Cognition Dissemination: Splatoon’s Advertising

Nintendo is giving their best advertising efforts to Splatoon, an unsurprising occurrence considering the game is releasing later this week. It’s their first big new retail IP from an internal Nintendo Japan studio since the first Pikmin game graced Gamecube back in 2001, and they’re treating it as such. Since Wii U hardware and software sales have been lackluster at best, convincing the system’s owners to purchase it is an arduous task. But that’s far easier than the ostensibly impossible mission of attracting prospective purchasers who don’t own the system, and simply having a n bundle on shelves won’t be enough to convince them– especially since it’s Best Buy-exclusive in America.

We’ve received a significant media blitz in the last few months, involving the company presenting a Nintendo Direct dedicated to the title, a few “Global Testfires” to measure how their online play can handle conditions under stress while many play it simultaneously.

But that media blitz has also predictably consisted of similarly-themed TV commercials. They feature the game’s Inklings battling each other and painting a town in various colors, all while the quirkiest theme song ever plays in the background. I’m far from the only one who found it reminiscent of 90s Nickelodeon, as some cartoons and live-action shows from that era contained similar themes and aesthetics. Someone at Nintendo clearly recognized it tickled their fans’ nostalgic desires, and considering that’s partly what the company is all about, they’ve done their job in appealing to that audience.

Not that it’s much of a surprise to see the commercial take this tone. Many of Nintendo of America’s ads in recent memory have been very “90s,” fitting in with their “stuck in the past” standards. Predictable, sure, but like many things Nintendo, they’re old fashioned to the point that it’s (sometimes) charming and refreshing.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a good ad campaign in the least if they didn’t properly show what kind of game it is. In that sense, they do show how it’s best played with friends and others online, though all the multiplayer options won’t arrive until an August update. No commercials worth its salt would advertise features that could potentially harm its selling potential, but some seeing the ads and not doing further research (which is usually a staggering amount of people) might think they can play online with their friends on day one, like any other third-person shooter. That could be trouble for Nintendo.

That’s assuming the ads appeal to them in the first place. We’ve established that they attract the “Hey, I remember 90s Nickelodeon!” oldies like me, and attempt to appeal to children, but this begs one question: was that a good idea?

I’ve seen opinions from many “older” people (“older” being late-teens and up, for this purpose) with no nostalgia for that era who’ve seen the ads, and they found it annoying. There’s a good reason why the third commercial linked above has a “dislike” bar longer than the “like” one, and why Nintendo turned off comments. While some of these are the type to hate anything colorful and doesn’t specifically appeal to their demographic, since the internet harbors all kinds, some are Nintendo fans who still plan on purchasing the game. It’s perhaps evidence of its intended effect not working among some of us.

But the bigger question is whether it’s working among kids, those with zero nostalgia for the 90s whatsoever. The commercial is primarily airing during kid-friendly programming on channels like Cartoon Network, and assorted Disney and Nickelodeon stations, indicating how they’re the audience Nintendo really wants to target. Perhaps it could appeal to the crowd of kids who received Wii Us during Super Mario 3D World’s release period, assuming they haven’t sold or traded them in since then. It will be impossible to tell if it appeals to them unless we not only receive sales numbers, but data showing who’s playing each copy purchased. It’s a pity that’s impossible with today’s data.

Don’t be surprised if the audience who purchases this is mostly in the older crowd, primarily among Nintendo’s dedicated fanbase. This picture showing Pokémon’s real audience wasn’t made purely for the jokes; it would be hardly surprising if the twelve-year-old boy contingent thought Splatoon was too “kiddie” for them.

So here’s hoping Splatoon finds a viable enough audience for Nintendo’s expectations, because it has potential to grow as a franchise. It would also be great if Nintendo continues taking risks with new big-budget IPs, because their audience needs to expand if they want to stay in business as they are on dedicated platforms.