Serena Williams and Rileah Vanderbilt take their clothes off, shake their moneymakers and play some virtual tennis in a new ad for 2K Sports’ Top Spin 4 that gives a whole new meaning to “women’s doubles.”
Serena Williams is “The World’s Sexiest Tennis Player.” Rileah Vanderbilt is “The World’s Sexiest Tennis Gamer.” And now, because somebody in marketing thought it would be a good idea, we get to watch them dress up in outfits that would make Emma Frost blush, shake their junk in close-up and play Top Spin 4 in slow-motion while a hard-driving techno-beat, punctuated by their grunts and groans, pounds in the background. Fishnet stockings, stiletto heels, hi-cuts, lo-cuts and a pretty extreme zoom-in on sweaty boobs wrapped in faux leather are all on display and no, I am not making any of this up.
I don’t even know where to begin. On one hand, I’m a guy and as a guy I have a certain appreciation for ladies who don’t mind frolicking in their skivvies. On the other hand, what is wrong with you, 2K? I know you’re not responsible for leading the industry’s charge to legitimacy and maybe it’s all tongue-in-cheek and sure, nobody gets stabbed or shot or blown up, but come on! This is not helping!
And how is this supposed to sell videogames, anyway? All I can think about is that Serena Williams looks like she could crack walnuts with her butt.
UPDATE: 2K Sports is putting some space between itself and the ad, claiming that it really had nothing at all to do with it. “As part of the process for creating marketing campaigns to support our titles, we pursue a variety of creative avenues,” the company told Joystiq. “This video is not part of the title’s final marketing campaign and its distribution was unauthorized.”
