Grand theft hope isn't the best political campaign. Just sayin.

Dr Terror

@snakepliskin: He should run in the Bull Moose Party again. He had the ideals of all of us really, he was a great man, republican [and there is hardly any of those now a days].

CONFUSEDgam3r

@Huckleberry: That is my belief exactly. The ignorant youth from the left wing public school system are the ones at fault.

CONFUSEDgam3r

the juxtaposition of pictures in that images is quite funny. I wonder if that was intentional?

GTA is a weird game to associate a politician with in a positive manner. with iron man you got the arrogant hero, which kinda reminds of politicians cept he's more hands on.

But with GTA you have the sort of anti-hero, Byron-esque, or Milton-esque. it's just funny.

kryzhal

Man, I love the art for GTA 4. Is there a site where you can view all the pictures? Like that one of Packie up there.

Skitzoap

Ah, funny stuff.

ShirtGuyDom

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Thank you for expressing your opinion better. Yeah, it's pretty blatant. What I hate is the fact that he had claimed that he grew up poor, which was a crock because he grew up in Hawaii with him mom and step-father in a pretty decent place. Not only that, but Hawaii is one of the most expensive places to live in. Also, it makes me a little erked to see that African Americans in some states just vote for him because he's partly African American as well, he's graduated from Harvard Law, and was an attorney. He's a rich bastard, just like the rest of them.

RTW

@Fadakar: Good call. Probably not the best character to associate B.O. with. I use to like obama but now hes a crowd panderer its boring. Politics are once again as bullshit as ever. God teddy roosevelt needs to run again, that man was a badass.

snakepliskin

I LOL'ed when I saw the HOPEMAN poster via reddit earlier.

I like Obama. Makes me less cynical about politicians.

Jander

@snakepliskin: Vlad.

Fadakar

@Benzak: LOL! good one.

RTW

I don't know about hope so much as a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Some people are acting like voting for president is the same as voting for American Idol. It's a little depressing.

Huckleberry

@LittleBigPlaneteer:

attendance = tendency lol

LittleBigPlaneteer

@Palladium: Come on guys, this is video game site, not a political forum. Let's ignore the trolls and get on with the crazy tin foil hat theories of this being a new form of viral marketing.

Also, there is one guy who doesn't hate Bush, and he needs to get off his ass and work on an actual exit strategy. DO NOT LEAVE IT FOR THE NEXT GUY/GIRL TO FIGURE OUT.

Thorax

@Chanaluss: I think it says "Grand net HOPE auuu.

Benzak

@Palladium:

Oh god, I hate Bush. I used to be for Obama, but there's just something about him that irks me. I hate his long drawn out speeches, his attendance to be condescending/arrogant. The further he has gotten into this race, the more of a hypocrite he has become. First saying he doesn't like "dirty politics" yet continues to use them just as much as everyone else.

As for his policy (the most important of course), I support most of what he supports though he has kept it pretty safe on most issues (not wanting to step on anyone's toes, etc..) I just feel like he is telling people what they want to hear. That's basically what every politician does. Backing it up is another thing.

I just don't like him as a person from what I've seen of him these past few months.

LittleBigPlaneteer

Is that really the best way to get your name out there? To be associated with GTA surely won't go over well with the old folks, and the Fox News watchers, whom I guess are Republicans anyway.

KoopaTroopa

@Palladium: What does it matter, GWB can't be elected come fall anyways. All the candidates suck in my opinion, not one of them are my voice, which is what a politician is supposed to be.

RTW

@Palladium: Just let it go.

Luke Plunkett

so does that make it grand theft hope? because if it is, thats not the best platform to be on, because stealing hope is not a nice thing to do

Chanaluss

@LittleBigPlaneteer: I can't tell if elaborating that statement, or leaving it as it is would be more of a trolling statement.
I'm going to say leaving it as it is is trolling.
So please explain why you don't like him, or I'll be forced to call you "Okenny:)".

PS: Who can't you stand more, Bush or Obama? I just wanna know?
PPS: This is going off the assumption that everybody on the planet hates Bush, which is pretty much true at this point.

Palladium

Stop the presses. Obama officially picks up hookers and shoots them for his money back!

