PLAYSTATION 2 | Fun, Anyone? | 2004
The mountain of people showed where gaming was headed / PlayStation 2 "Mountain"
Not a single second of gameplay footage appears. And yet I've never seen an ad that feels this much like a game. In Brazil, 1,500 people built a human mountain, climbing it over and over, only to be knocked down again and again. At the end, just one line appears: "Fun, Anyone?"
The problem
PlayStation 2 held a 74% market share, built on ads that were "dark and mysterious." But that style was starting to get copied by competitors. The next target: families. TBWA decided to go after them.
The insight
The brief called for showing "competing with each other" and "friendly rivalry." What they landed on was the childhood game of "King of the Mountain." You don't need to show the game screen to get across what a game really is. In fact, not showing it might get the point across even better. Committed to that idea, they brought in Frank Budgen, director of Nike's "Tag," to lead the shoot.
The idea
They gathered 1,500 stunt performers and gymnasts in Rio de Janeiro and filmed for six days. A human mountain spreads across the whole city, with everyone climbing over each other. Reaching the top only lasts a moment before someone else knocks you down. The cycle repeats, set to an old recording of Shirley Temple singing.
What happened
It aired in the 11th month of 2003 across 30 countries. It won the Film Grand Prix at Cannes Lions and picked up more than 40 awards in total. PlayStation 2's market share rose from 74% to 77%, successfully reaching the family audience it had been aiming for.
Afterthought
This is an ad that never explains "fun" at all. It just has people climb the mountain, get knocked down, and climb again. The joy of winning, the frustration of losing, the urge to try again—it's all there in that repetition. No matter how many times I watch it, it gets me every time.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2004
