Opinion
Meta’s Quest 2 Tremendous Bowl advert takes a retired animatronic canine into the metaverse
Meta has debuted its Quest 2 Tremendous Bowl advert forward of the massive recreation, and it’s laborious to get a grasp on how precisely it’s supposed to advertise the metaverse (by way of Wall Road Journal). It evokes a wierd mixture of nostalgia — and the slight worry — related to a childhood spent round unsettling animatronics, all whereas concurrently giving off 5 Nights at Freddy’s and Black Mirror vibes.
The business opens in a Chuck E. Cheese-esque setting — so cleverly referred to as Questy’s — with a fuzzy animatronic canine, a pink six-armed creature, and two penguins performing Easy Thoughts’s “Don’t You (Neglect About Me)” on stage on the arcade. Quickly after, a shifting crew drags the lifeless our bodies of the animatronic band out of the constructing as the placement shuts down for good.
The canine (which falls instantly on the road between cute and creepy) winds up staring out the window at a pawn store, sans the remainder of its animatronic crew, and takes on totally different roles because it’s handed round amongst homeowners. After a quick look as a mini-golf course ornament, it’s seen getting flung out of the again of a pickup truck, after which laying helplessly within a trash compactor — till it’s miraculously pulled out simply because the machine begins closing in on its head.
The identical lady who pulled the canine out of the trash compactor places the animatronic on show at an area heart, fixing it in a stationary pose pointing in the direction of the cafeteria. A younger man attempting out the middle’s VR exhibit takes off his Quest 2 headset and in some way will get the thought to strap it on the animatronic canine.
Properly, right here’s the place it will get Black Mirror-y — the canine will get transported into Meta’s digital actuality, the place he meets up together with his previous band members and is ready to carry out as soon as once more, a theme you may keep in mind from the “San Junipero” episode, which contains a digital world the place the aged and consciousnesses of useless folks thrive.
Within the second-to-last scene, “Don’t You (Neglect About Me)” resumes enjoying, and the advert reveals all 4 buddies — every at new areas — fortunately dancing with Quest 2 headsets on, because the phrases “Previous buddies. New enjoyable,” pop up on the display. It ends with the animatronic canine, nonetheless outfitted with Quest 2, howling within the now-closed house heart.
Am I presupposed to really feel comfortable on the finish of that business? The truth that the animatronic canine is prone to get his headset ripped off as quickly because the house heart opens has left me feeling empty inside — or perhaps I’m simply studying an excessive amount of into it. This can be the fact that Meta needs to rebuild, however, if something, it’s that miserable realization this advert attracts consideration to much more.
