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Weirdest DLC Sponsorship Ever: SimCity, Brought To You By Crest
MojoKid writes "When it comes to creative advertising potential, it's hard to beat a game like SimCity. In most titles, the idea of in-game advertising makes little sense. Sarah Kerrigan doesn't shop at Victoria's Secret, Booker DeWitt is an unlikely fan of Coca-Cola, and the post-apocalyptic setting of Metro 2033 isn't exactly prime McDonald's turf. But SimCity? SimCity is a game where it makes perfect sense to integrate real-world brands. A city filled with familiar logos and advertising is a city that more closely resembles the real world. That's undoubtedly why EA decided to partner with Crest Toothpaste. Yes, toothpaste. And not for in-game advertising, either. The Nissan Leaf DLC that the company launched a few weeks back at least made sense in some context; EV charging stations are going to be an increasingly common site in cities in the future. But the five new SimCity Attractions that the company added in the Crest partnership boggle the mind."
The Escapist points out that this partnership also extends to The Sims Social, one of EA's Facebook games... which is getting shut down in a few months.
Their new company slogan should be, "And You Thought Square Enix Was Evil. Muwhahahaha. Ha. ..... Haaaaaaaaaaah."
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
I know Slashdot likes to confuse us with it's hyperlink placement, but I just feel like pointing out that puting the link to TFA on the text "a city that more closely resembles the real world" makes absolutely no sense. That's where a link to a story about the Nissan Leaf DLC should go, at best. The very next sentence, "That's undoubtedly why EA decided to partner with Crest Toothpaste. Yes, toothpaste." is where the hyperlink to go since the hyperlink leads to.... a story about Crest Toothpaste DLC!
I mean, come on! Is no one doing basic proofreading here?
Brand recognition, which is worth a lot.
It could use a good flossing!
What, both of them?
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
Wake me up when it is NON-downloadable content and I can play it offline.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
In most titles, the idea of in-game advertising makes little sense. Sarah Kerrigan doesn't shop at Victoria's Secret, Booker DeWitt is an unlikely fan of Coca-Cola, and the post-apocalyptic setting of Metro 2033 isn't exactly prime McDonald's turf.
Ok, work with me here. I've got money on the table and I WANT to give it to you. Just keep an open mind. Roll with me here. Ok ok, here we go:
1) The queen of blades is casually strolling through the ruined husk of a terran world she just devistated. Fires and corpses everywhere. Zerglings scootin about everywhere. She looks around with a faint memory of a previous life. Her eyes focus on something. She smirks. The last scene is her walking into the mostly intake Victoria's Secrets store.
2) It's a cold unbearable post-apocalyptic Moscow. Your health slowly comes back as you fight you way through Icouldn'tbebotheredtoreadtheplotsummary. Sure, medkits can heal you to full, but what's better than a meal chock-full of preservatives? Every now and then you can find an old abandoned Micky-Dee's, salvage some old patties, and give your health a minor boost to regeneration.
3) Ok, ok, this last one is easy. Booker DeWitt scounges around some trashcans for food all the time right? All we ask is that a cocacola be in there. Easy as pie. Easier then pie. Pie has that flakey crust. All we want is a simple aluminum can in the trash. Is that too much to ask? There's all sorts of reasons it could be in there. Come ON baby, work with me here!
swallow.
Maybe this will help to get the bad taste out of everyone's mouth.
This does surprise me. Although the deal has probably been in the pipeline for months I would have thought that Crest would have realised that SimCity is pretty much become a toxic brand at the moment and will taint everything associated with it. Pulling out from the deal, or convincing EA to move the deal to another game would have made a lot of sense.
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Lets make sure potential city builders are all floride heads!!
And it just keeps getting stranger by the day. I have nobody to blame but myself.
...why does my city now look like Toothopolis? And who are these creeps always trying to storm my city walls?
Not too much different than cans of Mt Dew I've seen with in-game codes (not for SimCity). At least the toothpaste won't rot your teeth.
Just think about it, it makes sense.
