Offensive Game Ads And You

myownsummer

So apparently enough people across the pond thought this ad (for PlayStation Move) was too risque and ended up getting it pulled.

Ad in question (via Kotaku):

Story: http://kotaku.com/5715936/playstation-ad-banned-for-being-too-violent

Is anyone actually bothered by this? Help me think of some other controversial ads. I'm trying to find that one for World Series baseball on Saturn that had giant hairy asses with the copy reading "All The Smells Of Baseball Without The Chili Dog Farts" or something.

JustinSane07

Is it offensive cuz the guy in red is going to shove a dildo in the mouth of the other guy?

Anarchy Rules!

To be honest, I'm more offended by the Wii advert with the boyband JLS in which they all appear to make the wanking hand action.

Tav

I know some ads for Hitman: Blood Money were pulled for being offensive, but really I don't think I've ever been offended by an ad for a video game.

Chick in underwear, bra and dressing gown with a bullet in her head.

Senjutsu

Those PSP ads were widely considered offensive

kaliyama

Senjutsu wrote: »

Those PSP ads were widely considered offensive

What PSP ads?

dlinfiniti

Senjutsu wrote: »

Those PSP ads were widely considered offensive

Senjutsu

kaliyama wrote: »

Senjutsu wrote: »

Those PSP ads were widely considered offensive

What PSP ads?

http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/06/sony-under-fire-for-racist-advertising/

I think there was also one with a mexican caricature

nexuscrawler

Anarchy Rules! wrote: »

To be honest, I'm more offended by the Wii

nexuscrawler

I found the Call of Duty one with all the corporate drone types fighting it out in a far too realistic battlefield to be mildly disturbing

matt has a problem

I don't find ads offensive that are depictions of the game honestly. What do people think you're going to do in a game called "Move into the Fight"? Just because you don't have an ad of someone punching someone else doesn't make the game not about punching someone else. Same as the Hitman ad, the people they're marketing Hitman to will respond to that kind of ad, because that's what you do in Hitman. The PSP ones I only find offensive in the sense that someone was either too dumb to realize how those ads would be taken, or thought they were going to be "edgy" and sneak one by everyone else.

Dashui

I've never been offended, although there was a European ad I wonder might have offended some people. Two kids were sitting in a car playing Juiced, a racing game with vehicle customization. They look out the window and see a redheaded woman walking down the street. They grin at each other, turn toward her with the controllers and start pressing lots of buttons, making her breasts bigger, stripping off her clothes, etc.

Captain Carrot

The ad in the OP is neither risque nor offensive. It is, however, really bad-looking, like the old ads from the 80s in comic books.

Feral

Senjutsu wrote: »

kaliyama wrote: »

Senjutsu wrote: »

Those PSP ads were widely considered offensive

What PSP ads?

http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/06/sony-under-fire-for-racist-advertising/

I think there was also one with a mexican caricature

I personally wasn't offended by those ads but I do think they were in very, very bad taste.

It's a shame, too, because they were beautifully photographed. Had I seen them in an art gallery, I would have taken them to be technically well-executed but ham-handed photographic representations of race relations (or some heady shit like that). In the context of a billboard, though, they're just facepalm-worthy.

President Rex

Apparently this ad was considered offensive when it came out and got pulled.

Maybe because of his terrible dental hygiene?

Raiden333

I remember my parents were pretty shocked when they saw this in one of my gaming magazines when I was like 10:

(linked because it's pretty borderline NSFW)

http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps2/games/features/images/53238-2.jpg

matt has a problem

President Rex wrote: »

Apparently this ad was considered offensive when it came out and got pulled.

Maybe because of his terrible dental hygiene?

This one was banned too, and I think both are actually really effective and creative commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRt0s_BJEyo&feature=related

Slicer

myownsummer wrote: »

Is anyone actually bothered by this? Help me think of some other controversial ads. I'm trying to find that one for World Series baseball on Saturn that had giant hairy asses with the copy reading "All The Smells Of Baseball Without The Chili Dog Farts" or something.

Ugh, I thought I purged that ad from my mind forever.

I'm glad that the gross-out style of ads like that and many others during the mid to late 90s is practically extinct.

override367

matthasaproblem wrote: »

President Rex wrote: »

Apparently this ad was considered offensive when it came out and got pulled.

This one was banned too, and I think both are actually really effective and creative commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRt0s_BJEyo&feature=related

I love that one

The newer black ops one reminds me of it a little

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pblj3JHF-Jo

agentk13

matthasaproblem wrote: »

President Rex wrote: »

Apparently this ad was considered offensive when it came out and got pulled.

Maybe because of his terrible dental hygiene?

This one was banned too, and I think both are actually really effective and creative commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRt0s_BJEyo&feature=related

I really want to set up one of those mass improv things to do that, but I'm pretty sure that would end in at least one death.

override367

But at least they died for a noble cause

agentk13

override367 wrote: »

But at least they died for a noble cause

I meant the former commercial. It'd be like a metaphor for spawn camping!

matt has a problem

override367 wrote: »

matthasaproblem wrote: »

President Rex wrote: »

Apparently this ad was considered offensive when it came out and got pulled.

This one was banned too, and I think both are actually really effective and creative commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRt0s_BJEyo&feature=related

I love that one

The newer black ops one reminds me of it a little

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pblj3JHF-Jo

We have Spaced to thank for all of it though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sqSQ5Vu8vM

JustinSane07

Raiden333 wrote: »

I remember my parents were pretty shocked when they saw this in one of my gaming magazines when I was like 10:

(linked because it's pretty borderline NSFW)

http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps2/games/features/images/53238-2.jpg

Holy crap! 32 bits of processing power!