NeoNess

Please let this not be the DLC... please!

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

So, Luke, it's been bugging me: Oceania, or Australia? Which is the one you prefer? Which is the PC term?

I would go check those out, but I have a fear of subways and/or construction sites.

Palladium

I can't stand Obama

LittleBigPlaneteer

Whos head did they paste him over? Cause it looks like patrick mcreary is about to fuck obama up.

snakepliskin

Spelling "Barack" correctly would be a nice gesture.

akashhhhh

@CONFUSEDgam3r: The school system was designed to make workers for an assembly line. Liberal thinking really only appears in college. Conservative powers rule until then.

@snakepliskin: I have to say I love Teddy. Mainly because the man was so damn confusing. Was he so liberal he was ultra-conservative? Or so conservative that he was ultra-liberal? I'm not sure...

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Thanks!

@Luke Plunkett: I'm sorry :(

Palladium

Woah... really?......like.. reeeally?

I still think its too early to cast my vote mentally, we arent even through the primaries yet, but I'm really to vote for anyone who ISN'T Hillary Clinton.

This though.. I mean, I loves me some GTA and Iron Man. I have a strange totally-not-gay hard on for Iron Man. But this, *sigh*, I can't tell if its something I should like or be disgusted at.

Muffin_Man

@CONFUSEDgam3r: You must really be a confused gamer, kid. Because that's some seriously one sided thinking their kid. "left wing public school system"... ok.. yeah, considering most schools are built around a republic and are more conservative than liberal, I don't really see what schools you are talking about, unless you are talking about schools in Japan or Russia or some country that's not the United States. I wish my school was a democracy, things would have been a lot more fun.

This is the kind of one-sided idiotic thinking that's destroying this country and is majorly Bi-partisan. I wish we had at least 4-5 major parties like most other democratic countries. It's a sad day for youth.

RTW

@Dr Terror: probably not his.

mescalineeyes

The GTA one doesn't really work. Grand Hope Auto doesn't make any sense and Grand Theft Hope... Well, I think that's a bit different from the message they seem to be trying to convey.

Also, lol@ HOPEMAN

Mr. Mastodon Farm

I'm voting for Obama, but I already had decided that before seeing this poster.

Daiden

Hope and CHANGE!™©

*drink*

Frank

@Weasel3689: whoops...read that "where the sun don't shine"

Weasel3689

@Muffin_Man:

Sorry, should have thought more before posting, this is pretty stupid.

It's entertaining, thats for sure though!

Funny thing is, It's not fair to directly assosiate it with Obama, its gotta be some of his way way lower campaign supporters thinking they are doing something hip and will get those 18-25 year olds to vote for him. Like Huckleberry said, people think like its American Idol or something now-a-days, I totally agree.

Muffin_Man

@snakepliskin: FDR ftw! C'mon TR can shove his big stick where the sun don't when compared to the New Deal. O he won't speaking softly after that! Its not that he is bad (TR rox!!!) but that FDR is the best of the Roosevelts.

Wow! I may have just ignited a Roosevelt fanboy flamewar!

In any case I am an Obama supporter in that he is the lesser of three evils. Really, I actually kinda liked Ron Paul b4 he went nowhere. I just absolutely hate hilary with a passion!!! (I would vote McCain if she gets the primary).

But I think this ad is a good direction in campaigning....maybe we could get singstar downloads of Obama's speech ;).

Weasel3689

Tomorrow: Obama's association with a steroid abusing pastor is revealed, McCain unveils "Jack tha Vote" slogan, and Hilary singlehandedly takes out 15 armed men to save her obese cousin.

Erwin

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Yeah, I can't either. He won't be getting my vote, even though I love GTA...

HaydenTenno

Err, my bad, it isn't spelled Barak was what I meant to say. =P

Alayna

It's spelled Barak.

Alayna

@Daiden: Barack on a GTA Themed poster!?!?!? I know who I'm voting for!! LOL

shadow300z

@RTW:
Oh ho ho, just because you live in Hawaii, it doesn't mean you're rich. Trust me, I'm pretty not rich and living in Hawaii. Of course, the rest of what you said was true. He went to Punahou. PUNAHOU!
That place is more expensive than our university. I can barely afford to go to our upper education campuses.

