Do you seriously think that ad is directed towards parents?

This is so darn pathetic.

are these actual commercials?

This has to be a joke - not even Microsoft is this harebrained/unhip.

Man, these make gay people look straight.

:\

wow

I'll take the creepy baby commercial over these any day.

o_o.

*Blink*

o_o.

What the fuck did I just watch?

SIKE OUT OH SHIT!

Also that hot blonde can "do the worm" all she wants! Don't you tell her she shouldn't.

i actually thought they were quite funny, and i seriously doubt they are really aimed at parents. They seem in a similar vain to the xbox 360 setup video thats come on the newer xboxs.

I used to be young and hip. Now I am in a profession dominated by conservatism. Sigh...

Anyways, sometimes I feel like the announcer guy.

Man. That girl--in the first video anyways--is extremely hot to me for some reason.

These commercials are stupid, but I actually enjoy most 360 commercials.

Compare the Jump In commercials to the Play B3yond commercials and Wii commercials.

MS and Nintendo got their advertising right this gen, Sony has at least gotten rid of their crying babies and moved onto more interesting commercials.

you can see those dance moves on every single Rap video ever made.

OMG epic fail.

DAMN, i need to buy myself a 360 quick if i want to be hip, cool and have some street cred

@Atheist Jew:
she can do the worm as long as it's on top of me

yeah holmes, but can you watch that carpet outside?

Reminds me of the Battlefield Heroes trailer from EA. Nothing worse than a massive corporate monstosity trying to pretend it has humour/heart. Except AIDS maybe.

Still slightly better than All I Want for Christmas is a PSP. But only slightly.

Go to the website at the end of the videos: www.parentalstreetcred.com

It's even more embarrassing.

@Afore Notation: Lab Coat (Implying Intelligence/Success) + Hotness + Sexy Dancing = Win.

@cubed2D: After looking at the actual website these originated on, it does actually seem like there are aimed at parents, seeing as its a kind of parent education site for xbox and on line communication. Pretty good site at that, but possibly to complex for an average parent? who am i to say

chef says you have yell and smack the kinds, south park episode. I don't need a freaking xbox for that solution.

Aside from the first commercial, I'm not sure how these are advertising Xbox 360.

Worst.commercials.ever

Good lord. Whoa created this? I am in marketing and even I figure out who this is aimed at. It certainly won't be aimed at teen gamers because why would Microsoft be promoting that their parents, the buyers of games, are lame? I would suspect it is aimed at the parents just for that reason: they are the buyers of games, and of systems. However, these definitely miss the mark when trying to appeal to an older demographic. SHITTY.

Wow, I feel ashamed of Microsoft right now after watching those again. Those were just so damn poor. Parental Street Cred?? The hand sign? Wow Microsoft, you're FAR OUT!

I wasn't impressed, but I wouldn't say they have the target audience wrong. What kind of parents do you think these are aimed at?

I think when a lot of people here think "parents" they think baby boomers, but it's probably aimed more at gen x and y. I'm a bit older than the NES and I could have had kids as an adult any time this decade.

Is it bad that I actually liked the handshake one? I find the rest are horrendous, though. If parents learn anything from these videos, learn the indispensable bit of wisdom from the first one: Buy your kids a game system and they'll love you.

@Aethyr:

Have you seen Bill Gates? :D

It's hard to watch, yet so funny because of how lame it looks. Hey at least they're TRYING.

HAHAHA, are you kidding? This is an EXCELLENT ad! I seriously sat here laughing out loud. You have got to be Amish or something to not realize this is directed to teens and young adults. Props the the M$ for keeping up the hilarious marketing.

I still like the "bang" commercial, even tho its banned :)

Luckily this kinda crap doesn't bother me. I enjoy games. Screw everyones marketing.

Eh, I didn't think they were that bad. Remember, today's parents are kinda self-deprecating about their entire lack of knowledge of "youth culture," so things like this really do fit. They're obviously not serious about it.

I don't understand the message that they are trying to convey in the first video.
Video games don't treat attention disorders. In fact studies show that TV and video games aggravate ADD and ADHD.
Studies also show that the rising percentage of children with attention problems is directly correlated with the increase of parents who rely on TV and games to keep their children occupied.
Why the hell would they recommend them to alleviate to problem?

That was incredibly awkward, yet also funny.

