I have commanded armies and conquered worlds

Imagine you were PlayStation and you had the insight that people use games, in part, to escape from the drudgery of everyday existence. How would you bring that to life in an ad?

This ad, called Double Life, is 23 years old, but (as an American) it is new to me. Given the production quality and general aesthetic, it looks like it could have been made last week. It was named to the Clio Hall of Fame in 2007.

The ad begins with a young man in a suit, who walks toward the camera and declares, “For years, I’ve lived a double life. In the day, I do my job, I ride the bus, roll up my sleeves with the hoi-polloi, but at night I live a life of exhilaration.”  That is followed by a motley crew of characters who describe and symbolize the feelings people experience when using the PlayStation. 

At the end it concludes with the tagline, “Do Not Underestimate the Power of PlayStation,” which was the brand’s tagline in the UK, where this ad ran.  (If you are American, you may remember the US equivalent, “Live in Your World, Play in Ours.”)

As one of the Clio jury members put it, “This incredible spot romanticized video gaming and deftly captured the essence of it – the personality transformation and the fantasy of gaming worlds. It got to the heart of what gaming is all about.”