Channing

@RTW: Um...I live on Oahu and there are plenty of areas that suffer from being poor. Especially the Leeward side.

So, get with the specifics on where exactly he was raised and then we can decide if it's plausible or an outright lie.

Black-Dog-Howls

I just don't see why they put the head on whoever it is on the right (Brucie maybe?), making it look like he's had his neck horribly snapped, perhaps as a result of a run-in with Niko's Turismo. If they'd used Packie, the angles would have actually matched up and he wouldn't look like a freak / dead person.

NinjaMarion

I love Barack... GO Obama GO!!

ffmusicdj

@Channing: Aye, it's a private school. You can get a scholorship to Kamehameha if you've got 1/4 Hawaiian blood in you.

That being said, most of the kids are rich and snooty at Punahou. You've just got a 10% margin that got in based on their academic or sports worth. There are kids from Maui, Big Island, and Molokai that do that.

Black-Dog-Howls

Luke if you really wanted to you can vote dispite how illegal it is, just got to pick the right places, L.A., Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonia, Oakland, New York come to mind

Bleentastic sees bandwagon and jumps

@Black-Dog-Howls:
You can get a scholarship for Punahou? Blah, that's ok. All the Punahou kids I knew when I was going to Roosevelt were all stuck up and on drugs because they had more money than kids their age should've had.

Yeah, and my "Hawaiian Creole English" isn't very good. =/

Channing

@Channing: He went to Punahou on scholarship and lived with his grandparents in Kailua or closer to Manoa.

Though your pidgin is from the 90s. Heh

Black-Dog-Howls

politics=http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/

Video games=http://kotaku.com/

So STFU plz.

SirNirian

@Black-Dog-Howls:
HI FRIEND!
Let's go da-kine, brah!
(couldn't resist)

Channing

@shadow300z:

This is pathetic.
We should all be aware now that politicians use videogames as leverage to stay relevant in the times, so why are people all of the sudden so accepting of a politician who slings mud at GTA with one hand, and cradles it in the other?

It's like turning the classroom whipping boy into the homecoming king. I don't buy it.

fecalchaos

I for one don't hate Bush

Playstation

@LittleBigPlaneteer: you don't like him because he's a politician. fair enough. find a non-politician running and I'll vote for him instead.

thejakeman: probably disagrees with you

@fecalchaos: Probably because you don't know what you're talking about.

First, I doubt the idea for this got an ok from Obama, let alone his campaign manager. This was likely some staffer - or possibly someone from the other side looking to associate Obama with well, crime. Or immorality, or something.

More importantly, it was Billary Clinton who cosponsered the famous videogame bill with Lieberman - correct me if I am wrong but I don't know of a time when Obama was 'slinging mud' at videogames in the Jack Thompson sense - however Billary has been doing that for a long time.

The Commissar

I agree that this isn't necessarily the place for politics.

However.

Anyone who lives in a country and doesn't care about how that country is being run, how their tax dollars are being spent, how the lives of their countrymen are being shaped and how their military may be doing atrocious acts...

Anyone who lives in a country and doesn't care to learn, or know, or participate in the government that comprises it... has their head irrevocably up their ass, and is an idiot beyond all reason or comprehension.

I'm just saying... if you're not a part of the process, you have opted to be cattle; and you will be treated as such.

Clockw0rk

He dose not steal cars, but votes? :P

JojoTheSlayer

Less politics, more game news, please, Kotaku. I'll go to GamePolitics.com if I want stories about politics and gaming related stories. You only set up for a flame war when you post anything related to politics, especially with the U.S. being so divided these days.

JoRo1986

@Clockw0rk:

Participation does not, in any shape or form, constitute spouting opinion and getting into useless arguments with strangers on the Internet. Participation does not, in any shape or form, constitute presenting your own theories and nodding at yourself in self-satisfaction while you slam on others. The fact that most people believe that there are only two points on the political spectrum shows just how far people have yet to go. Not saying this is you, but rather that's how most "politically minded" people are.

