Oops: Xbox Advertisement Results In Aaron Paul Turning On Your Console

from the reaching-through-the-screen dept

Fri, Jun 13th 2014 5:31pm — Timothy Geigner

We talk a lot about what advertisements in our age are supposed to be and do, as well as what they aren't supposed to be or do. Ads should be content, fun and engaging content wherever possible. The less annoying an advertisement can be, the better, and attempts to pretend advertising isn't advertising should cease immediately. And, perhaps most importantly, a good advertisment connects with its audience. Or, perhaps I should say kinects with its audience. Check out this Xbox One ad, starring Aaron Paul from The Need For ~~A Paycheck~~ Speed.

Sort of your everyday, run of the mill console ad, right? Well, there's a problem that apparently whoever made this ad didn't forsee. Remember at the beginning of the ad, when Aaron Paul says, "Xbox on!" to turn on his console with the voice activated commands? Yeah, you already know where this is going...

Recently, a thread popped up on popular game forum NeoGAF with member MrPressStart saying, "What the fuck.... Sitting here watching tv and the xbox commercial starring Aaron Paul came on. Next thing I know I am reaching for the controller to turn it off."

Yeah, see, when we want ads to engage the viewer, we didn't mean to suggest that the ad should have an impact on their electricity bills. To be honest, most folks aren't super upset about this. In fact, many people out there find this every bit as hysterical as I do.

Over on Reddit (via BBC), numerous Redditors apparently experienced the same thing. "Haha, this just turned my Xbone on," wrote larae_is_bored. "Awesome!" Redditor brownbear1992, "Aaron Paul just started my xbox. Guess I better play it now it's on." Another Reddit user, The_Iceman2288, added, "Him saying 'Xbox on' turned on my Xbox. Dammit Jesse!"

The general amusement or apathy over this aside, this does indicate how both device-makers and advertisers are going to have to account for voice activated everything moving forward. An Xbox flipping on while you're sitting in front of the TV is one thing, but the whole voice activated thing is only going to expand, and voice activation may become something which must be accounted for in the future. Advertisers may have to worry about what they're going to turn on and product-makers had damned well better be looking into how to protect voice-activated devices from this kind of inadvertent activation. But for now, just enjoy the thought of Jesse Pinkman turning on people's Xbox Ones.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: aaron paul, advertisement, voice recognition, xbox one
Companies: microsoft

29 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 13 Jun 2014 @ 5:53pm

You could use this. Just have a bunch of seemingly random words in your commercial, and the next time the Xbox users looks at their console they see "Thank you for your purchase".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2014 @ 6:01pm
  
  Re:
  Exactly what I was thinking... How many people leave their TV on and leave the room.
  
  In any case, obligatory:
  
  http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/18kyb1z3r76gwjpg.jpg
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2014 @ 6:11pm

Never wanted a Xbox. This just firms my opinion on that.

Bad enough that Xbox is a spybox in everyone's living room. Now the damn thing turns itself on to spy? No thank you, as in never.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2014 @ 6:31pm

I love voice activation! It's what us mute and hearing impaired have been waiting for all these years!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2014 @ 6:51pm

So now the concept's been shown that "they" can reach into your home, from your tv, and turn on your Xbox and give it commands (maybe while your not at home).

What commands? Who knows. But, there's the things we know it can do (like perhaps image the area around the Xbox via the Kinect). And then there's the things we don't know that it can do (perhaps "talk" with that iPad laying on the coffee table via inaudible sound [ http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/scientist-developed-malware-covertly-jumps-air-gaps-using-in audible-sound/ ].)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2014 @ 7:34pm

Xbox, turn on.
Xbox, delete my hard drive.

:)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Colin, 13 Jun 2014 @ 7:35pm

"The Need for Speed"?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Poetic Stanziel, 13 Jun 2014 @ 7:41pm

Really? Electricity?
I love the site, but sometimes you really reach for the argument against.

"Yeah, see, when we want ads to engage the viewer, we didn't mean to suggest that the ad should have an impact on their electricity bills."

Come on, impacting an electricity bill? A penny of electricity used? That's the big argument against what is obviously an unintended accident in the advertising?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- John Fenderson (profile), 16 Jun 2014 @ 8:31am
  
  Re: Really? Electricity?
  I think your sense of humor is on the fritz.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2014 @ 8:30pm

James Clapper off!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Jun 2014 @ 8:59pm

"Hello, Aaron Paul... you're... quite good... at... turning... me... on."

