So I was thinkin of having background music at our next game, and then I thought that maybe I'd make some commercials that provide background hints...you know, political ads, radio news, traffic reports, etc. Then I thought maybe I'd look around for other commercials to throw in, so....

so, aside from the Fruity Oaty bars, what wacky commercials are out there that might fit? And if anyone has done this, how did it go?

You need at least one NERPS commercial. Don't worry about what it does. Just convince the players they need it. Such catchphrases as:
-Nerps. It WORKS!
-Why not NERPS?
-If you had a choice between a lesser brand, and NERPS, would you make the right choice for your family?
Will do the trick. Also. Testimonials. Mask your voice.

Also, don't forget to have your friendly pirate hijack the airwaves from time to time. If you can find it, Blackjack's Phree Philadelphia is a pretty amusing pirate station.

Dont forget at least one male enhancement commercial.

What kind of song play list would you use?

Stuffer Shack ads
Urban Brawl match ups
Draco Foundation Public Service Announcements
Corporate security recruiting (especially after a bloody gunfight at the climax of the latest shadowrun)
Mothers of Metahumans PSA
Policlub PSAs
Crime Mall Ads (New! In the Barrens!)
Chicago Memorial Foundation (Care of the Universal Brotherhood)

etc.

This is a great idea. If anyone does any, is there somewhere we could share them? It seems pointless to reinvent the wheel.

Awesome...good ideas, all. My playlist will be the most cutting-edgest, modernest songs in my music collection. Which means it will be mostly over-produced stuff from the 90's, although the songs off the old Descent II CD should work out well.

I'll let y'all know how it goes, and maybe put the files up for people to use if there's interest.

What if someone or everyone recorded their own commercials and ads even their version of pirate radio and posted them on a site for download in mp3 or other formats for everyone to share.

Oh I am SO TOTALLY ON THIS. I'm bored on a trip with internet and a LogiTech Headset.

Don't know if you are interested in print media, but I posted THIS awhile back. Feel free to throw it in.

I like it. Do they have versions so you can choose to have a meta. My wife has been bugging me about having an elf.

Ok, so I tried this with my group last night. I had mixed results. Nobody seemed to notice the commercials...which is fine. They're commercials. And I didn't actually make any commercials...I just ripped stuff off GTA and the Fruity Oaty bars, although I've got storyboards for some good political and NERPS commercials.

But, when the pirate radio signal came in...everything stopped, and the players listened, fascinated.

It was a cool way to disseminate information. I think I'll keep it up, and, especially now that I've got the software all set up, it should be much faster to produce. Gentleman Jim's radio report took four hours to get done on the first go.

Anyway, I've got the links to my Box.net account...here's one for commercials, and here's one for the pirate radio feeds. Be aware that the pirate feed starts off as a song. I think you may need to sign up at Box.net to see the files. If someone has a different free site to use, I'm open to change.

Two action items exist for interested parties:
1) Make commercials/radio feeds and stick it in the folder. PM me if you want to know how I did mine.
2) Write headlines/stories for the next report from Gentleman Jim. I'll be doing another feed for next week, and it will have four to six headlines in it, not all of which will be plot related in my game, so I figure somebody could slip in something for their game. And I'm lazy. This way I don't have to write all the stories.

EDIT: Repaired broken link to pirate radio feeds.

Ha!!

I whipped that up for a run where an evil corporation (backed by Humanis) is marketing this vaccine, but all it really does is cause horrible birth defects. Muahahaha... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/vegm.gif)

Does anyone have some really intense instrumental rock music I could use as background? I'm also looking for something very "prescription medication commercial."

Oh, and do you want station ID spots?

You could check out remix.nin.com. Its all free and if you look around a bit you can find instrumental versions of all your old favorites. I'd recommend the instrumental version of "March of the Pigs" (look under the featured tab for "The Downward Spiral Instrumental"... I'd post a direct link but they never work).

Or the (oddly fitting) Perfect Drug....

When I try the pirate radio feed link it keeps connecting to the commercial link. The commercials are a hoot by the way. Could you check up on the pirate link, I think that it would add to a game.

Doh....the pirate radio is the best part!

Try this. Ok...that works, although you can't upload. But you don't need a Box.net account.

EDIT: at Tsuyoshikentsu: Hell, yeah, I want station ID spots. Mine suck.

That poster is great!

I also love all of the other images on that site: real pictures and maps of ships and warehouses... inspiring!

What software did you use to make such great gaming aids?

Stuffer Shack ad: "Hey, where can you go at 0300 hours and get yourself a snack? [jingle tune] It's The STUFFER SHACK! THE STUFFER SHACK! For all your late-night munchie needs! [/jingle] "That's right! Conveiniently placed in strategic points throught the Sprawl you're in, The Stuffer Shack gives you easy-to-reach conveinience while providing inexpesive but QUALITY merchandise for all your late night or early morning shopping needs! [jingle tune] It's The STUFFER SHACK! THE STUFFER SHACK! For all your late-night munchie needs! [/jingle]"

Urban Brawl: [echo, ala monster-truck show ad] EXCLUSIVELY ON PAY-PER-SCAN! IIIIIIIIIIIT'S URBAN BRRRAAAAAWWLLLL!! The {insert local team} VERSUS {visiting team} in an all out GRUDGE MATCH!!! Tickets go on sale this Thursday!!{/echo}

@ Bookwyrm: Nice. I may do the Urban Brawl next.

I did a Nerps commercial. It's up on Box.net. I'm running into a problem, though...it's very hard to make the voices not sound like me. Maybe some folks would be willing to record parts of a script?

I finished the station ID. Looking for a site to upload it to now.