Sony Ericsson ad for Xperia Play creeps you out with severed thumbs

By Adam Rosenberg March 15, 2011

Someone in Sony’s marketing department isn’t right in the head. Seriously. Is there any company on the planet with more disturbing ad campaigns than the ones the tech developer dishes out? Even the PlayStation 3 character Kevin Butler seems a little… off, right? Not that it’s a bad thing. Sony products continue to be enormously successful. Probably because buying them is the only way to make the nightmares stop, but still… success.

Which means that, based on past trends, Sony Ericsson’s upcoming Xperia Play, what many call the “PlayStation Phone,” is going to be hugely successful thanks to this new ad. Watch it first, then we’ll talk:

So this poor guy has a fun night out, takes a lovely lady home and… wakes up with no thumbs. That’s a rough way to start the day. The missing digits find their way to the blunt-ended arms of an Android robot. With the message apparently being that Google’s Android does a brisk trade in organ theft. No– it’s that Android is “ready to play.” With someone else’s thumbs. Notably, there is no sign of the Xperia Play anywhere in the ad until the very end.

Remarkably, this is hardly the most disturbing example of a Sony ad campaign messing with your mind. Perhaps you remember this little chestnut?

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Or this one?

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Or this?

Or the mother of all creepfests, the PS3 baby doll ad?

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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