World of Warcraft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0S-uT39y6w

This short ad for World of Warcraft stars one of my favorite actresses, Aubrey Plaza, who is endorsing a well known video game. It depicts Plaza describing how she randomly received the game and started playing WoW because her boyfriend got her it for her birthday. She ends the short commercial with a very uninterested statement of dumping the boyfriend who showed her the game she now adores and likes "more than her boyfriend".
I chose this commercial because it targets the audience often labeled as "gamers", which is typically male dominated. The target audience however is not represented in the ad, instead, an apathetic, cool, and soft sounding girl is used to advocate a game typically played by guys. I think the ad agency was trying to appeal and shock the socially constructed idea of video games only played by guys, with a female player. Most video game commercials depict guys playing with other guys which further propels the idea of the consumption, regulation, and identity of video games all with the male gender.
I also find it funny that Plaza, at first when presented with the game, was expecting diamonds. Of course, diamonds are a woman's best friend, and diamonds (signifiers) have been signified a meaning of being every girl's dream present. The ad continues to break many socially constructed ideas of gender roles for video games and relationships. Typically, one would expect the girl to dump the guy because she wasn't getting enough attention and that the guy was playing WoW too much. This ad however shows a role reversal of the relationship, where the female dumps the guy because she is more invested in the game than her very own boyfriend. It seems a drastic to end a relationship over a video game, but it seems to push the gender roles even with having a female being so uninterested and unemotional when speaking about the breakup. We usually have this tendency of a girl in hysterics right after a breakup, especially if it was over something as little as a video game.