Study Manages To Make Game Ads Even More Obnoxious
Hey you got your video game violence in my in-game ads! You got your in-game ads in my video game violence! Two great trends go great together in a study that says blood-spattered brands are more memorable. Well, duh.
A team of U.S. and European researchers found that, even though players spent less time looking at them, ads associated with violence were more memorable than ones not. The test subjects played a racing game (named AdRacer, pictured above) in which the goal was to run over targets on a road course. Ads were displayed as billboards on the roadside. When the targets became pedestrians, running over them spattered blood all over the screen.
Now, the utility of this memory association has its own costs. Namely, what happens to a Dr. Scholl’s or a Betty Crocker when they’re the hit ad in Manhunt 5. Certainly an advertiser could expect some controversy if not only their brand was associated with a nasty-violent game, but was deliberately (warning: corporate word alert) leveraging the violence for extra (incoming buzzword alert) mindshare.
An Advert for In-Game Violence [MIT Technology Review via Game Politics]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
For a second there I thought they were going to show ads comprised of blood spatters.
Studies like this will only serve to help anti-game advocates when they can link Dr. Scholl's and Betty Crocker product purchases to higher incidences of violent crime.
You heard it here first, folks!
mintycrys is HOT for Bayonetta
The only thing more awesome than an ad for T-Mobile in my game is an ad for T-Mobile spelled out in blood.
thank god for the word alerts.If it weren't for them My brain would've imploded,by not being ready to understand such word's.
@Hassun: Might work well if the blood on your screen spelled out Mt Dew whenever you chainsaw a locust.
This was a good study, but it came to the wrong conclusion. Clearly, the people want more Carmageddon, and could care less about the ads.
The game simply couldn't be more memorable with blood...
deuxhero
@(Zombie) Komrade Kayce: Bing, right on the money.
Or just show strippers with unique physical attributes of different nationality corresponding to a specific product. Same thing.
I still vividly remember the Tropic Thunder ads from Rainbow Six Vegas 2, but not because of the violence. Rather, because Ben Stiller's face up close scared the crap out of me.
The Institute of the Painfully Obvious strikes once again.
I hear their next study is on potential harm of sharp objects to human beings. And I'm the one conducting it.
@Hassun: Dragon Age's 'Violence Trailer.' Even their logo is a big dragon blood splatter.
@mintycrys is HOT for Bayonetta: Play GTA: You'll be gellin' like a felon.
@(Zombie) Komrade Kayce: Couldn't care less. COULDN'T. How many times Komrade Kayce?
@Draco_2k:
Mm. Why do these studies never show that running over Bill Gates or Andrew House inside the game.. will increase the positive connotations to the brand they represent, for example?
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