maby if it was part of a series
with a tv couch potato and other layabouts in the other ones? but on it's own it dose strike me as a bit odd
The Advertising Standards Authority has stood behind an advert that some consumers complained connected videogames with an early death. Gaming_lifestyle_advert Advert A-OK, rules ASA The UK's advertising watchdog ruled that “the ad did not claim that playing computer or console games alone would lead to illness or …
"It’s worth noting that one child was, according to the ASA, scared “she would die if she played video games”. "
Kind of like those parents who claimed they were frightened of the one armed kids TV presenter Cerrie Burnell. Any idiot can tell that those kids were only "scared" because their parents had made them scared. Equally I'm pretty damned sure that the little girl "scared" by this advert was actually scared by her parents, who probably have a vested interest anyway.
How any of the gaming press could say otherwise is beyond me.
This vitriolic campaign by MCV was bound to fail. When you have to resort to putting the ASA complaints page as a link in the article, you know something is wrong. MCV hoped to sway the ASA by weight of complaints, not the content of the advertisment.
I wonder if they'll be reporting this ruling as much as their indignation of the orginal add? Nope.. thought not.
I notice that whilst playing computer games appears to kill; fatty, sugary food is not mentioned. I wonder if this is because the Change 4 Life campaign is sponsered to the tune of £200M by Business 4 Life? B4L is a lobbying group including Nestle, Cadbury, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, and Pepsi Co. All well know for the massive contribution they make to the countries health. Playstation must be kicking themselves for not getting in on the act.
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personally i think it looks bad.
i cant imagine if the role was reversed and it was just a pic of someone eating an easily seen choccy bar label that said choccy bar company would be too happy.
and everyone who sees an advert is of sound mind. kids and people with learning difficulties take things at face value.
we all know video games keep the brain active, much more than most alternatives!
Apparently during the AM C4 comedy slot there's little chance of small children seeing the adverts (and health campaigns)...
...so their parents don't watch programs that aren't aimed at children but don't have inappropriate content when they have a toddler in the room, apparently.
This week's Private Eye makes the interesting observation that the commercial funders of this new Change 4 Life campaign are, for the most part, food (often junk food) manufacturers... and not one video game company.
Odd, then, that the advert about early death doesn't show a kid stuffing his face with chocolate, burgers, crisps, etc...
.....video games keep the brain active, if the end user is too boneidle....or a WoW players thats too "addicted" to get off thier fat arse then thats thier own damn fault, if they can't got the balls to know where to draw the line of even seek help then it's thier fault, not the games.
Where's the parks and proper PE for the kids to play in? They get fat because they get shoved so long in school with less sports to do and less areas to play in when not. Add in the amount of crap prepacked meals etc. and high energy sweetie bars, so trying to pin this trend all on video games is pretty misleading. Usual government scare mongering and doing little to address the core causes it.
This advert is part of the so called Change4Life campaign, a Department of Health supported campaign, which is actually being funded by (amongst others) PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Cadbury's, Mars and Nestle. Funny how they've chosen to target the games industry (not represented on the campaign board) and not mention the sheer amount of sugary crap (however delicious and tempting it may be) that they create. Or the TV heavy lifestyle which funds other board members such as ITV, Virgin Media and BSkyB. Private Eye brought this one up this week as well, but there's a decent article at http://www.mcvuk.com/news/33517/Is-this-the-real-reason-why-gamers-risk-death for those who want a quicker to get to article.
Yes we have a problem with weight in this country (myself included), yes something needs to be done, but can we please have information from experts instead of vested interests and can we please, please, /please/ have a little less hypocrisy?
If the advert is just about "doing nothing" and has nothing to do with computer games then why is the kid holding a console controller? Clearly the kid on the ad is not "doing nothing" because he is holding a controller and hence doing something. It's false advertising or misrepresentation of the facts either way.
But then, we're talking about a body that has to justify it's existence and what better way than coming up with unresearch, unsubstantiated claims and building ad campaigns around them? I guess we have to keep the terminally incompetent employed somehow and there are worse ways than creating non-jobs. It's just a shame these non-jobs are funded by the tax payer and we get nothing actually useful out of them, just FUD.
it's saying that computer games kill. The kid's playing a computer game, the advert says the kid will die soon.
As the 1st commenter says, if they wanted to show someone being sedentary why not use a "couch potato"? Or some kids watching a TV that's projecting onto their faces (as all movie screens do)? How about kids being driven to school rather than walking?
How about "In 10 years, this child will walk around a corridor, shooting people."? It's not claiming it's because of the game, but it's certainly going to give that impression.
A bit odd? Like how Counter Strike seems to be responsible for any and all shootings? The Beeb kindly threw in the Counter Strike line with that shooting in Germany, "the shooter was known to play Counter Strike" - yeah right, so was that dude who saved a copper during a heist, no mention of Counter Strike then!
Stop the anti-gaming campaigns already!
..adverts showing joggers mown down by cars, power-walkers hanging a heart attack in the park, weight lifters crushed by falling weights.
