3pointD.com

Amazingly, this Undead Mage has just hucked a fireball at that guy’s house! What’s amazing about it is not the fireball itself, but that he’s done it in a commercial for Farmer’s Insurance. If there’s any doubt that this is a commercial based on World of Warcraft or a similar swords-and-spells game, it’s dispelled by the first line spoken by the insurance agents once the scene cuts away from our friend, the Lord of Mishap. (Don’t worry: no spoilers here.) Kind of made my jaw drop. But the thing that makes 3pointD really care about this is the deep cultural penetration it’s evidence of.

The actuarial MMO (or anyway, RPG) that Farmer’s is putting on display here isn’t taken as a novelty, but as the borrowed interest in the scene. This is a commercial designed to sell insurance to people who play video games. This is not the same things as the various promotional efforts that have been going on in Second Life lately. Those trade on the novelty value of virtual worlds. The Farmer’s commercial does just the opposite; it takes virtual worlds for granted. Which I love.

Is this thing on the air yet? One of my WoW guildies pointed it out. Of course.