Creepy Lobotomy Ad for Xbox 360

I love my Xbox 360. What I do not love is the horrifying commercial I saw the other day promoting Netflix downloads through the console. This commercial is right up there with the wildly inappropriate Lamisil ad featuring an unnerving shot of a fungus monster lifting up a toe nail. The Xbox 360 spot starts off simple enough, with your average 30-something watching TV . Suddenly, she breaks into a smile, and the once harmless-looking woman now appears mentally unhinged. Am I watching The Shining? She's almost as creepy as Thing One and Thing Two.


It gets worse. Now the camera angle circles from her off-putting facial expression to the back of her head, where her brain has been carved out and replaced with a movie theater for tiny human life forms. Disgusting. What happened to the simplicity of daydream sequences a la Saved by the Bell?

Wavy pink frame alerts viewers that Zack is day-dreaming.

Don't worry, Slater. It's just your imagination.

While I don't like the Xbox 360 spot, I do watch it every time it comes on, and I did go to the Xbox website to find out more. So if the goal was to spark interest in Xbox 360/Netflix and to provoke nightmares, both missions accomplished.

--Alicia Taft, Course Developer/Jr. Copywriter