Xbox: advert-body-2 by Ayzenberg Group

Xbox goes to every clichéd extreme in a new social ad to promote its on-demand Game Pass service.

The hero spot starts with what looks like a depression medication ad, with a girl looking forlornly out the window. The female voice over asks if you often “find yourself stressed or tired? Does your life seem like a series of mediocre stock videos?” The action turns to a man skipping stones and a woman gazing into the camera, like so many stock videos.

The voice over offers an answer as the music turns more upbeat and a doctor holds a neon Xbox Game Pass sign as if it were medication. The voice over suggests that the service will inject some variety into your life. Then things take a sharp left turn to get in-your-face loud, with a man’s voice over yelling that the service will inject tons of games “right into your soul” as images of a lederhosen-clad yoga man appears and is surrounded by explosions and images of games. The male VO then urges you to fight a bear (on one of the game platforms), and to avoid dying and harvest corn.

Then a kid in a Santa hat and martial arts robe karate chops words in the air, like “bored,” “stressed” and “expensive monthly prices.” Of course, a “but wait, there’s more” comes in with other assorted crazed images and stock photos.