London: Sony is launching a marketing campaign using a "fake" 3D TV ad in which all the images are blurred as part of a push to convince consumers to trade up to 3D sets.
The campaign, which will run across Europe and was by the ad agency Anomaly, features a bizarre montage that includes the footballer Kaka, a sports car doing a burnout, an exploding goalmouth and a strongman tensing his muscles.
It comes complete with a warning that your television is not malfunctioning.
All of the images are seen in double, as if the ad were in 3D. A 3D version has also been shot. "Do not adjust your set," runs a bold strapline a few seconds in. The pay-off line is: "Maybe it's time to get a 3D TV."
The campaign, which breaks in the UK on June 11, the day of the World Cup's opening match, between South Africa and Mexico, and also the day after Sony 3D TVs will first go on sale.
"Unless you give viewers a bit of a jolt, a wake up, if you can't make a serious impact then it is just another bit of fancy TV wallpaper," said Paul Graham, co-founder of Anomaly. "We've got to get people into stores, or cinemas, to get people into 3D."
Sony is aiming to position itself as a company that, unlike its rivals, delivers an end-to-end 3D experience from Sony Pictures' Alice in Wonderland 3D film to making the components for 3D technology and TV sets.
It recently confirmed with Fifa that 25 World Cup matches will be filmed in 3D. Sony will have packages of highlights of the 25 games that will be able to be viewed on the 1,300 Sony-affiliated shops across Europe.
