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To say that the Wii U marketing was a failure would be an understatement, and it has already been said to death over the last decade plus. We could go on all day about what went wrong with the Wii U and how it was marketed, but the one (very pedantic) thing I want to focus on is something that I haven't seen many people other than myself bring up, and it's something that has bothered me for the last 10 years.
Around the holiday season of 2013, the Wii U was clearly in trouble, and Nintendo of America wanted to clear the air on the confusion around the system, trying their hardest to sell people on what the Wii U was. They released a marketing campaign called "Why We Need Wii U", which showed kids explaining to their parents the benefits of the Wii U and why it's the console to get. One of these commercials actually directly addressed the confusing name of the Wii U, trying to illustrate that it is not the same thing as a Wii.
The premise of these commercials is one thing, but what has driven me up the wall is how every single one of these ads uses the word "upgrade". They don't call the Wii U a new console, but they emphasize "upgrading to Wii U", and how "Wii U is a total upgrade." This was clearly a deliberate decision, as one of the ads uses the word as many as three times in 30 seconds.
I have been trying to figure out why they went with this choice and it utterly baffles me. Wouldn't you think it would clear the air more if they specifically said "it's a new console"? Calling it an "upgrade" makes it sound like an optional thing, or again - an add-on to the Wii rather than its own entity. It makes the whole situation even more confusing.
Was the word "upgrade" trendy back then? I don't remember it being so at the time, because that terminology stuck out as weird to me the first time I saw those ads back in 2013. There had to be some reason they put all their chips in that phrase, right? Any ideas?
Yes, this is extremely pedantic and trivial, especially since the Wii U is in the distant past at this point. But I can't deny how much this tiny thing has gnawed at my brain since 2013. I'm hoping at least some of you can help me figure this out.
Around the holiday season of 2013, the Wii U was clearly in trouble, and Nintendo of America wanted to clear the air on the confusion around the system, trying their hardest to sell people on what the Wii U was. They released a marketing campaign called "Why We Need Wii U", which showed kids explaining to their parents the benefits of the Wii U and why it's the console to get. One of these commercials actually directly addressed the confusing name of the Wii U, trying to illustrate that it is not the same thing as a Wii.
The premise of these commercials is one thing, but what has driven me up the wall is how every single one of these ads uses the word "upgrade". They don't call the Wii U a new console, but they emphasize "upgrading to Wii U", and how "Wii U is a total upgrade." This was clearly a deliberate decision, as one of the ads uses the word as many as three times in 30 seconds.
I have been trying to figure out why they went with this choice and it utterly baffles me. Wouldn't you think it would clear the air more if they specifically said "it's a new console"? Calling it an "upgrade" makes it sound like an optional thing, or again - an add-on to the Wii rather than its own entity. It makes the whole situation even more confusing.
Was the word "upgrade" trendy back then? I don't remember it being so at the time, because that terminology stuck out as weird to me the first time I saw those ads back in 2013. There had to be some reason they put all their chips in that phrase, right? Any ideas?
Yes, this is extremely pedantic and trivial, especially since the Wii U is in the distant past at this point. But I can't deny how much this tiny thing has gnawed at my brain since 2013. I'm hoping at least some of you can help me figure this out.