Finally, with due respect to you, I disagree with your last statement. Completely. If the Church still maintained power over government (and I assume you are not religious, here), would you suggest that you submit to the faith in order to be a part of the process?

Perhaps that is extreme, but I'm only saying that, for many, it's tough to get behind a process you don't believe in. Do I have a suggestion for a better one? Unfortunately, no. And if I did, I'd probably be shot for thinking it, if not by the government, surely some Internet nerds will come after me.

dunetiger : the mekuri master

@SirNirian: Both = www.gamepolitics.com

NinjaMarion

@NullsRevenge: Noooooo, he was actually criticizing parents for not being parents and letting games take care of their children, but I digress.

They should totally do a Metal Gear Solid 4 poster next (If they even make those). "Hopey Hope Solid 4: Guns of the Hopechangevoteforme"

enigma89

I think its pretty ironic that someone is vandalizing GTA ads to put up Obama ads. It was just last week Obama was criticizing GTA in the same way that Hillary, Jack Thompson and all the others have.

NullsRevenge

@KM91: I guess I'm the only guy here who kinda likes Bush.

Nah, Democrats and Liberals just feel the need to shout about their beliefs everywhere more than Conservatives and then they get mad when someone disagrees. Part of the whole not understanding the other side, I guess. Plus making fun of Bush makes you part of the "in crowd" but it really makes you a follower.

FWIW, I think Bush is a good guy and won't be on any respectable worst presidents list. Probably not in the top 10, but maybe the top 20 or 25.

battra92

Somehow I thought it would Elliot Spitzer who would be picking up hookers.

Maybe Obama goes around paying hookers to vote for him. Ya know so he doesn't have to talk about how he knows nothing about the issues of today.

battra92

I guess I'm the only guy here who kinda likes Bush.

KM91

@battra92:

And there's the winner for the most absurdly idiotic post in the thread.

Yeah the "conservatives" (a.k.a. bigots) aren't the ones trying to outscream lies over actual facts. Nope, no Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Laura Schelssinger (she's not worth the time to look up how to correctly spell her name), Brit Hume, John Gibson, Glenn Beck, Michael "Savage" Weiner, Joe Scarborough and his idiot bimbo(s) and sidekicks, Tucker Carlson, oh hell this could go on forever... basically anyone on AM radio or the mainstream media not named Olbermann or Maddow.

And every respectable historian has this fascist Bush in the bottom 15 and most have him much, much worse. It's not about being in the "in crowd", it's about actually stepping back, taking a look at the country and the world and saying "yeah, this is not in good shape and this is the clown that was guiding a big part of the ship". It's truly stunning that people are stupid enough to still support this miserable failure.

Puck

slightly off-topic, but in response to the
"Obama is black, but didn't grow up in the stereotypical black environment"

Go watch "white man's burden"

expansionsss

@enigma89:

He critized games before that too. He has not come out in support of games either.

Obama has been raising plenty of money. He should pay for his own ads.

NullsRevenge

I think we should all vote for Obama because he is in favor of hope and change, while all the other candidates are pro-despair and voting for Barack is the only way to remove Bush from office. I'm also glad he's finally responding to his critics and beginning to give more specifics about his ideas, like how he wants 75% more hope, and is definitely in favor of 115% change.

phloog

@Jay: Apparently you stay president forever unless a popular young black man beats the GOP nominee.

Heyyou27

When do I get to do missions for Barack Obama?

@battra92 and Puck: Please stop it with the politics and go find somewhere else to share your opinion on the subject. Thanks.

Heyyou27

@phloog: I'm pretty sure Bush will be removed from office no matter what.

Jay

Um ... I'm all for Obama, and if he's not elected the next 4-8 years are going to be some seriously depressing business, but that's about the gayest thing I've ever seen. Is it even really pro-Obama? Please, leave Obama ads to people who know what they're doing.

burko

Heyyou you don't own this comments section, but nice try there tuf guy.

And I won't say everyone jumps on the Bush hate train, but I can surely say A LOT of people do or have. Can't wait till we leave Iraq and terrorists strike America again, I'm not saying it can't happen while we're there, but sheesh guys.

