, such a take on gaming is more honest and compelling than most of the effects-crazed entries in the genre. Video games today are all about immersion. This guy, if nothing else, looks pretty darn immersed. His geeky pal off to the side playing DJ Hero seems awfully happy, too. You could interpret their looks as signs of near-euphoric digital satisfaction, which surely casts the product in a glowing light with much of its target audience. Casual gamers and those who don't indulge, of course, will smirk and assume the guys are just wasting time playing with themselves.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on November 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Europe, Gianatasio, Guitar Hero, McCann Erickson, Video games, Xbox

Doritos wants all losers to play 'Guitar Hero'

AMV BBDO in London tells the sad-sack story of would-be rock star "Alan" in this amusing four-minute-plus music video for Doritos, pushing the brand's tie-in with Guitar Hero in the U.K. Alan comes out of the womb flashing the devil's horns, but it all goes downhill from there. He has the trappings of rock godness—the pants, the hair, the androgyny—but apparently not the talent. In other words, he's the perfect Guitar Hero hero. He is pretty pathetic, though, and the video is cringe-worthy in parts—even (or maybe particularly) during the supposedly redemptive concert in the living room at the end. Hopefully the lyrics, which are decent, will distract viewers from drawing too many depressing parallels between Alan and themselves.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
Playmates give Hefner a 'Guitar Hero' show
Helpless tongue scorched by spicy Doritos

Published on October 5, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under BBDO, Doritos, Europe, Guitar Hero, Nudd

Playmates give Hefner a 'Guitar Hero' show

Here's the new Guitar Hero 5 spot from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, in which 10 Playmates put on an air-guitar show for Hugh Hefner in the Playboy Mansion. "What? I like variety," Hef says at the end. Actually, the campaign could use more variety. This is the fifth spot in the Risky Business series. See the earlier ones here, with Heidi Klum, the pro athletes (A-Rod, Phelps, Bryant, Tony Hawk), the college-basketball coaches (Knight, Pitino, Williams, Krzyzewski) and the guys from Metallica. For the next spot, maybe let Pitino into the Playboy Mansion and see what happens.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Crispin Porter, Guitar Hero, Nudd, Playboy, Video games

Kurt Cobain back on stage in 'Guitar Hero 5'

Fred Astaire danced with one Dirt Devil, and before you knew it, marketing folks were reanimating corpses faster that you could say "Herbert West." Now, it's Gen X's turn to cry foul, as Activision announces that Kurt Cobain will be a playable character in Guitar Hero 5. If you watch the video below, you'll see it's really not as weird as it sounds, but you can't blame fans who feel it's an awkward fit for such an icon of anti-consumerism. Some would argue Activision long since crossed this bridge by including Jimi Hendrix in Guitar Hero, but there's a big difference between reviving an epic showman like Hendrix and trotting out a moody introvert who devoted much of his suicide note to his disinterest in performing: "The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I'm having 100% fun. Sometimes I feel as if I should have a punch-in time clock before I walk out on stage." His fears of music as a mindless job might not have been far off, since he'll now have to end every show with a performance review. UPDATE: Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, is apparently alleging breach of contract over this and plans to sue Activision.

—Posted by David Griner

Published on August 28, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Activision, Griner, Guitar Hero, Video games

Hoops coaches strip for a 'Guitar Hero' spot

Here's the new Guitar Hero commercial with college-basketball coaching legends Bob Knight, Rick Pitino, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski yukking it up with Metallica. As Guitar Hero's Risky Business ads go, this one's a distant second to the Heidi Klum spot, though Knight is pretty funny, and Pitino's drumming is amusingly wretched.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Basketball, Celebrity endorsements, Guitar Hero, Nudd, Video games

Everyday bike heroes get in Droga5's face

Droga5 really did its job with the Guitar Hero World Tour bike video, as the dorks are now crawling out of the woodwork. Not in adulation or in awe, but to challenge and then pwn Droga5 at its own game with their own hard-to-believe, straight-to-YouTube bike stunts. Could MTV/Activision ask for anything more? Maybe they can ask for their money back on the athlete and Heidi Klum GHWT vids, which now seem stale, dated, boring and misguided when it comes to reaching the kids. Via Post Advertising.

