Penny Arcade's ESRB Campaign

Gamespot reports on the official unveiling of Penny Arcade's ESRB ad campaign. Announced previously on their site, and discussed again today, the images are intended to connect up the ratings brand with the average gamer. From the article: "The ESRB ads will not make use of Penny Arcade's existing stable of characters, choosing instead to focus on original characters designed by the comic's creators. The first two ads (pictured) will depict E-rated audiences with Sarah, a pink-haired girl 'around age seven or eight,' and The Andersons, a father-and-son pair enjoying a game together."

Comments

Aww, maaannn...

[PSXer]

The ESRB ads will not make use of Penny Arcade's existing stable of characters

That's too bad. The Fruit Fucker would be perfect for AO rated games.

Make no mistake about it.

[Sheetrock]

The problem isn't about whether people are sufficiently aware of ESRB ratings. Movies have had ratings for decades, TV shows have a box in the upper left corner, CDs still come with 'Parental Advisory' stickers on them, and every game I've purchased in at least the last five years has had an ESRB rating on it. If you've got any concern about content (besides books) you're aware.

The problem is that there are folks out there who want nobody to be able to consume content they deem objectionable. There is no middle ground or acceptable compromise for them. We've got chips in every TV out there and now in just about every gaming console but that's simply not good enough. Run all the advertising campaigns you want, it doesn't matter because they're irrelevant to the people causing the fuss.