In what may be Gearbox’s most bizarre marketing attempt for Borderlands 3, the studio has released a new series of three video ads. Rather than showing off gameplay footage or even cinematic content, the videos are instead pastiches of generic product ads; one for shampoo, one for a drink, and one for clothes. However, each 50-second video cuts back and forth from the ad footage to Psychos, suggesting perhaps that the ads are how the Psychos see the world around them.
The Bizarre New Borderlands 3 Video Ads
Since the announcement of Borderlands 3 earlier this year, Gearbox has released some fairly bizarre trailers. However, this latest series goes a whole step further with its use of live-action pastiches. The game itself is due to release in less than two weeks’ now, so this seems to be part of the studio’s final promotional push. Certainly, these adverts are likely to catch at least a few people off-guard who aren’t necessarily aware of Borderlands 3. Note that none of the video titles actually mention the game title, for example.
For actual fans, the videos are still quite entertaining as bizarre glimpses into how some Psychos apparently see the world. The madness which afflicts the Psychos in Borderlands has manifested in a variety of ways in the different games. However, a regular theme is that the Psychos don’t see the world around them as it really is. In the one instance of a playable Psycho character, Borderlands 2’s Krieg, the character had two personas; one completely insane and in control of his body, and another that was rational and sane but unable to influence his actions. It’s unknown if this condition is a common manifestation or unique among Psychos.
Whatever the case, Borderlands fans will get their chance to gun down hordes of Psychos once again when the game launches on the 13th of September, next week. For now, however, they have almost two weeks longer to see what else Gearbox comes up with as last-minute marketing.