Satirical Marketing Explained

Kenton Robotics was first conceptualised as a key entity in the Thundergate Universe, which Steve and I have been working on behind the scenes over the last few years. The company plays a significant role in the world we are creating and we figured this would be a fun way to release our limited run of 3D-printed, sound-reactive masks.

I’m Dr. Boden Huxley… no, not really, my name is Fletcher and I am the dude most of you have interacted with at some point in your journey with Wintercroft. Hopefully it was positive, and I gave you what you needed. Speaking of giving people what they need, Steve and I believe the world needs more fun marketing campaigns.

"It was hard to tell where the farce ended and reality began at times." - Fletch (Dr. Boden Huxley)

We were kids in the 80s and it was such a vivid, experimental time to be marketed at. There seemed to be very little hesitation in greenlighting even the craziest of ideas. Budgets were flung at seemingly risky and sometimes just plain insane marketing campaigns. The satirisation of these corporate entities played into the times as well. We love those 80s socio-political sci-fi films by Paul Verhoeven; Robocop and Total Recall, with their hilarious, yet jarringly real-feeling adverts within the films. I also have fond memories of voraciously consuming burgers, fries and MAD Magazines at the local Drug Store, which no doubt fortified my lifelong love of satire. In the 80's, it was hard to tell where the farce ended and reality began at times. We laugh because good satire is uncomfortably close to reality and it is only these slight augmentations that cause us to dig a little deeper.

"Nothing is more tragically misguided than a corporate entity attempting to be cool with youth movements." - There I go again, quoting myself.

Kenton Robotics, as a marketing campaign for our new sound-reactive LED masks, is inspired by all these elements. Nothing is more tragically misguided than a corporate entity attempting to be cool with youth movements. The absurdity of Dr. Boden Huxley paradoxically suggesting that they will “take the human error out of art” is a classic example of big business types not getting it. We plan to have a lot more fun with Kenton Robotics and use it as a vehicle to introduce more products and interesting media. Steve and I conceptualise and create all the media you see ourselves in-house and hopefully our employment at Kenton Robotics will improve our slightly dodgy filming, acting, scoring and editing skills. I haven’t had this much fun since my High School film class days and hopefully that will show in the adverts ahead.

Dr. Huxley looking rather fetching in his Kenton Robotics Primary Shell. "People, but better" in practice.

Find out more about the narrative behind these masks by clicking here: Learn More. Steve and I have been working on this multimedia long-term project over the last few years and we can’t wait to present it layer by layer. Click the image below for the full specification and to secure one of ten primary shells.