Xbox put out a new ad for its broader ecosystem, and the company enlisted directors David Fincher and Romain Chassaing to create it. It's about Xboxes, escaping the mundanity of a humdrum life, and also, rat people.
The Xbox "Wake Up" Brand Trailer sits at a one minute, 23 second run-time. In it, a rat-person wakes up in their bed and goes about their day; working out, commuting, clocking in and out at work. All the while, they see humans occasionally off to the side, using a device or screen.
As it turns out, those are all devices playing Xbox in some way. As the trailer notes, you can play Xbox on your console, or on other hardware, or whatever could wind up being an Xbox.
It's bizarre, but certainly memorable, and a bit more entertaining than the usual console ad. Though, that may not be surprising coming from this directorial duo. David Fincher has garnered acclaim for his work on the likes of Fight Club, Se7en, Gone Girl, and The Social Network. French director Romain Chassaing has also put together some interesting visuals in music videos for "I Own You" by Wax Tailors and "Fade Away" by Vitalic.
The reactions so far? Well, they're surprisingly on-board with the rat people.
"Yesss more weird ads please," one YouTube comment said. "This gave me 2000’s vibes."
Many cite the older, stranger ads of past consoles. Honestly, I'm right there with them. Console and platform ads can use a little bit of the bizarre to spice things up. Even if you're just promoting the cloud streaming capabilities or the general ecosystem, at least it's going to stick in your mind a bit more than the usual stuff.
Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.
