What are the odds! One minute, someone pokes fun at Wii advertising (and the Wii itself), the next minute, said advertising goes and wins a prestigious international advertising award. Ad agency Leo Burnett, who were behind Nintendo's "Wii Would Like To Play" campaign, picked up the top prize at the 40th Annual Effie Awards, held in NYC on Wednesday. In explaining away the decision, the Effie's organisers said:
The 'Wii Would Like to Play' campaign chose not to embrace an obvious strategy, namely fawning over the prized teenage male gamer. Instead, Wii targeted his mom, dad and grandmother. While the competition catered to a narrow audience, Wii invited everyone to play. As a result, the Wii has been sold out nationwide since the launch and ignited a cultural phenomenon in how people experience video games.
They can thank targeting all they want, I'm sticking to my theory that it was commercial's music that got inside your head more than those two Japanese blokes turning up on your doorstep.
'Wii Would Like to Play' Wins Grand Effie Marketing Award [GameDaily.biz]