What went wrong? What went right?
The AD
Oculus created a rather funny and fairly heart warming commercial to promote their Quest 2 Virtual Reality Headset. In the spot, two people become close friends as they play together on their Quest 2 headsets, little do they know that they are actually next door neighbors. They share laughs and have intimate conversations, but when running into each other in an elevator, they simply have no idea who each other are.
My Initial Take
Now this spot is hilarious. It shows two people completely blind to see a real friendship right in front of them. The purpose of the spot is to show how real virtual reality can be. This means that people can build real friendships through their Quest 2 Headsets that may never be in the real world.
Now, emphasizing this does have a drawback.
The Problem with this AD
With Oculus's current campaign, they're pushing an agenda of the Togetherness that stems from the use of Oculus Headsets. Now while these two neighbors may be Together over their headsets, they still have not gained a connection in person, despite having only one wall separating the two apartments.
What I would do differently
Here's a key detail that I believe will shift the ad in a different and more effective direction: The AD should have used a Twist. Instead of the audience knowing the whole time that these two characters are neighbors, it would instead only be revealed at the end of the ad. Simultaneously, the characters would find out that they're neighbors as well. This would have an AHA moment and would make the AD more reflective of Togetherness.
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