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| Two actual in-game advertisements from 2008, photo via blog.epromos.com/ |
Electronic Arts Inc. was the first to allow such practice to occur, in their NHL, NBA, NFL, and Need for Speed franchises. Virtual Billboards were purchased with Obama's face plastered all over them, and this practice is to continue in the 2012 election.
Now this makes me wonder, why are blatant political shills allowed to exist in this genre of entertainment and not others?
What if, at the end of the The Dark Knight Rises, Obama walked out, shook Bruce Wayne's hand, and said "I hope I can count on your vote in November. Obama/Batman 2012!"
I mean, aside from being awesome, and Fox News literally imploding on itself... What else would happen? Would there even be an uproar?
How far away are we until we see Political Product Placement in our mainstream media? It's already happening in video games but no one is batting an eye. Artists are already whoring themselves out for both American political parties and they are applauded for it.
Can you imagine the metaphorical shit-storm (and Twitt-storm) if Walt from Breaking Bad or Jax from Sons of Anarchy walked past a Romney billboard in the season premieres of their respective shows? Would the potential outrage be the same if it was an Obama billboard? Do political ads even belong in the same vein as the commercially driven product placement we see every single day?
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| Obama/Tellar 2012! |
This is a slippery slope and I, for one, hope that political advertising doesn't infiltrate/penetrate our entertainment any further. Artistic integrity is hemorrhaging to death and is almost non-existent in today's culture, but is nothing sacred anymore?
-NxB
Playing: Borderlands 2 by Gearbox & Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet
Reading: Whatever I'm assigned to read in school.
Watching: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Why do you find political product placement more infuriating than commercial product placement?
ReplyDeleteI saw an interview with Bono in which, when asked about U2 having sold out to a corporation (Apple), he said, "U2 is a corporation."
I find them both relatively 'infuriating' but political ones moreso because, I guess,
Deletea) It's harder to distinguish specifically where the money comes from, (unnamed donors via Super-pacs) and
b) as far as immersing someone in entertainment, it's more natural to see Spider-man shoot his web at a can of Dr. pepper, but the immersion is broken (for me at least) when I see a blatant political shill up there on the big-screen.
I guess basically... I'm just not used to political product placement yet..
We quickly become sophisticated viewers. Skeptical, too; even cynical.
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