—Posted by Jeremy Greenfield

Published on November 25, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Droga5, Greenfield, Guitar Hero

Droga5 outdoes itself with 'Bike Hero' viral

Before I'd finished watching this viral video about Guitar Hero World Tour, I was already suspecting Droga5. Sure enough, the clip is a meticulous creation from the same people who brought us the evil cell phone and the Brian Morrissey Shopping Network. Some people seem disappointed that "Bike Hero" is professionally produced. But come on. It would take a small army to assemble a shot even half as complex. Still, it was probably a lot cheaper than this spot.

—Posted by David Griner

Published on November 24, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Droga5, Griner, Guitar Hero, Video games

Bizarre 'Guitar Hero' supergroup rocks out

We knew Rock Band was a hit, but apparently it was so successful that Guitar Hero, which came first, is now practically the same game. This "Risky Business" ad for GH4 features the two guitars, drum kit, and wireless mike that were formerly the sole province of Rock Band. We're curious to find out what adjustments Rock Band will make now. Hopefully, they'll involve in-game prompts that actually correspond to the songs being played. We were also surprised to find out that Michael Phelps, Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez and Tony Hawk are very close friends. Closer than we're comfortable with, really.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on October 28, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Guitar Hero, Kiefaber, Video games

Real sponsorship for simulated rock 'n' roll

Rrrraawww-twang! Jose Cuervo Black is the title sponsor of the 2008 U.S. Air Guitar Championships. Brrr-brrr-yaaa-wha-wha- whaaa! Per Brandweek: “The push comes as air guitar has emerged as a wildly successful pastime, in part because of the Guitar Hero videogames by Red Octane, which simulate playing with a guitar-shaped peripheral.” Hey, I couldn’t agree more. (Check out Air Guitar Nation if you’re not convinced.) Whaaa-whaaa-whaaa-twaaang! I’m playing the solo from “All Along the Watchtower,” can you tell? I windmill with my arms, then screw up my face and get down on my knees and, just like Hendrix, I light my guitar on fire. Of course, it’s just an air guitar, so I usually end up burning a hole in my tie-dyed pants and roasting my Chuck Taylors. Wrrrrwaa-wha-wha-wha-ooouch! Now that’s rock ’n roll.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on June 18, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Gianatasio, Guitar Hero

How a rock star sells ‘Rock Band’: poorly

Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein (shown here) writes in Slate this week about how she was apparently doomed to be a reluctant cog in the hype machine for Rock Band, an ambitious video game that took Guitar Hero to its logical four-player extreme. During a “short stint” of working at Wieden + Kennedy, she was asked to help concept marketing for the game, but the agency didn’t feel her ideas “were putting rock on a pedestal.” (You can see the eventual TV spots over here.) When the game finally came out, the PR team tracked down Brownstein again and gave her a copy to try at home. Her verdict? It’s fun, but wouldn’t it be better if teens spent all that time learning to play real instruments together as a real band? Well, what if you could do both? A friend of mine recently stumbled across the 340-page Guitar Hero Songbook, which would (theoretically) teach you to actually play all the songs you mastered in the game. Personally, I think it’ll mostly just frustrate kids into realizing why the world has so many more video gamers than it has rock stars. And maybe that’s a good thing.

—Posted by David Griner

Published on November 30, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Griner, Guitar Hero

Air guitar saves the world from asteroids

Looks like a new Guitar Hero air-guitar game is in the works for the Xbox 360, and they’ve got a new promotional video to prove it. It’s a kickass video for a game that, depending on who you ask, is either a ton of fun or an insidious attempt by Harmonix Music Systems to do to guitar playing what Karaoke Revolution did to singing—i.e., putting it in the hands of annoying nerds who tarnish it forever in the eyes of polite society. Speaking personally, I think the whole idea is cool, and judging by the proposed viral marketing campaign, I’ll be more than happy to play glorified air guitar along with this game when it comes out. Assuming they provide Sabbath.