Doom Eternal TV Spot Trailer

WTF?
 

I think we've hit the first bum note in the Doom Eternal marketing campaign. Who are they trying to appeal to with this nonsense?

46 minutes ago, NoXion said:

Who are they trying to appeal to with this nonsense? 

The people who don't play video games much probably.

Meh, I liked it.

14 minutes ago, Doom64hunter said:

Alright, that's it, game is ruined, everyone go home.

Don't get me wrong, I think the marketing for Doom Eternal has been generally on the ball, judging from everything else that I've seen. That's what makes the above so jarring. How is it supposed to stand out and generate interest when it's so generic and tells us nothing about what the game is like?

This video was originally uploaded by bethesda right?  

Yeah that makes sense...

I don't like it either. Maybe it's aimed at a younger audience, who knows...

Remember folks: it's meant to be on TV. TV does not like heavy metal.

Doesn't mean it doesn't feel wrong, but at least it's a wrongdoing that makes sense.

5 hours ago, Doom64hunter said:

Alright, that's it, game is ruined, everyone go home.

Boomers: "Bois we did it, Doom Eternal is no more" 

That music was trash.  What were they thinking?  I mean you can cast a wider net with music choices but this is just pure tweenie rap crap.

I don't see the problem, It was obviously just created for mass appeal by marketing. They probably figured using a hip-hop song would give off some of Doom's edgy vibes, while also being more hip and inviting than using Meshuggah or something.

The live action 2016 trailer used some pretty heavy (for TV) music, why couldn't this do the same?
I really hope we get something similar to that trailer closer to release, because especially for a game they're more confident in, this lacking advertising is really embarrassing.

Never heard the song before, but it sounds like it may be going more for a rock rap thing? Either way, it...really does not fit. Heck, New Noise was a bit too scream-O, but at least the instrumentation in that was heavy enough to go with the trailer. 

Kind of hoping for another live-action trailer too.

Just replace it with Andrew Hulshult's Doom soundtrack and it sounds just fine

13 hours ago, NoXion said:

 

 

I think we've hit the first bum note in the Doom Eternal marketing campaign. Who are they trying to appeal to with this nonsense?

MK fans I guess, cuz they use shitrap for last few games as marketing tool.

As someone who works (tangentially) in TV advertising, this has likely been carefully tested against the target audience (non-gamers who would have totally missed the marketing splurge over the last month) and gotten a better reaction than one with heavy metal.

TV advertising is expensive, companies like Bethesda don't just randomly pick something and chuck it out.  This would have been A/B tested to death, run through go/no-go scenarios, focus-group tested and ultimately deemed worthy of paying the extortionate amount of money for airing.  

If it leaves us cold, that's totally irrelevant, we're not the target audience.  This is specifically geared towards a totally different segment.

The editing is perfectly fine. I don't even mind rap, I just wish they'd picked something good.

As was stated here, yeah, gotta have that mass appeal for the people who've been out of the loop.

24 minutes ago, Bauul said:

As someone who works (tangentially) in TV advertising, this has likely been carefully tested against the target audience (non-gamers who would have totally missed the marketing splurge over the last month) and gotten a better reaction than one with heavy metal.

 

TV advertising is expensive, companies like Bethesda don't just randomly pick something and chuck it out.  This would have been A/B tested to death, run through go/no-go scenarios, focus-group tested and ultimately deemed worthy of paying the extortionate amount of money for airing.  

 

If it leaves us cold, that's totally irrelevant, we're not the target audience.  This is specifically geared towards a totally different segment.

Yeah,  I guess that's fair. I mean, I don't even watch TV much at all, so it's hardly like this ad does anything for me that the previous things haven't already covered well. It's just....really out of left field is all. 

Glad to see how many dislikes under this shit.

4 hours ago, Novaseer said:

Remember folks: it's meant to be on TV. TV does not like heavy metal.

Doesn't mean it doesn't feel wrong, but at least it's a wrongdoing that makes sense.

And yet that didn’t stop Activision from using Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” to promote MW2019 even in TV ads (apparently it’s a remixed version, but still).

EDIT: Yeah, this definitely seems like something I’d expect to see during commercial breaks for sporting events (basketball, football, MMA, etc.). 
 

