Sony has launched a marketing campaign for the new PS5 console and it’s taken a cheeky jab at its key rival’s Oxford Street store. Your move, Microsoft.
In a move of marketing genius, Sony has staged a temporary takeover of Oxford Circus Underground station, replacing the famous red circle signs with the equally iconic square, cross, and triangle shapes that you’ll find on every PlayStation controller.
However, in what we’ll put down as a mere ‘coincidence’, Microsoft’s flagship London store is found just outside the tube station on Oxford Street – so some passers-by could be forgiven for thinking that Sony is rubbing their competitor’s noses in it.
— tweets by cian™ (@CianOMahony) November 18, 2020
The unfortunate problem for this daring marketing stunt is simply that there are far fewer pedestrians moseying around Oxford Circus these days, due to the strict lockdown enforced in response to the current coronavirus pandemic. Normally a bustling thoroughfare, there’s now much less footfall in one of the world’s most famous shopping districts – although as Reddit user Niere joked, a change of signage might actually help people use the correct exits from the station for once.
But the winner of the latest console war will have to offer more than just this kind of chutzpah. Den of Geek estimates that sales between the two giants are currently neck-and-neck, but we expect a winner to pull ahead in the coming months and dominate a new generation of gamers.
After this stunt however, the ball is firmly in Microsoft’s court. Here’s hoping the US giant retaliates by lobbing Xbox-branded cupcakes at Sony’s Japanese headquarters… or something to that effect.
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