Luigi Ruffolo's Feed

I think this says more about yourself, suggests you were not exposed to these adverts than it does about them being weird. It was standard practice to show new systems as being "good for the family" in some aspect or another... Manufacturers expected there would be a big market share because of games played by the kids but the marketing had to appeal to the parents that would buy the system. Early "pester power" advertising: kids continuously pestering their parents with "I want one".

Sadly I'm old enough, so I've been exposed to this stuff. What I missed at the time, I have recovered over the years due to my interest in these vintage things. This advertising is "weird" not because it expresses the sustainable and very understandable concept "the children were so happy to play videogames and receive them as gifts" or "manufacturers wanted to sell videogames to the kids so they had to convince their parents" but because of the "awkward" way in which this concept is actually represented.

A feature of many ads of the period is the family gathered around the videogame. Usually, nobody watches the TV or the monitor while playing, lol. Family members look at each other while they're playing, or, even better, they stare at "undefined points" or at imaginary things giving a surreal effect. The reason probably lies in the fact that advertisers wanted to reject the accusations that demonized the medium, describing it as something alienating, something that hindered socialization and as a menace to healthy family life. The outcome, however, is undoubtedly clumsy, even more so in retrospect.

Besides, there are a whole series of details, typical of these funny advertisements, such as home computers and consoles with "wireless" connections while TVs and monitors are showing games or software running, videogames played with the wrong controllers (I guess this advertisement could fall into the genre), questionable clothing and hairstyles, etc.

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A couple of creep-ass looking kids...LOL

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yeah its "weird" in that it wouldnt be done today, and "weird" if it was a photo of reality, however it was completley normal for the time to advertise this way. it was normal to be weird i suppose could be said

what always got me is how it would be obvious the controllers werent plugged in, system not on, no game in, or game inserted in such a way it wouldnt work. its not quite as bad in this photo but it appears even here the controllers are not plugged in.

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More disgusting than awkward but... WTF?!!!!!

I mean come on... the 'doctors' aren't even wearing masks!

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To @Snowflake 's point: Such advertising was commonplace in the US as families gathered around the living room television (when those were first introduced). This was an easier progression for ad agencies.

If you think Texas Instruments looks bad in the ad Sean posted, then imagine Jell-O.

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