Sick of the advertisements for the presidential election? Thought unplugging your phone, ignoring television programs, and avoiding the newspaper would protect you from advertisements featuring Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain? Think again.
With less than three weeks left before Election Day, Obama wants to be sure the public knows he’s in the game. So Obama’s campaign has purchased ad space in Xbox 360 Live’s Burnout Paradise game and eight other Electronic Arts games. So gamers who connect their Xbox 360 console to the Internet will get more than a gaming experience; they’ll get to see Obama campaigning.
Obama, the first presidential candidate to be featured in video-game ads, is seen on billboards and other areas of the Xbox game popular among 16-to-30-year-old males.
With young adults spending a minimum of six hours per week playing video games, according to NPD Group, it seems a smart move by Obama’s campaign.
“To be honest, this news really threw me for a loop,” said David Riley, spokesperson for NPD Group. “I’ve always believed that politics and religion don’t belong in the gaming industry — think the oil and water analogy — but I don’t see why this cannot be explored, and why it cannot be successful. If anything, this might help to close the divide between gaming and politics, so I view this as a step in the right direction.”
Most consumers don’t mind in-game ads, according to a Nielsen study that found 82 percent of surveyed gamers felt games were just as enjoyable with ads as without. There was an average 61 percent increase in consumers’ positive opinions of products advertised in-game, according to the study commissioned by IGA Worldwide, an in-game advertising company.
More than 70 percent of consumers who were most opinionated about the in-game ads felt…