Nintendo once made a six-minute ad depicting Sega and Sony kidnappers torturing Mario
Nintendo once made a six-minute ad depicting Sega and Sony kidnappers torturing Mario
Rafi Letzter
Look at that GIF. That's from a Nintendo ad.
Video game advertising went bananas in the late 20th Century. (Much more on that here.) But this ad raises a number of questions about artistic intent, commercial goals, and the fever dreams of Nintendo executives.
Why is Mario's head in a vice? (Apparently so Sega and Sony cronies could press a Nintendo parachutist into revealing details of an upcoming "Star Fox" title.) Why does a Nintendo parachutist have this information? Why did Nintendo hire a parachutist? Do Sony and Sega cronies wear their branded t-shirts on real-life torture-based corporate espionage missions?
See the ad - or "Nintendo Power feature presentation" - for yourself: