http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtAdjrvD0bY This is the ad in question.
There’s nothing in there about how the game is good, just that your mom would not think it was. I do detect a little tongue-in-cheek in the delivery, but the basic advertising method is still exactly what it appears to be on the surface.
I’ve been inundated with these commercials on all sorts of online videos, and I’ve been struggling to grasp exactly what rubs me the wrong way about this approach, other than hating this entire genre of fake “reality” commercials to begin with. I did come across this article that explained my feelings pretty well. http://www.idsnews.com/news/weekend/story.aspx?id=79563
From the article-
“This ad campaign is indefensible. Even as the industry tries to argue that it doesn’t market age-inappropriate products to children, it directly markets a mature game to people not even old enough to purchase it. After all, who else would care if their mom didn’t like a game? The “intended” audience of the game, according to its rating, is players 17 or older. However, I don’t know of any 18-year-olds who base their entertainment decisions on whether or not their mother disapproves.”
And that’s just it. They can claim whatever target demographic they want, this is obviously for high school kids who’s maturity levels probably don’t warrant access to this sorts of game anyway.
I feel like the industry is harming itself in the long-term with this approach. We are just starting to make progress in convincing people that games are no different than films or any other kind of media in that there is something for everyone. This helps to shed the image of games as violent toys that we need to shield the children from. Yet I don’t know of any mainstream movie today that would market itself based on how depraved and sickening your mother would find it to be.
I realize that this is just one company trying to sell a game and using a method that will probably work. I know that profits trump the whimpers of social responsibility claims from people like me, and that they aren’t really immediately concerned with the social perception of gaming as a whole. But wow does it hack me off.
I actually know nothing about this game, but a quick glance at the aggregation sites reveal that it is getting pretty good reviews. So this is obviously a product that has some sort of appeal outside of the most base imaginable consumer motivations. This fact makes this campaign seem even more out of step in my eyes.
I’m now prepared to be told that I’m crazy. What say you!