Cringe-Worthy Japanese Gran Turismo PSP Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm_ztAoCdas

It’s always interesting to see how marketing teams approach international audiences differently, and it looks like Sony’s campaign for Gran Turismo PSP is no exception. Here’s the Japanese Gran Turismo PSP commercial, showing two pristine classics: a 1969 Corvette Stingray and 1988 Lamborghini Countach swapping paint on Fuji Speedway. Aside from the real-world implications of smashing these beauties together, it’s a decidedly un-Gran Turismo, “violent” promotion of the series (for a little contrast, see the U.S. commercial here). Perhaps the Japanese production team was inspired after a few online races in GT5 Prologue, or it’s just some subtle foreshadowing..? Thanks to Canadian STIG for sending this in!

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Comments (39)

  1. David

    I recon they are just replicas, those Lambo’s and Corvettes are very popular as kit cars and they probably bought 2 and did this ad quite cheaply. I dont think anyone would ever smash real ones up.

  2. Berlino Bear

    @ tek9[r]

    Wow thats a whole new level of GT love. When you are passionate about the adds as well, you got it bad.

    And I thought I had it bad!!

  3. DearSX

    Great commercial. I love the sacrificing of the cars to make it the point. Wish it was longer and was brought here, maybe as a super bowl ad.

  4. 8@No$

    At the link that dbarrade gives, the interior of the countach looks fake but the corvette’s looks real well at least real-ish i don’t know. Oh, and in races they use “expendable” race cars ,so they bump and scratch them all the time, not classics like these. Anyway, somebody asks KY so we know :-)

  5. Jetboy.

    Minor damage at least, catches the whole “close racing” feel. I just find amusing how they can beat up cars that aren’t Japanese. :rolleyes: Wonder how daring they would have been with a KGPC10 Skyline..

  6. dbarrade

    It’s real enough, the website is http://gt-real.jp and it looks like they are re-enacting a race on the PSP or visa versa… with different views from the cockpit and the side of the vehicle. It’s worth looking at, and what I thought digital TV was suposed to be like :)

  7. SETWAVE

    Much better than the American advert. This is fun and inspiring. Real life racing i will also note does have bumping and clashes of body panels, the BTCC is evidence of that.

  8. Canadian STIG

    Glad I could be of some help. I’ve also noticed that at about 12 secs in, the PSP’s GT graphics look similar to that of GT5P or even GT5’s graphics! I could be wrong when I say it could be a sneak peak of two cars to arrive when GT5 arrives in the Spring next year.

  9. GT911

    Awful comercial, i cant believe this cars are real, the should be an imitation body of a Countach and a Stingray, maybe the take a different chasis an put the imitation body made of glass fiber or something like that, because is this real is madness…

  10. 8@No$

    If it’s genuine as max mosley said, then it sucks… So cheap and ugly commercial, like a low-budget trash japanese 80’s movie trailer. Is showing two classic beauties (countach->beauty?whatever) smash against each other a way of advertising GT? Fits more in a title like GTA or NFS anyway..And what an unfortunate comparison.. GT->real Total disaster, but the stranger thing is that KY actually approved it?

  11. Dravonic

    Come on people… fake? Of course not. That’s the real deal, like it or not.

    I think I got what they meant. They are saying that Gran Turismo is better than reality, and are showing you why. Where else do you get to destroy beautiful cars like that? :P

  12. Max Mosley

    This is 100% genuine.

    Saw this on the the JP whats new section on my PS3 last week, after GT PSP’s release.
    The version shown here is slightly edited. If you have a japanese PSN account then check it out.

  13. missionfailed

    That vid looks like an everday Topgear challenge to me.

    Each given 1K each to find a classic, Hamster and Clarkson bashing into each other and Cpt Slow way way back in the distance probably in a beaten up Lotus Esprit.

    It’s retribution for the average car driver I say !

  14. ItsHim

    Doesn’t look genuine to me, afraid to say.

    The visual style just seems wrong, the camera work is rather weak and the look of the footage is off.

    Nevertheless: nice one.

  15. Andyuk-mx5turbo

    Surely that’s a fake???

    Doesnt look like a Sony production to me…

    The countach looks real though, someone should definitely get shot for that, I can’t image KY giving the okay to a classic car getting ‘knocked around’. Doesnt seem to ring true.

    Confirmation?

    Thinking of getting GT PSP?? —

    I’ve had GT-PSP since it was released, and for anyone deciding whether to get it – dont just sit there, get to your nearest shop and buy it! It’s awesome.

    For a GT fan, it amazingly squeezes the ‘GT Experience’ into a mobile device, an utterly amazing achievement.
    At £17.99 it seems a bargain too.

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