It happened in 1991. Most people weren't even on the internet yet. But if you were a gamer in the early nineties, you probably remember the "The Guy in the Underwear" ad campaign. It wasn't just a weird marketing fluke. It was a pivotal moment for Sega. Specifically, for the marketing of the Sega Game Gear.
Most people think of 8-bit handheld gaming and immediately picture the Nintendo Game Boy. It was grey. It had a puke-green screen. It was everywhere. Sega had to do something drastic to compete with that kind of dominance. Their solution? A series of commercials featuring a guy wearing nothing but his boxers, sitting in a messy room, playing a Game Gear. Honestly, it was a vibe that predated "goblin mode" by about three decades.
The Strategy Behind The Game in Underwear
Why did Sega do it? Simple. They wanted to prove that their console was "cool" and "edgy" compared to the "kiddy" image of Nintendo. Tom Kalinske, who was the CEO of Sega of America at the time, was the mastermind behind this aggressive shift. He knew that to beat the NES and Game Boy, Sega couldn't just play nice. They had to be the rebellious teenager of the gaming world.
The commercials portrayed a lifestyle. It wasn't about the graphics, even though the Game Gear had a full-color backlit screen, which was a massive technical leap over the Game Boy. It was about the attitude. The guy in the underwear represented the hardcore gamer who didn't care about the outside world. He didn't care about getting dressed. He just wanted to play Sonic the Hedgehog or Columns in bed.
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Technical Reality vs. Marketing Hype
While the ads were successful at creating a "cool" factor, the actual hardware had some... issues. You've probably heard the jokes about the battery life. They're true. The Game Gear required six AA batteries. Those batteries lasted maybe three to five hours if you were lucky.
Imagine being that guy in the underwear. You're deep into a game of Shinobi, and suddenly, your screen starts to dim. You've burnt through six batteries in one afternoon. It was an expensive habit. Nintendo’s Game Boy, on the other hand, ran on four AAs and lasted for nearly 15 to 30 hours. That is a massive difference in utility.
- Sega Game Gear: 160x144 resolution, 4096 colors, 3.58 MHz processor.
- Nintendo Game Boy: 160x144 resolution, 4 shades of grey, 4.19 MHz processor.
Sega had the better visuals, but the "game in underwear" lifestyle was tethered to a wall outlet more often than not. Most kids ended up buying the AC adapter because the battery cost was basically a second mortgage.
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The Psychology of the "Rebel" Gamer
Sega’s marketing agency, Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein, really leaned into the "Sega Does What Nintendon't" mantra. The underwear ads were a subset of this. They targeted the older demographic—teenagers and young adults who felt they had outgrown Mario. By showing a young man in his underwear, they were signaling that gaming wasn't just for children in the living room; it was a private, intense hobby.
It sort of worked. The Game Gear sold about 10.6 million units. That’s not a failure by any stretch, but compared to the Game Boy’s 118 million (including the Color version), it was a distant second.
What Modern Developers Can Learn
Looking back at the game in underwear ads, we see the birth of targeted "gamer" culture. It was the first time a company said, "We know you're a bit of a hermit, and that's okay." Today, we see this everywhere from Razer's neon lighting to the way Discord is marketed.
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However, there’s a lesson in the hardware failure. No amount of edgy marketing can fully overcome a fundamental flaw in the user experience. If your product eats batteries like a starving monster, people will eventually notice. Sega’s bravado was legendary, but the Game Gear’s weight and power consumption made it "portable" in name only.
The Legacy of the Ad
Is the game in underwear still relevant? In a way, yes. It’s a case study in brand positioning. Sega successfully carved out a niche that lasted for years. They became the "alternative" choice. Without that specific type of aggressive, slightly gross-out marketing, we might not have had the "Console Wars" of the 90s that pushed both companies to innovate so quickly.
The visuals of those ads are burned into the brains of Gen X and older Millennials. It was a time when advertising was weird, loud, and didn't mind being a little bit ugly. It was authentic in its own strange way. It didn't feel like a corporate committee wrote it; it felt like a weird guy in a basement wrote it.
Actionable Insights for Marketing and Tech
If you're looking at how to position a product today, take a page from the 1991 Sega playbook—but maybe leave the boxers in the drawer.
- Identify the "Anti-Leader" Sentiment. If your competitor is seen as the safe, "family-friendly" choice, find the demographic that feels alienated by that. Target them directly with honesty, even if it’s a bit messy.
- Visual Memory Over Specs. People didn't remember the Game Gear's Zilog Z80 processor. They remembered the guy in his underwear. Create a visual hook that represents the feeling of using your product.
- Address the Friction Early. Sega’s biggest mistake wasn't the ad; it was not solving the battery issue sooner. If your "cool" product has a massive usage hurdle, fix it before the marketing hype wears off.
- Embrace the "Niche." You don't always have to beat the market leader in total sales to be a cultural icon. The Game Gear is remembered far more fondly than many other failed handhelds (like the Atari Lynx or the TurboExpress) because of its distinct personality.
Sega eventually left the hardware business, but their marketing DNA is still present in the industry. The game in underwear was just one chapter in a much larger story of a company that wasn't afraid to be weird. Sometimes, being weird is the only way to get noticed in a crowded room.