Playstation 2

In 2000, Sony enlisted filmmaker David Lynch to direct a series of PlayStation 2 commercials under the campaign titled “The Third Place.” This collaboration marked a striking intersection between avant-garde cinema and mainstream advertising, bringing Lynch’s signature surrealism to a global gaming audience.

The campaign introduced the idea of a new, undefined realm accessible through the PlayStation 2 - a space neither here nor there, challenging conventional perceptions of reality.

Lynch infused the commercials with his cinematic vision. One ad features a man navigating a dark corridor, encountering distorted versions of himself, and ultimately meeting bizarre figures, including a duck-headed host welcoming viewers into this enigmatic space. These unsettling visuals echo the atmospheres of Eraserhead and Twin Peaks, blending the uncanny with the everyday.

Among the campaign’s most memorable spots was Bambi (2001), in which a trucker encounters a deer in the middle of the road. Contrary to expectation, the deer survives the collision unscathed, producing a surreal twist. The tagline, “Different Place, Different Rules,” encapsulates the campaign’s theme, highlighting the PS2’s ability to transport players to alternate realities.

Equally iconic was Rabbit (2000), often called the sleeping dog spot. The ad opens on a quiet domestic scene: a dog sleeps peacefully while the surrounding world subtly shifts in uncanny ways. Ordinary life becomes the threshold to the PS2’s Third Place, a realm that blurs reality and imagination. Without following a conventional narrative, the spot relies on tension, off-kilter sound design, and visual distortions to create unease while remaining captivating - again reinforced by the tagline, “Different Place, Different Rules.”

Together, these commercials exemplify Lynch’s ability to blend the ordinary with the extraordinary, turning a mainstream marketing campaign into a memorable, thought-provoking artistic experience. They remain a touchstone in gaming culture and a rare example of avant-garde filmmaking applied to advertising, proving that even the most commercial projects can transport viewers to a world of strangeness and wonder.