1. You use toothpaste to remove bad stuff from your teeth, like plaque.
2. Plaque also occurs in your arteries where it can block them, becoming a danger to your health.
3. Something blocking the tubes creating a danger to someone's health.
4. Sim City!
I've seen in game codes on cans of Mt Dew. At least the the toothpaste won't rot your teeth.
Coca-Cola was created in 1886, making it 26 years old at the start of Bioshock Infinite. Why couldn't Booker be a fan?
No, no, everyone knows that if you wanted to do product placement for Coca-cola in Bioshock Infinite, you simple call Coke Classic "Bucking Bronco" for a month or two, maybe change Mountain Dew to "Possession."
Really though, Bioshock Infinite is a bad example, since it did have plenty of Product Placement in the form of songs.
Although, knowing the crazy way the music biz works, Levine & co probably had to pay the RIAA for the right to use the songs....
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), which is basically anything that you find in a supermarket, has always struggled with how to approach the internet/digital. Their model for the last fifty years has been to blast ads all over TV, which was easily segmented into specific groups depending on the product. I spent some time working with these companies, and by and large they are not sure how to approach the internet.
Buying up lots of banner ads isn't the same as buying lots of time during specific shows. No one wants to sit through their commercials, and tracking Return on Investment on their ads is entirely different than what they are used to, and the jury is still out on effectiveness of those ads. Facebook lets anyone come along and build out some very, very specific segments and advertise their niche product. Also, as TV watching drops, CPG HAS TO find a better way to reach people online.
Because CPG still hasn't found something that "clicks" in the online space, and this looks like an experiment for Crest to see if this is an area that makes sense for them to explore long term... they can't reach people on TV because people are playing games, so why not advertise to them in the game?
Like previous attempts, it just doesn't really make sense to the audience. CPG still has some work to do to find a way to reach people, and there is a LOT of money to be made by the person that figures it out.
whenever you get some brand to show up in the game, it's always one-sided and not diverse like the real world. if it's an urban setting and there is a mcdonald's, surely there is a burger king or wendy's or taco bell or something within a few square blocks. if the store has coca-cola, put some pepsi and rc cola in the same aisle. go all out or gtfo.
...
I would have thought that Crest would have realised that SimCity is pretty much become a toxic brand at the moment and will taint everything associated with it.
The download of the new SimCity is #3 in PC game sales at Amazon,com The SimCity 4 download edition is #5. The Sims 3 and its - many - add-ons are well placed in the top 50.
Bioshock Infinite, with a Metacritic rating of 95, is #14.
Y'know, it used to be that disasters in SimCity were things like fires, floods, and Godzilla attacks. What now? "Emergency! Market share of Crest(tm) toothpaste among Sims has fallen below 50%!" To respond to this disaster, you have to deploy advertising defenses and retailer goodwill to increase brand awareness and Sim purchasing levels.
Next thing you know, in addition to such city services as police, fire, water, and sanitation, Sims will start demanding such things as Coca-Cola(tm) bottling facilities and McDonald's(tm) restaurants.
On top of that, I don't see any sign of "in-game" crest marketing in TFA:
Unless the Giant Garden Gnome has a shiny smile, it's not in-game advertising, it's just cross promotion.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
> Sim City, Brought To You By Crest
I think their marketing department got confused with The Sims, where, near as I can remember (it's been awhile) the chicks were kissing each other all the time.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Similar things began to happen just before the big video game crash of 1983. I think it was even Crest proof-of-purchase tags that got you the game.
It's not like they're dental-related monuments... so what if the codes are on toothpaste tubes. No different than having to buy a pizza or a pop for other online game codes.
I vote for the Sarah Kerrigan line of Victoria's Secrets.
Condition #1: It MUST be free, and it CANNOT contain any pay to play features that cannot be obtained from playing the game in reasonable amount of time.
Condition #2: Constant internet connectivity is fine if it is a F2P game, however it is a full-price game. Make your pick but if it's a P2P game then I don't want to see in-game advertisements or have to stay online to play.
Condition #3: My in-game decisions should not influence what ads are targeted towards me. So if I install a nude patch, I don't want ads about viagra.
Sort of stopped reading after 'Sarah Kerrigan doesn't shop at Victoria's Secret'...
