There isn't any evidence for what you are saying. The PS3 saw a hundred dollar price cut in the fall of that year. That took it down to three hundred dollars. The campaign may have had nothing to do with the increase in sales. The campaign may have been detrimental to the brand, but the new price point was not only able to salvage the situation, but make headway in spite of the campaign.

I wouldn't characterize the most interesting man as being a pompous ass. There is a difference between a pompous character, and a character that is both pompous and a ass. Just as their is a difference between a brave soldier and a cowardly soldier. The difference in this case is the character of Kevin Butler likes to attack people, and make fun of other people. The most interesting man just seems to be a fun guy to hang out with. He isn't insulting others for not drinking the same beer that he drinks.

Vague claims about groups of people are just that vague. They carry no weight with me, because people can just imagine them up. Statements like these only seem to give your arguments more weight in your own eyes. I don't know these people, or if they existed in the first place. In other words your argument is just plain moot. I can't verify your honesty in this matter. Such claims don't necessarily hurt you, but they never give you any credibility either.

Your last sentence echos my claims about the echo chamber. They seem true and hilarious to you, because you probably already held those beliefs. I can tell a racist some black jokes, and he would probably laugh his ass off. That doesn't mean those jokes are actually funny or true for that matter. To him they are both, but to most of us they are neither.

Kevin Butler was a short lived mascot that didn't even make it to two years, and the only reason he probably lasted that long is that the campaigns that came before his were the stuff of nightmares. He wasn't good enough to keep his pretend job, and that is saying a lot. His virtue was that at best he was entertaining, and at worst he was annoying. Which was progress as compared to creepy, incomprehensible, ludicrous, or dull as dog shit. I personally don't think he moved a lot of hardware on his own, and I don't think he was all that good for the brand. What he was though was progress in the right direction. I think he just made the brand seem safe, but safe isn't the same as successful. 

By the way I am a little disappointed that you fixated on Kevin Butler. He is a topic that has been talked to death. Microsofts troll data mining is like a unspoiled wilderness in comparison. You see this is why we can't have nice things on these forums. Everyone passes them up in favor of junk food. Come on bite into things that will make you strain your brain just a bit. Help bring the conversation up a notch or two.

I ended up suffering so many crashes in that game that I ended up watching the ending on Youtube so I hope you can excuse me for not remembering it as fondly as you.

Here in the US I was watching football. So you would expect nothing from Sony. Yet I saw a month old ad for PSABR, and an ad for a blu ray that promoted God of war ascension demo.

French here !

In France I see a few ads from Sony (AC : Liberation, PSASBR, Far Cry 3, LBP:Karting ; mainly in the evening, during soccer half-time, or after a movie), a tad more from MS (Halo 4, Black Ops 2, Surface-related ; ads are more diffuse, airing all day long) and recently a lot from Ninty (Wii U obviously, some 3DS ads ; mainly when kids are awake, morning and afternoon).

Seriously S.T.A.G.E, why?

Obviously the games in question and currently on commercials here are PASBR, Wonderbook, LBPK, etc...

Few? LOL there have been so many Sony ads of late it is almost sickening and annoying seeing the same add over and over.

I have seen a couple micrososft ads for call of duty.

I am yer to see a Wii U add. What channel did you see it on and at what time?

I am assuming you are talking free to air stations?

I get spammed with COD BO Declassified ADS in Youtube. I find it kinda funny though.

Lots on late at night from 11am-2pm on the free 2 air channels.

It's striking a balance between the two though.

I agree with you, on a purely selfish level, I'd much rather then spent money developing games than marketing them.  Because I know where to go and look for information about them, so I don't need any marketing to make me a sale (wouldn't work anyway).

But on the flip side, if they keep making low-selling games which don't recoup their budgets, then eventually they're not going to have the money to make them anymore.  So they need to strike a balance between making a diverse selection of games and marketing the games so that people buy them, so they can continue making a diverse range of games in the future.

Here In the UK Sony have finally got it this Christmas. vita ads are bombarding everything a
Ping with Wounderbook. They just need PSASBR ads and LBPkarting dedicated ads to get perfect