"D&D is so mainstream, it’s now in a grocery commercial" Topic

YouTube link

About a quarter of the way in, we see a kid setting up for an obvious D&D-like game with friends. The game reappears near the end as well. It isn't named, which means the ad makers just assume their target market will know what it is. Keep in mind, this ad is clearly aimed at shoppers— adults buying for themselves and their children.

For those not in the US Southeast, Publix is a major chain of grocery stores.

Do you not remember when D&D at Walmart. Also in ET, they played D&D in the kitchen. They played in in Big Band Theory and a recent NetFlix TV series.

The Netflix series is Stranger Things.

Well, yes, of course. But this isn't a show or a commercial where D&D is a central theme of what is happening. It's a commercial where the game is presented as one of many things people do together, with no explanation or naming of it at all— meaning the ad makers assume that everyone will see what is being done and automatically know what it is. And it's not aimed at D&D fans or gamers at all— it's aimed at moms and dads who have kids playing, and those kids want snacks with it, and those snacks can be found at Publix— along with all the stuff for a tailgate, an adult game/wrestling/movie watching party, and so on. It's the ultimate mainstream appearance— D&D as just a part of everyday life in America.

I've learned that the actual game being shown is Dragonbane, a Swedish role-playing/board game. (I'm stunned that an Atlanta based ad agency would wind up deliberately using a Swedish game as a stand-in, but it does probably avoid stepping on toes of WotC/Hasbro or another US-based publisher…)

What a hoot.

I guess the choice of game is to avoid IP issues, while still pushing the recognition buttons.
Stranger Things on Netflix must have raised the profile of D&D significantly.

Mike Mercer did that too with his game on YouTube during COVID.