Synthesis

nexuscrawler wrote: »

I found the Call of Duty one with all the corporate drone types fighting it out in a far too realistic battlefield to be mildly disturbing

The fact that they never showed anyone being shot--just people shooting in various directions, and a helicopter exploding--kind of highlights how disturbing the commercial is if you think about it.

matt has a problem

Synthesis wrote: »

nexuscrawler wrote: »

I found the Call of Duty one with all the corporate drone types fighting it out in a far too realistic battlefield to be mildly disturbing

The fact that they never showed anyone being shot--just people shooting in various directions, and a helicopter exploding--kind of highlights how disturbing the commercial is if you think about it.

And Kobe Bryant uses a damn noob tube, fuckin' Lakers man....

agentk13

Synthesis wrote: »

nexuscrawler wrote: »

I found the Call of Duty one with all the corporate drone types fighting it out in a far too realistic battlefield to be mildly disturbing

The fact that they never showed anyone being shot--just people shooting in various directions, and a helicopter exploding--kind of highlights how disturbing the commercial is if you think about it.

I like to think they were all shooting at "Peggy" from those commercials.

Doc

I'm quite a bit more concerned about the UK banning a piece of media because 8 people complained than I am about the mildly violent content.

I mean, half of the NES box art would be banned under that policy:



If being a Bad Dude and kicking a ninja is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Salvation122

myownsummer wrote: »

Help me think of some other controversial ads.

There were those Forsaken ads that ran for like two years, that showed an entirely naked woman with a tattoo on her hip standing in front of a blighted landscape and absolutely nothing about the game.

Zombiemambo

I think we can all agree that this cover is downright offensive

electricitylikesme

Man I never got the controversy with the Xbox finger-guns one.

That whole ad was just inspired.

Doc

I looked it up, and the ASA isn't technically government-run. However:

http://www.asa.org.uk/Regulation-Explained/Control-of-ads/Self-regulation-non-broadcast.aspx

Interaction with the law
Across the European Union (EU) there is a unified piece of consumer protection legislation to prevent the use of misleading or unfair trading practices. This law, called the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, has been translated into UK law to make sure that we have the same rules as all the other countries in the EU.

The ASA works within this legal framework to make sure that UK advertising is not misleading or unfair. The ASA is able to refer advertisers who refuse to work with us and persistently make misleading claims to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for legal action. The OFT is able to act under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which governs how businesses interact with consumers and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008, which govern how businesses advertise to each other.

The ASA is considered the ‘established means’ for gaining compliance with both these pieces of legislation. This means that the law itself is not usually enforced formally through the courts; instead the ASA is first allowed to tackle any problems under the Advertising Codes. This approach works well in the overwhelming majority of cases. The ASA is able to take action quickly and this avoids clogging up our court system.

Referral is rarely necessary, as most advertisers prefer to work with the self-regulatory system. Since 2000 around thirty advertisers have been referred to the OFT; in the same period the ASA has dealt with around 200,000 complaints.

Basically, the governments involved have handed over enforcement to the ASA - as far as I'm concerned, that makes the governments complicit in any censorship that the ASA enforces.

KalTorak

I'm offended when the actors supposedly playing a game are using the wrong controller, or holding it upside down, or (unless the game is Mario Party) just trying desperately the mash random buttons as fast as possible while looking ecstatic.

Though with the advent of motion-sensing controls, the default move has switched from wild button-mashing to wild limb-flailing while looking ecstatic. With 3 additional people that are age-appropriate to be a wholesome white American family.

Doc

KalTorak wrote: »

I'm offended when the actors supposedly playing a game are using the wrong controller, or holding it upside down, or (unless the game is Mario Party) just trying desperately the mash random buttons as fast as possible while looking ecstatic.

Though with the advent of motion-sensing controls, the default move has switched from wild button-mashing to wild limb-flailing while looking ecstatic. With 3 additional people that are age-appropriate to be a wholesome white American family.

So the exact opposite of this guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWbLOFGSEDo

Synthesis

It's horrible, but it's not....offensive....?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkNPcUMffU

Xenogear_0001

Synthesis wrote: »

nexuscrawler wrote: »

I found the Call of Duty one with all the corporate drone types fighting it out in a far too realistic battlefield to be mildly disturbing

The fact that they never showed anyone being shot--just people shooting in various directions, and a helicopter exploding--kind of highlights how disturbing the commercial is if you think about it.

Yeah, I was a bit put off by that one to be honest. Just seemed like poor taste.

Tav

KalTorak wrote: »

I'm offended when the actors supposedly playing a game are using the wrong controller, or holding it upside down, or (unless the game is Mario Party) just trying desperately the mash random buttons as fast as possible while looking ecstatic.

Though with the advent of motion-sensing controls, the default move has switched from wild button-mashing to wild limb-flailing while looking ecstatic. With 3 additional people that are age-appropriate to be a wholesome white American family.

Organichu

there's some fantasy rpg on DS- dragon something or other

anyway the commercials (the ones i've seen so far) involve either: a cute teenage girl talking about how much she loves her lvl 38 minstrel, and how there are SO MANY clothing options... she's never seen a game with this many cute accessories! she goes with loud clothing because that's her personality ; and a teenaged boy talking about the strategy and attacks and how the combat is so deep and fun

gets my goat

Kagera

This whole ad campaign was pretty offensive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoPnp4ufeSk

DeShadowC

Synthesis wrote: »

It's horrible, but it's not....offensive....?

[vidurl]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkNPcUMffU[/vidurl]

That's so far in the uncanny valley I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight.

Heatwave

The only thing offensive about game ads are the pre-order bonuses. Hey yo!