No life? Buy a Wii... Apparently

Recently I read an editor's column in The Guide (a magazine produced by The Guardian) slating a recent advert for being unrealistic. I believe it was Pepsi Max, though I'm unsure. Today I saw an advert for Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii, promoting network gaming. The protagonist was a university student, male, scraggy hair, sitting in his dormitory playing Mario Kart. A cross-cut of his family - mum, dad, sister - then dominated the screen, with the family huddled around their television at home, screaming at the male to beat his son in a race, and although the advert intends to make the game, and the possibility of network gaming on the Wii, as enjoyable and entertaining as possible, I found an obvious fault with it.

Why would a university student even consider playing Wii with his parents? Surely this goes against everything student life stands for; where is the freedom, the individuality, the independence? Student life is all about making a life for yourself, coping in the "real world" without your parents pushing you through every door. As a college leaver, and very soon a university student myself, everywhere I read nowadays regarding student life talks of studying, finance and social events. So again, I wonder, where does quality family time on the Wii fit in?
If the student was based at home, I'd have to applaud the advert in promoting the game, but the networking possibility Nintendo have finally keyed into wouldn't be applicable there. But why use a student? The message I got from the advert wasn't "Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii will provide you with hours of fun, connecting families and friends through network gaming, ensuring ultimate satisfaction" but one more of "No life? Buy a Wii".

Don't get me wrong, I think the Wii is a fantastic idea. I myself owe one, with the equally impressive Wii Fit no doubt bolstering the product's sales immeasurably. However, the message conveyed by such an advert to their presumable target audience of students needs to be seriously changed if Nintendo want their dignity left intact, let alone sales.