Nihil in publicum sputa.
Sarah Kerrigan doesn't shop at Victoria's Secret, Booker DeWitt is an unlikely fan of Coca-Cola, and the post-apocalyptic setting of Metro 2033 isn't exactly prime McDonald's turf.
But, Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance shop the Steam sales.
Silence is a state of mime.
world's Fucking Stupidest Acronym makes Dumb Ass Headline ...
seriously WTF is DLC?
If one of the attractions is "The world's largest ball of twine", does that mean that there is only one available for download? What if 2 neighboring cities have the same attraction? Does it keep getting bigger and bigger and the first one to reach the per-item triangle count win?
"Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
I mean that's really what making games is all about right?
Making shitpiles of money?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Makes perfect sense if you think about it a little creatively (which EA won’t): A new disaster event in which you have to defend your Simcity of Toothopolis against an onslaught of Cavity Creeps.
Then again EA sold their soul years ago. Someone needs to buy this company and liquidate it or fire the people making the dumb decisions.
I wonder if Crest wanted their money back after EA caused SimCity to be the biggest flop of the year.
In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!
I'm sure once you've built all five "buildings" from the DLC in one of your city there's little space left for anything else.
The Sims has been doing this for a long time, and really lots of games could use in-game advertising
Any sports game could have sponsors, any game set in modern times could probably have it.
Any game set in the near future could probably use current brands and even a post apocalyptic game could have product placement... Fallen Skies had Choco pies.
When you zoom waaaaay in on Simcity, you see that the polygon count on the sims is just a tat higher then that in Bioshock.
In other words, I fucking hate the "art" direction that Bioshock always had. You may like, I don't and MANY seem to agree with me.
Critics don't make a product, buyers do. And Simcity being a flawed game? Gosh? Really? Well, that is a first. Lots of "can't do that" stuff once you get really stuck in? In a game? Wow! I never experienced that before.
Bioshock another FPS (even if decent, it is still in a long line of others) of which a dozen launch each month with art I don't like. Simcity a highly flawed Simcity game in a genre that sees a handful of titles per decade that are above abysmal.
Bioshock appeals to young kids with no money, Simcity appeals to adults for who 50 bucks for a game they might play for 50 hours is a very cheap form of entertainment.
It ain't "nice" but McD will always pull in more money by appealing to families with cheap burgers, then a quality burger joint aiming at hipsters. Know your market.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Is still the best placement.
Because that's just what a crappy 2 by 2 mile city with big lines of buses and sims they go sleep in the nearest available house to their workplace when their work day is over needs to be realistic... advertising!
"Sarah Kerrigan doesn't shop at Victoria's Secret" Too bad. An achivement unlock that would display her in VC clothing might make me buy SC3 :)
"When it comes to creative advertising potential, it's hard to beat a game like SimCity.
When it comes to advertising potential, it's hard to beat a franchise like SimCity. But associating yourself with a game like SimCity which has been so widely panned and which will be forgotten in a couple years due to how very bad it is, with people going back to playing the prequel, is a waste of time and money.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Go home EA, you're drunk.
Sarah Kerrigan doesn't shop at Victoria's Secret
But OMG, if she did...
In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Not that much different from CD's in cereal boxes. I seem to remember some video-game related stuff back in the NES days, and more recently I've seen various consumer products coming with game discs etc.
Heck, Burger King has their own games as well.
As mentioned in the linked article, advergaming is not exactly new, even if in this case the DLC itself isn't about toothpaste.
This is a guy that digs cotton candy out of trashcans and eats it. I don't think he'd have anything against Coca-Cola. If he were in the Fallout universe he'd probably be digging Nuka-Cola out of the trash and drinking it too.
What about Dentopolis (or whatever it was called) under attack from The Cavity Creeps? That would have been an incredible SimCity mod. We make holes in teeth! I would ~pay~ for that.
Long live the Speaker Bracelet
Rolo D. Monkey
Isn't this basically "Buy a tube of Crest, get a free toy!" where the toy is something that goes inside of SimCity? When I was a kid, I would get a watch in my box of Honeycomb Cereal. I really don't see how this is different.
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