EDIT 2: Honestly, it’s not even the music choice that’s off here. It’s the very distinct choice to use generic sound effects (like with Generic Grunting Guy Sound #17 that plays when the Slayer grabs that Hell Priest) as well as the whole “THINGS LIKE POWER AND COURAGE ARE ETERNAL, AND SO ARE YOU”. 
 

…yeah, nothing about this ad is particularly Doomy aside from the gameplay footage.

This Ad is not for us. Releasing gameplay footage and sharing content is our marketing. This is for those younglings, the next Doom generation who will log in here and take an interest of old Doom, nearly bragging about being young but liking old things.

Bless them.

I feel like it'll alienate the audience for the ad because of how unfitting the song is.

But hey, anything that grows interest of Doom for others, whether or not they'll even stay and learn more about Doom.

Anyone who is familiar with games media should know TV spots are designed to appeal to casual audiences. All the kids like the rap music in the eyes of TV network executives. 

1 hour ago, Bauul said:

As someone who works (tangentially) in TV advertising, this has likely been carefully tested against the target audience (non-gamers who would have totally missed the marketing splurge over the last month) and gotten a better reaction than one with heavy metal.

 

TV advertising is expensive, companies like Bethesda don't just randomly pick something and chuck it out.  This would have been A/B tested to death, run through go/no-go scenarios, focus-group tested and ultimately deemed worthy of paying the extortionate amount of money for airing.  

 

If it leaves us cold, that's totally irrelevant, we're not the target audience.  This is specifically geared towards a totally different segment.

I know they're not selecting their target audience by just throwing darts at a collection of photos on the wall. But I can't find any information about what channels it will be shown on - or is it a purely digital affair? In which case it will stand out like a sore but well-scrubbed thumb in amongst the grinding metal and rending flesh that is the rest of the marketing buzz online.

people are freaking out about music in a trailer? lol who cares?

At the end rap man sounds like he's saying "Gayyy!"
is this symbolism?

Like who cares about some tv commercial, let's just be happy the game doesn't have that kinda ost xD

By definition, the audience for this commercial are people who weren't already on board for Doom Eternal, so whatever.

2 hours ago, Bauul said:

gotten a better reaction than one with heavy metal

That's a problem when the game in question is supposed to be metal as fuck. It's like trying to sell a metal album with a rap single released first.

2 hours ago, Chezza said:

the next Doom generation who will log in here and take an interest of old Doom

Sure, and immediately complain about it lacking gore or some nonsense and use Brutal Doom. Not that it matters what I say. It saddens me how many people these days don't respect the classic formula.

1 hour ago, Skootroot said:

people are freaking out about music in a trailer? lol who cares?

100%
smh, people have nothing better to complain about these days. Get a grip

1 hour ago, NoXion said:

I know they're not selecting their target audience by just throwing darts at a collection of photos on the wall. But I can't find any information about what channels it will be shown on - or is it a purely digital affair? In which case it will stand out like a sore but well-scrubbed thumb in amongst the grinding metal and rending flesh that is the rest of the marketing buzz online.

What channels it'll be shown on is usually industry knowledge.   There are companies that compile this kind of information for a cost (such as mine).  It won't be a purely digital affair, it's the wrong length and format for that, plus it's listed as such on the video.  I do slightly wonder why they even put it up on YouTube, unless they are planning on using it as a pre-roll ad for other videos.

It's also interesting how they've decided to condense the selling-point down to essentially "it's a power trip".  They've clearly decided that the nuances of the story and gameplay wouldn't land with a TV audience (which is usually the case with most TV gaming commercials) and are going for a simple message - if you want to feel powerful, play this game.  To the average punter, rap music sells that message better than metal does, especially on TV.  While it's true it stands out weirdly against the rest of the digital marketing, if you tried to get away with randomly having BFG Division pop up in-between episodes of CSI it's likely going to feel too jarring for the average person to relate to.

4 minutes ago, Nevander said:

That's a problem when the game in question is supposed to be metal as fuck. It's like trying to sell a metal album with a rap single released first.

Not really.  The point of advertising a metal album is to sell the music.  The point of advertising Doom isn't to sell the OST.  It's to get people intrigued about the game.  No-one who sees the ad will likely even remember what the music was - they'll just remember how to made them feel.  It's not like people will see the ad, pick up the game on March 20th and go "what the hell, I expected rap music!".  The music choice for the ad is purely a mood setter.

Now, personally speaking, I wouldn't have gone down this route.  While I disagree with their choices on an artistic level, I can absolutely see why they went this way.