The problem with old school video game advertising is that it often tries to shock you with disgusting images. In past episodes of Commercial Break we've criticized game advertising for showing people throwing up, trying to shock us with snot, people bleeding, and enough human excrement to kill a small panda. But in this 40th episode of Commercial Break we look at something that is gross without having anything to do with bodily fluids. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you one of the most disturbing video game advertisements of all time. I give you: SWIV 3D Quad Assault. I don't care how many more episodes of this show we do; I have a hunch we're never going to find a commercial as disturbing as what we're looking at today.

Let's start off this review with a warning: If you're reading this article while eating please do not click on the link to make the picture larger. It's bad enough when it's small, but the sight of larger image may be too much for some people to handle. I'm the kind of guy who doesn't mind watching disgusting horror movies and pictures from crime scenes, but every time I flipped past this commercial my stomach turned and I had to run for the bathroom. Not only is it a disgusting image to have to look at, but the thought of what it's showing me has haunted me for many sleepless nights.

What's sad about this commercial is that there is somebody out there that thought this would make for a good commercial. What's more, it's probably not just one guy who okayed the concept. For this leave the company and make its way to the magazines means that an entire group of people thought that this would be an effective advertisement. It's not. I can't imagine anybody looking at this commercial and saying to themselves, "Gee, I really need to buy this game because I really like the idea of my hand being sewn to the game control." Had this been a cute animated picture I'm sure we wouldn't be having this conversation, but this feels more like the kind of thing you would see in the next Saw movie. I never thought I'd say this, but after looking at this advertisement I'm ready for something as innocent as a silly commercial with some vomit.

FROM: Tim Gunn's Guide to Bad Advertising