And the hot chick is allowed to do the worm. The hot chick is allowed to do anything. Even me! =D

These commercials are funny as hell, its exactly what commercials are for imo.(im not a parent nor a anywhere near a child for the record.) Sure, they have no attachment really to xbox 360, or games in general really, but neither do a lot of the great beer commercials out there. Sure as hell beats out all the competitor commercials ive seen where all they do is show gameplay and tell you how great they are, hell, I Cant even remember any of those specifically. These ill remember for ages, like the blast processessing ones back in the day.(among others)

I think you're missing the point entirely, Luke.

Is that Bizmarkee?

Why the FUCK would you put beatboxing over the "sixties informational theme?" You could stop the theme to do the beatboxing, but who the hell would do BOTH at the same time?

But yeah. Saying that your kid has ADD and that the solution is to stick them in front of video games is horrible. I mean... it worked well enough for me, but I have less faith in society.

I would like to do experiments in her lab.

I just thought that that needed to be said, and since no one else stepped up to it I would take on the job.

That being said, the people who need the education offered by the site would be offended by this. They won't seek it out, and upon seeing this mess will actively avoid it. Just like the Imagine games they're marketing to the wrong group, in that the target audience are those who will not use the product.

Oh dear, clearly I have no street cred at all. I love the music, it's so cheesy. Like the elevator music in Mass Effect. And I may have used some of those dance moves in a public forum before. Funny ads, but bemusing. Still, the idea of my father with a skateboard is hilarious.

No Comment...

The hot chick in a lab coat was dancing rather provocatively. It made me buy my imaginary foster child, J-Allard, an XBOX 360. I received parental street kid, now the kid wants games, accessories, a paid online subscription and three red lights on the front of the XBOX 360. Now the thing was sent back for repairs three weeks ago and I've yet received to back for my imaginary foster child. Microsoft, have I receive my parental street cred yet?

@ImBigBob:

I sincerely hope that he doesn't really think this is targeted to parents. If not, well there isn't much to do.

LOL. I have to admit it was so self deprecatingly sad I had to laugh. YOU JUST GOT SERVED HOME SKILLETS !

i like the 360 an all but ill trade it in for the blonde.....

@RuneX: I'd find it funny, if I didn't know that it was made with all the sincerity of the T-1000 pretending to be John Connor's adoptive mom telling him to come home because she's worried about him.

I think a whole lot of you are missing the "irony" gene.

@Snuffbox: Well who else can it be directed at? If its ad kids/adolescents, i don't think telling them they have ADD is the best course of action versus something like creating brand value that makes people want to buy it.

And yeah, as a visual communications student, the ad stinks, you don't mix beat box and a coloured 60s esque infommercial together. Nuh-uh. As a mac user and xbox 360 owner, i can very clearly see which company has better taste...

I find myself at odds with many of the other people on this site once again. I actually enjoyed the ads. I would classify them within an intentionally self-deprecating genre, the kind of commercial that patronizes its audience in the most gentle of ways. It panters to the section of its potential audience which is well aware of the marketing tactics and practices behind the commercials targeting it. A sort of "wave" that recognizes that there's no way around the reality that marketing is taking place.

It's an overly intricate way of saying "hey look, we're targeting you", while being intentionally sardonic. I liked it. The kotaku response seems...like a bit too much? Overly negative...Irony is a powerful tool.

that's just sad.

oh these ads are funny, they are just like the xbox setup video in new xboxs.

Those that are saying these suck obviously haven't seen "alliwantforchristmasisapsp" and the "play beyond" commercials.

I think we're taking ourselves too seriously if you think these ads are for real. Maybe take a chill pill.... OOOOOooo, you got served! *note sarcasm*

All that needs to be said:

oh wow....when you click the xbox 360 part, then turn off the lights and goto locations you head to a map of canada....

oh shit...yeah this is all aimed at parents.

Goto the website and check the information.

I think that that blonde dancing is more entertaining than an Xbox 360. And she's less likely to red ring.

What I think is hilarious is how there's a disconnect between the "kids" who think 360 is the shit and cool and those of us who have grown up with/gone through middle age with Microsoft and all their shady business and bullshit ads for over 20 years.

Yes these are real and yes, this is the real Microsoft. Now you know why people over the age of 20 hate them and don't blindly follow them because they came out with Halo.

P.S: I'm drunk, and it's beautiful, Lillian.

@mrplow8:
Ps3 has no games.

Jerk.

@AverageJoes:
And why we hate Sony for their shady business and bullshit ads. Sony is just as shitty a company as Microsoft.

I'm not drunk and I hate both companies equally.