“Is that a virtual AA meeting?” Meta’s new advert screams millennial cringe
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has released an ad that’s so bad it’s made people wonder what his marketing team is getting paid for.
Image by Cybernews
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has released an ad that’s so bad it’s made people wonder what his marketing team is getting paid for.
“Meta Horizon Worlds,” an online world that allows you to explore and socialize with other users via mixed-reality headsets, was set to be Meta’s next big thing – in 2021.
Still thinking about Meta Horizon and their lack of user world creation, corporate slop worlds, and strict severance to plane jane human avatars. It genuinely feels like the cold corporate contrast to VRChat.
undefined Lau ΘΔ (@fuskybutt.bsky.social) February 9, 2025 at 8:18 PM
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Mark Zuckerberg’s company released its main product in the US and Canada, then announced that Horizon Worlds would launch in France and Spain. However, the social media announcement was laughable.
Mark Zuckerberg launches Horizon Worlds in France and Spain with an eye-gougingly ugly VR selfie. Meta's metaverse ploy is surely dying in the dark. pic.twitter.com/j0l6yTYye4
undefined Josh Otten (@ordinarytings) August 16, 2022
Since then, Meta has been relatively quiet about Horizon Worlds. However, according to Forbes, the company plans to promote the idea of an online metaverse and Horizon Worlds in 2025.
Unfortunately, its Valentine’s Day ad, which coincides with Singles Awareness Day, left users confused about the product's future.
This is Meta’s brand new ad for Horizon Worlds. Not sure how I’m supposed to feel about it.
undefined Nathie (@nathievr.bsky.social) February 16, 2025 at 6:33 PM
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The ad shows a bunch of virtual people sitting in some kind of support circle at a singles event.
Each “person” explains how they got broken up with. One character said they got broken up with via a status update, another because of a horoscope, which is clearly Meta’s outdated idea of relatability.
Who updates their relationship status these days? Or even uses Facebook?
Furthermore, the original link on Instagram used by some media outlets seems to have been removed.
Meta’s Awful ‘Horizon Worlds’ Ad Helps Explain $70 Million Metaverse Loss via @forbes https://t.co/gieISfCwi7 pic.twitter.com/d76Ql6iGH0
undefined Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) February 17, 2025
Users on X were deeply confused by this cringe-worthy ad, which seemed to be written by a bunch of out-of-touch millennials.
One user complained that Meta “has a fundamental misunderstanding of how people want to be represented in virtual worlds.”
They argue that people don’t want to experience the mundane things they could do in real life when supposedly the “possibilities are infinite.”
Another person said that this ad feels like “the opposite of marketing,” as Meta’s marketing team seems to have misunderstood what users want to see from the Horizon Worlds.
“Is that a virtual AA meeting?” said one X user commenting on the sharing circle in the ad.
In a leaked memo, Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, seen by Business Insider, said that 2025 is a pivotal moment for the metaverse and Meta Horizon Worlds.
According to the memo, the metaverse will either be incredibly successful or a “legendary misadventure,” Business Insider reports.
“Horizon Worlds on mobile absolutely has to break out for our long-term plans to have a chance,” said Bosworth.
With marketing and advertising like this, which feels out of touch and not topical in 2025, many think that Meta Horizon Worlds doesn’t stand a chance.