While you and your friends, family, co-workers, and/or online pals argue over whether pineapple belongs on pizza, the alpha gamers at Microsoft ask the important questions like, “do you want to smell pizza while you play games?” In a very unexpected (and somewhat ridiculous) move, Microsoft spent actual money (not slated for the Activision-Blizzard deal) to research and develop an oil-diffuser attachment, accompanied by a pizza-scented oil, for the Xbox controller.
In a cross marketing move with Paramount Pictures’ upcoming movie, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Microsoft developed a pizza-scented controller with TMNT controller theming to be given out as part of a sweepstakes. Running from July 24 through August 13, you can enter to win the limited edition controllers. The oil-diffuser is shaped like a slice of pizza, takes three AA batteries, and replaces the battery cover on the Xbox controller. Gamers then take the bottle of pizza-scented oil and drop it into the small opening in the diffuser to get a whiff of pizza.
In a highly scientific study performed at IGN.com, only one IGN member was able to be tricked into thinking the pizza-scented oil smelled like real pizza. Other members were able to correctly call out the imposter oil-scent using descriptors such as “pungent” and “unconvincing.”
Video game and movie cross-marketing is nothing new, but it has proven time and time again to be a very effective way to drive up conversation around the upcoming movie/video game. While the pizza-scented controller reeks to the high heavens of a corporate marketing plot, it has done its job: Gamer Bytes is covering the gimmick and has made the author of this article very hungry for pizza.
With all this in mind, we here at Gamer Bytes have one question for you: Does pineapple-scented oil belong in the Xbox pizza-diffuser controller?
Image from: Xbox
