Some marketing stunts are beyond comprehension, but what Microsoft has just unveiled goes beyond any PR strategy they have ever used.

The Redmond-based tech giant didn’t create the scented Xbox controller alone, as it teamed up with Paramount Pictures to create a pizza-scented product based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme. And the timing is no coincidence, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem debuting in cinemas in August.

“Designed to deliver the smell of the Turtles’ beloved meal to your game time, these exclusive Xbox Wireless Controllers come with a built-in scent diffuser shaped like a slice of delicious New York pizza. The controller comes in four variations, each representing the signature colors, weapons, and personality of a Turtle brother: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo,” Josh Stein, the brand’s social media manager, wrote on the Xbox website.

We quickly checked the terms of use, and many countries are eligible. The competition will run from July 24 to August 13 and requires you to follow the Xbox Game Pass account on Twitter (or X…? we’ll come back to Musk’s transforming platform later today) and retweet (or re-x…?) the tweet (or x…?) associated with the competition.

There will be another new Xbox Series wireless controller, leaked by billbil-kun (who will probably let us know again tomorrow ahead of time what PlayStation Plus Essential has in store for August; we’ll report on the list later). The controller, called Stormcloud Vapor, is said to be coming out on August 8. By then, the Xbox Series X will be more expensive: as we wrote earlier, Microsoft is following Sony’s price hike last autumn, so they’re charging the same price as the PlayStation 5 Standard Edition in many countries except the US, Japan, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia for the product that Redmond is treating as a semi-generational upgrade.

So it’s worth putting your money down this week if you plan to get an Xbox Series X!

Source: VGC