PlayStation heart ad

This New PlayStation Ad is Really Weird, Embracing the Strange Sony Advertising of Old

Remember when Sony used to have really weird commercials? We all remember the PS3 baby (it still haunts my nightmares). Many of the old PS2 and PS3 advertisements elicited the reaction of “what the hell did that have to do with PlayStation at all?” Sure, Sony had Kevin Butler and other campaigns that had more to do with gaming, but those were always punctuated by the bizarre. The latest PlayStation ad embraces the weird of PlayStation old. Nope, it’s not a PS5 ad, or even a PS5 tease, but the PlayStation heart ad is truly a strange one. Check it out below:

The ad begins with a group of soldiers looking down into a sinister-looking pit. A dog barks wildly but despite the creature’s warnings, the team of soldiers rappels down into the pit. There are a few scenes of them working their way through equally sinister looking tunnels. They are looking for something, but something’s not right. So far, still nothing PlayStation-related. About 50 seconds in, they come to a big metal door and begin prying it open with an ax, which is exactly what I’d do in an ominous dark tunnel that I seem terrified to be in.

They enter the room to a series of racks holding… something. Their flashlights wash over the items held in traction, briefly giving a glimpse. Are those…? Yes, hundreds of human hearts are strung up in these bizarre racks, blue liquid flowing from tubes to and from them. The soldiers begin to panic. The hearts begin to beat. The shot cuts to a bunch of PS4 Pros mounted above the hearts, the blue tubes hooked up to them. We’re about 1:20 in at this point.

The PlayStation 4s are powering the hearts, or the hearts are powering the PS4s. It’s not exactly clear. Maybe it’s both? Symbiosis. The soldiers are still panicking. The hearts beat faster. Lights flicker on, cascading down the room to show the hundreds of heart/PS4 racks. The shot cuts to one of the beating hearts as the PlayStation symbols appear as blue veins on its surface. “Feel the Power of PlayStation” flashes across the screen with the PlayStation logo. No one plays any games.

Yes, this is an actual PlayStation ad on the PlayStation YouTube.

While it’s not exactly clear what prompted this strange PlayStation ad, the description on the YouTube video says “Feel more than love this Valentine’s.” A link takes viewers to the PS4 Pro page on PlayStation’s website. It seems a bit strange for Sony to start up a new PlayStation ad campaign centered on the PS4 Pro as players eagerly wait for a PS5 reveal. Perhaps Sony had a few extra dollars in the marketing budget after skipping two E3s and stopping PSX after 2017. Whatever its purpose, the PS4 heart farm shows that Sony never lost its weird side. It’s just been dormant for a few years.

If this ad somehow got you hankering to buy a PS4 Pro, you can grab one for just $320 on Amazon right now.

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