Weirdest PlayStation Ads You Forgot About

Sony isn't just a video game console-making giant, it's also a commercial marketing genius. Over the past 26 years of PlayStation’s existence, Sony has managed to sell over half a billion consoles, and it didn’t just do it with remarkable exclusives alone. It also subliminally implanted PlayStation into our consciousness with weird-ass ads, most of which don’t even show its games.

Most recently, Sony released a PlayStation 5 ad called "The Edge." It’s about a man on a boat, who drifts off the edge of an ocean into outer space with flying whales, pirate ships, and unidentified flying objects. I don’t understand it, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it wasn’t compelling, which, to me, gives Sony's esoteric approach to marketing a lot of merit.

From David Lynch (Eraserhead, Twin Peaks) to Chris Cunningham (Aphex Twin’s Come To Daddy), Sony has worked with many visionary auteurs to produce strange and unforgettable ads. So I decided to take one last look on some of the most peculiar ones, like the infamous baby commercial, or Jimmy Dynamite, before we head into a new era of high brow ads that are most likely on the way for that PlayStation 5.

Both the standard and digital editions of the PS5 are launching on November 12. Preorders are already live at select retailers, but the console is also frequently sold out. You can keep an eye on our PS5 preorder guide if you need a hand getting one.