• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, December 18, 2006

Because it's a closet gamer that loves its owners. A green parakeet with magical powers is the star of an international kiosk broadcast piece for Xbox 360. Part of the brand's "Jump In" campaign, the 90-second video is running internationally in stores that sell video games.

The ad promotes the Memory Unit, a removable portion of the 360, similar to a flash stick. Gamers can bring their memory unit to in-store kiosks and download exclusive game components, secret codes, coupons and unique weapons unavailable elsewhere. Once home, users can upload the new content to their Xbox 360. Wexley School for Girls created the video in collaboration with Savant.

Wexley School for Girls was tasked to create original content that would run while no one was demo-ing a game at the kiosks.

"Mystic Parakeet" begins with three friends playing a video game. When the game is over, the smarter-than-he-looks parakeet unlatches his cage door, swipes the 360's memory unit and flies out the window.

As he makes his way through the city, he runs into fellow parakeets on their way back home, who have already downloaded items such as a dragon, sports car, army tank and soldier, and a magic helmet. The parakeet finally makes his way to the ruins where the "Holy Grail" resides--and where he downloads a sword to help his owners with their gaming skills.

The owners return home to find their TV glowing with a sword for use in their next game--and the parakeet inside his unlocked cage. The spot concludes by directing users to download content with their memory unit. Watch the spot here.

Cal McAllister, creative director, Wexley School for Girls, said that the magic helmet seen in the ad was a nod to the agency's favorite cartoon, Looney Tunes' "Spear and Magic Helmet" featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. "Our idea was to create a mystic place where all the secrets of the Xbox 360 gaming universe were held," he said.

One challenge for the agency was the concluding copy of the ad, which had to be translated into seven languages. Another issue came in the form of animation; the video was created in HD so that it mirrored the quality graphics of Xbox.