And Puck, I could name a bunch of idiot Liberals just liek you named off Convservatives. On of your biggest contributors is a piece of paper actually, call the New York Times.

I don't thnk everything Bush has done is particularly terrible or horrible, but some things I DO diasagree with him on. I think at heart he has good intentions but maybe isn't going about it the right way.

PrayFuse

this=lame

pandafresh

Yay! Vandalism for CHANGE and HOPE!

Um, honestly I hope Americans aren't dumb enough to vote for CHANGE and HOPE without finding out exactly what that entails. I kind of feel like I don't know what Obama is really all about.

Still, I think the poster "modifications" are funny. :P

strideo

@burko: How is it "Gay" ?

mike566

@DorkimusPrime: I do not advocate Laura 2012, just saying that GWB could end up there again. ;)

DorkimusPrime

@Jander: The people he's hung out with for the last 20+ years (Jeremiah Wright, for example) make me more cynical - you can't go to church with someone as the pastor for 20+ years and not agree with it on some fundamental level. He didn't change his mind overnight; he figured out he needed to do something to get elected.

I nominate myself for president, because all the current candidates suck. LOL

@RTW: Just like Bill Clinton, he could still end up at the white house again. Laura 2012!

DorkimusPrime

I would just remove the hope stickers. I can see it now JT on Faux news a week later saying that Obama supports GTA4. LOL!!!!

MURDERFACE

puck, ironic that you proved battra's point so well.

Necroscope

shoulda been Grand theft change..

Savior

@Puck: how exactly does one get "much, much worse" than "in the bottom 15"?

AgainstOne

You know what the primary difference is between Obama, Hillary and McCain?

THE SPELLING.

Pull your heads OUT of your asses people. The Democraps and the Repugs are the SAME F'ING GROUP.

jasongw

Grand Hope O.o

Chopper_Mike

@DorkimusPrime: That's the thing, voting for Hillary is voting for Bill. And honestly, I liked what Bill did with the country.

Too bad Edwards dropped out, and I kind of liked where Huckabee was going with some things.

RTW

@Enigma_20XX: This is not an official advertising campaign. It is just some rogue Obama supporters showing their support in an unorthodox way. Ya gotta admit it's pretty clever :)

GameJerk

So let me get this straight... Rockstar's not allowed to advertize on the sides of busses, but it's perfectly fine for Obama to deface the adverisements they are allowed to use?

I don't care what you think of the man, I'm only judging him for this publicity stunt, and I christen him... a douche.

Enigma_20XX

@Enigma_20XX: I can assure that neither Obama, nor his staff, had anything to do with this poster.

It's guerilla art. Stuff like this is all over LA.

mind in rewind

If the campaign was Obama vs. Brucie, i'd vote for Brucie in a heartbeat, because he's fucking alpha, a VIP who gets all the ladies with his steel delts, because that's how he rolls up in this shit.

Tomahawk214

LAME

Garonyldas

Only reason I even came into this thread was because I didn't get it. The poster, I mean. Wasn't sure what it meant. It seems like most of you don't get it either, though so here's my guess:

What that 'hope' sticker is covering, I think, is the whole damn name. It's covering 'Grand Theft Auto IV'. What it means by covering 'Grand Theft Auto IV' is that Barack Obama rejects 'Grand Theft Auto IV'. What it means by covering it with 'hope' is that Barack Obama stands for 'hope'.

So the alternate explanation people have is that this isn't an official ad campaign by Obama. That's fine, that may be true anyway. But the point I'm making here is that the poster seems to be a rejection of GTA IV, in line with the things Obama has said earlier, as opposed to him trying to ride off the popularity of the game. Rather, Obama seems to be trying to ride off people's distate for the game.

As for me, well, I don't like either, so I'm gonna get the hell out of this thread then.

SolFalling

The message they're trying to convey is "Grand Hope" because hope is covering both theft and auto. That makes the most sense to me.

dirtyharry09

OH NOES! The package of nematodes has been unleashed!!!

That being said, this seems like it's going to invoke a diatribe from the folks at Weazel News' real-life counterpart.

note42

@GameJerk: @mind in rewind: Guilt by association.. they're using his face....

Enigma_20XX