Trying to be down with the kids is rarely well advised. As if to prove this universal truth, Opera has just unleashed what must rank as one of the most cringeworthy, off-key, trying-to-be-cool promo reels in the history of online marketing.
For a browser.
The YouTube video released a few days ago—the Opera GX Hero trailer—is promoting a refreshed version of Opera GX, a browser ostensibly built for gamers. Opera kicks off by dismissing every other browser as "fucking boring", before promoting integrated "shitposting" as a core feature, and then casually implying that Opera GX's users probably browse for porn and might want to avoid attention from the Feds. Yes, really.
There are one or two further zingers. For as long as it remains posted online, and we have our doubts about that, you can watch the full ad reel for Opera GX here. But you have been warned.
After all that, focusing on the actual feature set of the revised browser, first launched in 2019, isn't easy. But here goes. The key changes involve a refreshed design with an emphasis on "immersion", more personalization options and added features including a "forced dark mode".
The latter essentially entails the ability to force any webpage into a dark or presumably inverted color palette that's optimal for low-light environments.
More specifically, the new visual design known as "Underwave" bequeaths a supposedly "sleek, game-inspired look", and adds the adjust the layout of the browser interface and add transparency.
Further personalization options include fonts, sidebar and desktop icons, and screenshot stickers. The browser also now supports AI-enhanced video upscaling via Nvidia RTX graphics cards.
Opera claims various further enhancements, such as a new Multithreaded Compositor for smoother performance. They all enhance what was already claimed to be a gamer-centric browser which offers features and frills including a whole suite of integrated apps from Twitch and Discord, to Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Vkontakte, TikTok and WhatsApp, not to mention X and Instagram.
Opera GX also has a built-in ad blocker, the ability to sync profiles and share flies and links across devices, video pop out that creates an overlay when scrolling, free VPN, controls for tweaking RAM, CPU and network parameters and more.
It's actually quite a nice looking browser with an interesting feature set that probably didn't deserve this, well, "shitpost" of an ad campaign to distract from the work Opera's engineers have done on the browser. In the meantime, we'll be interested to see how long Opera sticks with this insufferably 'edgy' marketing approach.
