Sony Takes on Microsoft, While Doritos Takes No. 1, Again

by Michael Learmonth

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — It’s hand-to-hand combat among gaming consoles on the viral chart. Microsoft’s Project Natal spot for Xbox has spent an incredible 39 weeks in the top 10 over the past year, and this week comes in at No. 9, but now Sony is taking a big swing at Redmond with an ad for PlayStation’s “Move” controller set to debut next fall.

The spot, produced by Deutsch, stars Kevin Butler, Playstation “VP of realistic movements,” and pokes fun at Microsoft’s approach: “C’mon, who wants to pretend their hand is a gun? What is this, third grade?” The video, part of a broader Playstation campaign, was good for nearly a million views last week. If it has anything like the staying power of Xbox’s Project Natal, we’ll be seeing a lot more of it.

While a good console war is fun, Doritos and agency BBDO/Proximity is the big winner this week, and they’ve cracked the code for getting pass-around views on the web. The latest video is a promo for its “Viralocity” campaign contest targeted at the Canadian market. The rules are simple: name a new flavor; make a video; make it go viral; and win $250,000.

Clearly it’s struck a nerve; the promo has been posted by users in more than 1,000 locations on the web, which helped it reach more than 2.3 million views.

A couple other new additions to the chart this week, including a spoof, “Spring Break It Down,” from Muscle Milk, similar to their “Sexy Pilgrim” campaign last fall. Also, Capital One landed on the chart for a March Madness tie-in with “Ivan Brothers,” a first for a financial services company.

Originally posted on Ad Age