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A Place For Product Placement In Games?
Thanks to GameSpy for its CES 2004 report, which includes coverage of a roundtable regarding product advertising in videogames. The writer points out: "The Super Monkey Ball simians gobble Dole bananas. Jet Moto features a giant Mountain Dew billboard. The alien-fighters in RLH drank Bawls", and goes on to cite research that "30% of in-game ads are recalled in the short-term, which is impressive. Even more amazing is the fact that 15% are recalled after five months - unheard of in advertising." But, of course, "if a placement ticks off the gamer, there's not much a company can do to negate that negative." What are the most appropriate and least appropriate advertising placements you've seen in games?
The first product placement I remember in a game was F1GP on the Amiga. They had ads for Duckhams and a few other car related companies in it, and this was back in 1991 or thereabouts.
Hardly a new idea.
There was some racing game. You had to collect tokens to unlock cars. The game play was ok, the course selection as good as one might expect for the N64. But I still remember hunting all over for the God damn keys and Mountain Dew cans to unlock all the cars, including the wacky Mt Dew car.
I remember nothing about the game, but stunts, and Mt. Dew. No title, no maker, just Dew.
I think it works best, and is least obtrusive, when it's a product genuinly loved by the people making the game. The love the game, the love the product, they'll make it cool (unless the game is ass), and cool it will be.
Way back in like the early 90s there was some 10 year old kid who asked in a magazine article about advertisement (if memory serves me correct it was electronic gaming monthly).
He said something like why don't video game companies like EA use real advertisement in the sport stadium banners and such. Not too long later I remember getting NBA live basketball with real advertisement inside. To this day I really wonder if the industry owe this kid something.
If I remember correctly Monkey Ball sold for the same price as every other game when it came out. Movies cost the same amount to go see whether it's just one gigantic advertisement for Preperation H or an actual movie with plot.
Perhaps if the games cost less then I'd be okay with a few little things hidden in the game but as it is they are just annoying and don't do me any good.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
There was one good game, though, that springs to my mind and had just awful product placement: Beach Spikers (Sega volleyball game for Gamecube). Now, there was product placement all through the game (each event had a sponsor) and most of it was fine. However, one of the events was sponsored by Pringles, where there were huge Pringles cans that just about made me retch. The area surrounding the court was so over-the-top gaudy that it really worked on my nerves.
I think it's kind of fun when there's a real product put into a game here and there, and even a little product interaction is acceptable. I just hope game developers and marketing people try to keep it as tasteful as they possibly can. I don't have any specific guidelines as to what keeps the placement in the tasteful range, but, like obscenity, I know offensive, annoying and intrusive advertising when I see it.
On that note, I'll give a shout-out to Acclaim!
The most appropriate would have to be the Pizza Hut posters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II. The media marriage between the Turtles and Pizza Hut was sheer genius. Everyone ate so much damn pizza during that era.
The absolute worst would be Darkened Skye, where you use Skittles to create spells. In fact, the whole game is based around Skittles. I'm not just talking a web game, this game was released for PC and Gamecube.
Until Slashdot fixes the funny modifier, use insightful or interesting. The poster knows your intentions.
UT2003 is probably the worst, with a quick nVidia "The way it's meant to be played" splash screen before the game loads. Not even in-game, this is blatant advertising.
:)
An interesting quirk of this is that the splash screen is actually a UT map file, so with a little creative editing, you can change the nVidia logo to anything you wish. Least to say, my machine now proudly displays that ATI is the way it's meant to be played
Every computer terminal in Postal 2 shows Old Man Murray. Genius.
.cig - what you do after winning a good flame war
I believe that's something they added with WOXL. Though: Red Bull has been around since 1987 (in Austria) I don't know where Psygnosis is based, but given their Amiga origins, northern europe wouldn't surprise me.
Trees can't go dancing
So do them a big favor
Pretend dancing stinks!
I remember back in 1984, cramming the tasty breakfast cereal "Weetabix" down my throat in large amounts so i could cash the tokens in for the "Weetabix Vs The Titchies" Game.
Basically a crummy space invaders clone using animated versions of the cereal to shoot down "titchies" (i think they were lesser cereals)
Quite a disappointing game really, but lo and behold... I still have it, sat in the box with my 48k rubbber keyed Sinclair ZX
bah!*@%!
In Gran Turismo, the ads complement the game. The billboards are for automotive and racing products, just like you would see at any racetrack. It adds to the realism, which is why as a simulator, Gran Turismo is the best there is.
...we are from the government - we are here to help...
With all the references to take passengers to various places like KFC, Pizza Hut, Tower Records, the Levi's Store... And does anyone remember the uproar that SEGA ran into when they placed Marlboro ads in some of their early track-based racing games to make the game appear more realistic?
I'm suprised no one has mentioned the new Tony Hawk Underground game. This game has the most advertising I've ever seen, anywhere. All the skate companies are represented, element, Adio, and Billabong to name a few. Nokia billboards are relatively pervasive on the Tampa course as are complete McDonalds restaruants in Manhattan. The great thing though is that the skate companies are used as potential sponsors for your character so their impact is part of the depth of the game. The Nokia and McDonalds are a little less relevant but while I'm doing a darkslide down a concrete barrier in Manhattan it adds to the idea that I'm in the real world when I can pass by the Mickey D's and knock some poor shlub's super size sugar water out of his hands.