David Lynch-directed advertisement for Playstation welcomes you to The Third Place

Once upon a time, people had so much free time that they needed a place to go that wasn't work or home. A third place. Sony was one of the companies competing for that space, and created an entire campaign around the concept. They hired David Lynch to direct a commercial for the Playstation 2 because "He's been living in The Third Place for quite a few years."

The commercial is predictably surreal, makes no detectable reference to video games, and could easily be reused for other products with equal success:

Lynch received some pushback on choosing black and white, but artistic version prevailed over the color version:

There is also a short documentary on the making of the commercial that feels suitably Lynchian--moments of levity amidst a murky, ominous set:

You can see more commercials in the campaign here. Read the rest