Questioning Heavy-Handed In-Game Ad Campaigns

Posted on January 23, 2006 by | 5 Comments
Since my last post on the recent Subway ad campaign in Counter-Strike, I’ve been trying to think of ways to help non-gamers understand the problem with such heavy-handed marketing tactics. So I’ve designed the following thought experiment. First: check out this screenshot of the Subway campaign (provided by Joystiq):
Two things you can’t help but notice immediately: there are a ton of ads in a single location, and no effort has been made to realistically blend the ads into the surrounding environment. It doesn’t get more blunt than this.

Some marketing professionals would argue that there’s nothing wrong with this campaign. They might say that conscious rejection of the ads will be outweighed by subconscious assimilation of the brand. They might even dismiss conscious rejection entirely. There is some research that supports these assertions, though I don’t know of any study focused on an equally blunt campaign in a AAA game.

Regardless, now check out this image of Disney World that I have heavily photoshopped:

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Can you imagine how people would feel if, after paying $50 per person, they walked into Disney World (expecting an escape, magic, etc), and they saw this? What if the rides themselves were filled with poorly-placed ads? Can you imagine Subway blanketing the Haunted Mansion in the same way it blanketed Counter-Strike? They’d never do it (and Disney would never permit it).

If you were a visitor to this theoretical Disney World, do you think your conscious frustration with Subway (and Disney) would fade quickly? Speaking only for myself: I’d be irate, and I wouldn’t forget it soon.

There’s an extra level of thoughtfulness that must be employed when advertising in any medium that people particularly care about — and games (like Disney World) are at the top of the heap.

Update (1/24): according to Jennie at Joystiq, the CS screenshot she posted was actually modified. Jennie added that the actual in-game Subway campaign was slightly less “absurd”, but still “badly done for the CS setting”.
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