Maybe even....dieing due to repeated beating from a PS3 controller for taking photos and getting in the way of the telly.
People like playing console game, it allows them to vent the huge build up of rage without having to go out an do it in the street.
Put out an advert linking exertion through computer games with a healthy life style.
Simple fact that mentally taxing games burn quite a lot of calories and there are more and more computer games around these days which include physical activity (Wiifit, dancepad games, sing star etc).
I very much doubt the ASA could uphold any complaints about it, and you could always have an industry backed study to backup the advert.
Since this advertisement is not for the purpose of selling a commercial product, or soliciting donations, but is to encourage a healthier lifestyle, for an advertising council to be able to regulate it seems to be an intrusion into freedom of speech.
Next they'll ban advertisements for books written by people who claim to have been taken aboard flying saucers.
On behalf of sensible people every where: ODFO, some of us are capable enough parents that we don't need or want you nagging us or meddling in our affairs. Were quite capable of ensuring that our children get exercise and do other activities and still enjoy the video games they like. So please take you're self righteous scare mongering ads roll them up real tight and shove them right up your collective asses.
Hugs and Kisses, strong message follows.
A parent with a brain
Seriously, son, dont just sit there, Block, Duck, he's gonna hammer you!... aww, see, Fatality.
...anyway.
The shady funding is absolutely zero surprise, the junk food industry funds these little excursions, not to slap down marketplace rivals but as a backtop against the myopic-laser-like eye of the campaign focussing on them;
"we need to tell kids to eat less candy, drink less soda, eat less burgers, and go outside more"
Spokesman for Cadburys - Surely chocolate isnt the problem? we can always withdraw funding if theres a conflict of interest.
Spokesman for Pepsi - Soda isnt the problem, taken in moderation. But we can always withdraw funding if theres a conflict of interest.
Spokesman for McDonalds - We also sell a range of salads, but if you feel there's a conflict of interest, we can always withdraw funding.
Ah, so we're agreed, the problem is the little blighters arent going outside more!
The department of health probably has a mandate handed down to it, telling it to get serious and produce some fucking ads making kids go outside and not be fat. its given zero extra funds for this, and is told to "seek public-private-partnership for your funds" You, the campaign manager, hit up sports companies, sportsdrinks makers, red bull, etc. They refuse to play. why? they're already doing their own, individual, successful ad campaigns, and research shows that comitting their funds to something without their name on it is a waste of fucking time. You take your project to the enemy, and the enemy pledges money if you'll just focus on someone else. all of a sudden, you, the campaign manager, can hire a few hotel conference rooms, plenty of pretty interns, a couple of campaign-owned cars to drive around in. You've enough funding to make the campaign last for 5 years, which is welcome job security. You go and play golf with marketing execs from McDonalds and Pepsi. You submit a report to central office about how you've successfully attracted funding from a source outside the government. You get a pat on the back and a reacharound from your bosses boss.
Good job, bureaucracy.
Why oh why can't these agencies produce ads promoting the benefits of a healthy life rather than this grey boring drivel that no-one will ever look at or pay attention to.
The ad shows a severe lack of imagination and should have been banned on grounds of taste.
I am now off to ask my government to place it on our censored list.
Sitting around all day playing video games may be bad for the waistline, but it improves brain functioning. A few years ago some studies showed that FPS games improve reaction time and rapid decision-making. A recent study found that RTS games can improve multitasking ability and working memory.
http://news.illinois.edu/news/08/1211gamers.html
Lots more information about video game research:
http://vgresearcher.wordpress.com/
I bought GTA San Andreas in 2005 and liked the martial arts stuff so much that I joined a Thai boxing gym to try out the moves for real. 4 years on I'm still there, I've lost 7 stone (I was seriously overweight), I train 4 - 5 times a week and I'm preparing to do a real Thai boxing match in May. OK, so I'm a grown up and this was my choice, but this shows that it's possible in at least one case for computer games to encourage healthy behaviour. I have to say that I find the constant government health campaigns to be extremely patronizing and I'm half tempted to take up smoking because of the ridiculous ways that it's being demonized. When I sorted out my health and fitness it had nothing to do with twee little adverts from on high.
...that the advertising people didn't have the sense to at least give the kid some sort of Generic Brand (TM) controller. I'm sure if they were taking a shot of a kid eating crisps they'd not leave a giant "Smiths" label visible.
I daresay that the advert bods don't understand that technology has recognisable forms that the initiated can easily spot. They probably think, "a controller's a controller innit?"
I can imagine them making the same mistake in a campaign about hearing loss with portable music and using an iPod instead of a Generic Brand (TM) device. Then Apple would be all over them like a rash.
But it still ALL comes down to the parents. Similar to the other posts I have seen under your moniker your points are fairly lame and ill thought.
Take your kid for a walk around a shopping centre if you have to, or down the road and round the corner and back. There are plenty of places for kids to go that are not parks or playgrounds, and using that as an excuse is lazy. Its just that it's too much effort for the parents to work this out isn't it... and who is forcing these kids to eat all of this crap food? Come on, I'll give you a starter for 10... it's the P A R E N T S.