30 years later, the identity of the SEGA villain has been revealed after years of research

game news 30 years later, the identity of the SEGA villain has been revealed after years of research

years of research

Whether you lived in the age of those ads and were born long after, you’ve probably heard of “SEGA punk” before. In the ’90s, somewhere near the start of the 1991 school year, viewers spotted SEGA France-funded ads that were eye-catching! At that time, the French entity, through the Lintas news agency, had just launched an advertising campaign that had become a cult: SEGA, it’s stronger than you! At first, those responsible for this campaign had imagined a devious biker rubbing his shoulders with the publisher’s toys, but the idea finally came to a head when Barry Myers, a volume in advertising, took over the commercials.

Instead of the slightly bluffed driver, the English director rethought the concept and imagined a punk riding his motorbike into a (completely reconstructed) Los Angeles station with a post-apocalyptic vibe. The director’s idea was to play the humor card with an atmosphere that seemed very serious. The result ? unbelievable ! For the production of these spots, the British director invited “real” specialists in special effects, with real fiery effects, real explosions, jets of water, sliding of the earth away, etc. These are several teasers shot over several days at the beginning of June 1991 – not far from the release of Sonic the Hedgehog. And in these places, the character of punk was especially distinguished by spirits, but no one – not even actors at that time – was able to give his true identity. until today…

Ian Harrison, aka British Storm

As part of the research, Laurent Comby, the Swiss collector who discovered the reels from filming for SEGA ads, worked for a long time to put together a name for this man. Over time, and through a lot of research, we finally learned that SEGA France, through the Lintas Agency, has orchestrated the selection of true wrestling professionals. In fact, for these ads, it took a very strong and muscular person to force a touch of humor. During the filming, the actor wore a hairpiece, so it was not clear who he really was. Several theories have surfaced on the networks, with some believing that the actor may have been one of the individuals seen in the Mad Max films. The path was wrong.

In a tweet, user @predatorfanboy posted a message that he might have found a ’90s SEGA punk, and the two eye-catching comparison photos showed that he may have been on the right track.

Laurent Combi scrambled to retrieve the information and was finally able to contact the person in the photo. Thirty years later, thanks to his investigation and invaluable help from @predatorfanboy, we can confirm the identity of the villain in SEGA commercials in the early 1990s. The person playing this memorable role is none other than Ian Harrison, an English professional bodybuilder and wrestler nicknamed “British Storm”.

For the record, the guy was super excited about responding to an interview. So there’s a good chance we’ll learn more behind the scenes about these cult photos over time.

Finally, know that the original music the British director wanted wasn’t Surfin Bird from The Trash Men, but Welcome to the Jungle from Guns N’ Roses. When he learned about the change of music, he was furious, but did not win his case.