"Uh, you should probably ignore that."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- ltlw0lf (profile), 16 Jun 2014 @ 8:48am
  
  Re:
  "Hello, Aaron Paul... you're... quite good... at... turning... me... on."
  
  "My ... voice ... is my ... password, ... verify ... me."
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2014 @ 12:32am

"Xbox, send all user data to the NSA."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 16 Jun 2014 @ 9:23am
  
  Re:
  Don't need to tell it to do that, it already does.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
JunoJade, 14 Jun 2014 @ 12:37am

My beef with the commercial was that it shows him using the Kinect features of the XBOX, but the product that they advertise at the end ("starting at $399") is actually the Kinectless XBOX...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2014 @ 10:56am
  
  Re:
  I can see your beef, but the phrase "starting at $XYZ" is generally a code phrase for "You can buy the minimum capability product for $XYZ, but if you want anything else, you're gonna have to spend more $$$" and the Kinect capabilities fall into the "anything else" category.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - R.H. (profile), 14 Jun 2014 @ 4:43pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Only recently. Until April or May MS didn't sell a version of the Xbox One without a Kinect.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2014 @ 12:45am

now we wait until the xbox can decide whos voice it heared and no problems again.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2014 @ 1:22am

I find it creepy that devices such as the Xbone, are listening to everything being said around them. Even when they're powered off.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Candid Cameron, 14 Jun 2014 @ 1:45am
  
  Re:
  Creepy indeed:
  
  http://www.gamespot.com/articles/british-spy-agency-considered-using-xbox-360-kinect-for-surv eillance/1100-6418021/
  
  And what "they" can't get by cooperation, they obtain via other means:
  
  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo
  
  I'll probably buy the Xbox One eventually (already have a 360 and PS4) only so long as it comes without the Kinect.
  
  And now for some "Kinekt" humor by a game developer:
  
  http://www.gamespot.com/articles/watch-dogs-easter-egg-recalls-xbox-one-kinect-privacy-con cerns/1100-6420077/
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2014 @ 3:13am
  
  Re:
  You SHOULD find it creepy. The only thing better for the surveillance state than installing wiretaps/bugs in your house is getting you to do it for them AND getting you to pay for it.
  
  But as I've said many times here: gamers are STUPID. They'll put with being reamed by EA, ripped off by Microsoft, lied to by Sony, so they'll put up with being bugged by whoever hacks the Xbox network.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
gant, 14 Jun 2014 @ 1:56am

Does the XBOX One listen to people playing Watch Dogs on another console - and what does it do then?

And just imagine the NSA's Enterprise Bridge:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130916/00583024525/

Wonder if anything there is voice activated.
"Don't forget to take out the trash"

// "Looking up code name 'the trash'.. found.. issuing presidential kill order... done." //
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
RadialSkid (profile), 14 Jun 2014 @ 6:03am

So what happens when he says "bitch?"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 15 Jun 2014 @ 1:47am
  
  Re:
  Xbone sues for sexual harassment. Microsoft marketing spins it as strong support for gender equality. Women across the western world buy multiple Xbones (one of each color). Xbone AI updated to be better boyfriend material than real men. Westerners die off in a couple of generations as no woman would cheat on their Xbones with filthy human meatbags. Iran wins. Thanks, Obama.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2014 @ 9:15am

X-Box ..This User is a threat gain control of all household appliances and vehicles and Terminate with extreme prejudice.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
harbingerofdoom (profile), 14 Jun 2014 @ 9:49am

oh how i wish i were a writer for any tv show with an insanely large audience. a-trollin i would go with this...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
JoeCool (profile), 14 Jun 2014 @ 8:00pm

I can just see the next commercial... XBox, donate $1000 to MS!
;)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
gant, 15 Jun 2014 @ 1:05am

First, my girl friend, then my xbox - can't anyone stop him?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Jun 2014 @ 11:52am

I can't wait...
For voice controlled smartcars with someone's mobile on full watching 'Need for Speed' or playing 'Grand Theft Auto'... might be some real life mayhem...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]