Gaming ads were on a different level back in the day. From Crash Bandicoot screaming at Nintendo through a megaphone, to Final Fantasy 8 coming with a free car, there wasn't much companies wouldn't do in a desperate bid for attention.
But now, as one collector has discovered, Microsoft won this era of strange promotional material hands down. In a bid to make sure that multiplayer was kept fun and safe, a Halo 2 event gifted attendees with Xbox-themed condoms – complete with cute little double entendres bound to get anyone in the mood.
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The Halo one has to be the most eyecatching, as it proudly sports Master Chief himself on the packet, along with the Halo 2 release date if you needed an additional boost. But of course, it's the "coming soon" message that steals the show – the PR person who came up with that better have got a raise.
If that wasn't doing it for you, there's an Xbox one too. This features the console's original logo, as well as the wholesome message: "it's good to play together." Yeah, 2004 really was another time.
Xbox collector @GameboxUkv seems incredibly proud of this find, describing it as "extremely rare". If you're lucky enough to have one of these lying around, it might be worth keeping hold of after all (please, please don't use it).
As far as I know, this was the last time Microsoft dabbled in contraceptive-based advertising – but given some recent news, the company may rethink that. Xbox executive Aaron Greenberg has gone on the record to say that you should not call your baby Game Pass, as it will not grant you a free subscription to the service. He felt the need to make this unfortunate announcement after Bethesda's Pete Hines brought up the time the studio gifted a couple a lifetime's supply of its games after they gave their baby a Skyrim-themed name. A representative of Bethesda was quick to add that "it only works once", so it's probably not worth calling your baby Vault Boy either.
Source: Kotaku
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