This Minions MSG Sphere ad is an Orwellian nightmare

The days of simple film promos are dead – it seems now more than ever that movie marketing teams are scrambling for the next big viral sensation that gets their movie hitting headlines. The latest case surrounds the promotion of Despicable Me 4 (yes, there are that many films in the franchise), which saw 'Mega Jerry' the minion take over Las Vegas' MSG Sphere.

From desperate TikTok trends to salacious popcorn buckets, the world of movie marketing has been undoubtedly creative (albeit a little unhinged) in recent months. It's not the first time that the Las Vegas sphere has been used for film promotion (nor will it be the last), but to me, there's something deeply Orwellian about a larger-than-life minion watching over Sin City – welcome to the future, I guess.

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Shortly after its debut, clips of minion sphere sightings started circulating online. The gaudy display predominantly features fan favourite 'mega minion' Jerry – one of the five superhero minions making an appearance in the new film. In the bizarre videos, Mega Jerry can be seen looking around smugly, chowing down on one of his regular-sized colleagues or gormlessly staring off into the night.

While Vegas arguably isn't one of the most understated places on earth, the strange sight understandably caused a stir. "This looks like something you would see in your nightmares," one X user responded under a DiscussingFilm tweet. "What would a person say if he could travel from the past and see this in 2024?," another questioned, while one user added, "The sphere was made for Minions advertising lol."

When the MSG Sphere first launched, it could've easily been mistaken as one big optical illusion, but the world's most mesmerising eyesore is regretfully real and seemingly here to stay. For more bizarre film news, check out the trailer for Pharell's Lego biopic – it's an unlikely collab but for some reason, it works.