Vin Diesel's D&D Birthday Cake

EzekielRaiden · Jul 20, 2015

doctorhook said:
Can anyone confirm that this is his actual birthday cake? Just wondering.

Yes. https://www.facebook.com/VinDiesel/....101581.89562268312/10153582925078313/?type=1 Unless there's an impostor with a Vin Diesel Facebook account, this is probably the real deal.

Also: Still boggles my mind that someone like Vin is such a big fan of D&D. It might be me confusing the actor for the parts he plays, but he just doesn't seem the type. The fact that he is, despite that appearance, is wonderful. Would be nice if WotC did...I dunno. SOMETHING more to leverage that love. Get a TV ad with him in it--saying how much he's loved playing D&D over the years. Would do the hobby a lot of good, I think--dispel inaccurate assumptions and market the game to an audience that might never have even considered playing before. (Yeah, I know there was the web series or the like, but something MUCH more mainstream, and watched by Vin's many fans, surely couldn't hurt.)

Halivar · Jul 20, 2015

I heard rumors that during filming of Chronicles of Riddick, he DM'd for Karl Urban and Dame Judy Dench. I mean, how often do you get a real-not-pretend Dame at your gaming table?

Polyhedral_Columbia · Jul 20, 2015

This may be a totally incorrect...and I don't doubt that Diesel may very well have a genuine interest in D&D...but what if Hasbro themselves designed and purchased the cake as a publicity stunt?

Corporatism is like that. I'm remembering how back when the first D&D Movie came out, there was some slick (100% enthusiastic) "fan site" for the movie, which was really sub-contracted by Hasbro.

If my "sponsored cake" supposition is incorrect, I apologize ahead of time.

Flobby · Jul 20, 2015

Seeing that it's a 3rd edition cake, I doubt it is sponsored.

Rune · Jul 20, 2015

TraverseTravis said:
This may be a totally incorrect...and I don't doubt that Diesel may very well have a genuine interest in D&D...but what if Hasbro themselves designed and purchased the cake as a publicity stunt?

Corporatism is like that. I'm remembering how back when the first D&D Movie came out, there was some slick (100% enthusiastic) "fan site" for the movie, which was really sub-contracted by Hasbro.

If my "sponsored cake" supposition is incorrect, I apologize ahead of time.

So...you're saying that the cake is a lie?

Even if you assume that the Facebook account is a fake, I think it's safe to assume that a corporate version of the cake made for (stealth) marketing purposes would be modeled on books that they are actually currently selling, rather than ones which are two editions behind.

Also, if you (general you, here) loved D&D (as most of us do), wouldn't you want such a birthday cake? Vin Diesel has told people publicly that he plays D&D (or, at the very least, did at the time of telling). It's been videotaped and broadcast. It happened. Therefore, why wouldn't he want such a cake?

Of course, he probably didn't commission the cake himself, which means that he has at least one gamer friend who knows exactly how awesome this cake is (because, really, who else would understand?).

JRedmond · Jul 20, 2015

I guess you haven't seen the multitude of videos out there where he says he plays D&D.

http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show...really-obsessed-with-dungeons-dragons/2802073

TraverseTravis said:
This may be a totally incorrect...and I don't doubt that Diesel may very well have a genuine interest in D&D...but what if Hasbro themselves designed and purchased the cake as a publicity stunt?

Corporatism is like that. I'm remembering how back when the first D&D Movie came out, there was some slick (100% enthusiastic) "fan site" for the movie, which was really sub-contracted by Hasbro.

If my "sponsored cake" supposition is incorrect, I apologize ahead of time.

Polyhedral_Columbia · Jul 20, 2015

I'm not saying Diesel's interest in D&D is fake. Sorry for the confusing comparison to the D&D Movie website, which was fake.

I'm not saying the cake doesn't exist.

I'm not saying Diesel didn't post that photo to his fb page.

I'm not saying Diesel wouldn't want such a cake.

I'm not saying Diesel doesn't have a genuine and ongoing interest in D&D.

I'm only saying that it is possible that the "friend" who commissioned the cake for him may very well have been Hasbro's marketing department.

Choosing the 3e-style for the cake would help deflect any perception of it being an obvious publicity stunt.

I may be incorrect. I'm just saying that corporatism does sometimes work that way: using economic power to shape cultural interests and perceptions from behind the scenes. ("product placement")

Rune · Jul 20, 2015

TraverseTravis said:
Choosing the 3e-style for the cake would help deflect any perception of it being an obvious publicity stunt.

Apparently not any perception. Then again, even if they were 5e books, I think it would take an exceptional amount of cynicism to automatically assume that it was corporate-sponsored product placement.

But, even were it so, so what? How would a business's less-than-altruistic gesture of appreciation make the cake any less awesome (or any less sincere) than if a buddy commissioned the cake?

(And, by the way, WotC, if you're reading this, my birthday is coming up in a couple of months. If you send me a cake that looks like a stack of D&D books, I'll totally post a photo of it online. Make mine 5th edition, though.)