If you’ve ever attended or watched a Nintendo Press Conference, you’ll likely forgive me for suggesting that humor isn’t the strong edge of Nintendo’s PR Sword. It doesn’t need to be either, but when the company attempts to be lighthearted and funny, it often feels like a old people are telling me jokes - leaving me to pretend to laugh while trying not to get caught looking at my watch. Sorry Grandma, I love you, but you’re not on the cutting edge of comedy.

But I feel entirely different about Nintendo’s experiments with humor in advertising over the years - which they admittedly don’t often attempt. It wasn’t out of the question for me to find a few ads that stick out in my memory for the legitimately clever and hilarious effect they had on me when originally airing - causing me to consider that on those rare occasions when Nintendo hits the mark, they hit it better than the rest.


Super Smash Bros. (N64)

The most important thing about both these spots were that they grabbed my attention, of course. But in retrospect, both spots achieved that rare ability to take a normal situation and turn it askew in a way that is of course ridiculous, but doesn’t descend into the nonsensical. Sure Nintendo mascots don’t go for strolls in the park, but if they did I certainly wouldn’t have previously expected them to lay the boots to one another.

It’s a really difficult proposition to capture a sense of actual gameplay within real-world situations. With the notable exception of the original DS campaign, most live action spots don’t even come close to accomplishing what both of these spots hit upon - often distracting me from any idea of what the game is even about.


Mario Kart Double Dash (GCN)





Too Much Fun

Truth in advertising, albeit to the extreme. I’ve heard it suggested that this is the secret to great humor, taking the simple and making it complex, and vice-versa. How many of us have joked about our Nintendo addiction making us homeless, or wanting to hump a new piece of hardware - we know you have.

The first time I saw this advertisement about someone made homeless by their Nintendo addiction, I had to wait to see it a second time before I would believe it was from Nintendo. Family and friends immediately concluded that my fate was being captured within the ad.

Both these spots have since become guilty pleasures, and the rarest examples of the types of advertisements I’d hope to create myself. Admittedly there was also no way I wasn’t going to find cause to show that mouse humping a GameBoy Micro. Sony’s talking PSP squirrels have nothing on this. I never would have previously imagined that Nintendo could approve something this funny.


GameBoy Micro