Advertising knows no bounds.
Todays advertising reaches out like a giant global octopus that grabs anyone and everyone watching. If you own a TV, your subject to relentless advertising by companies paying thousands to millions of dollars. If you simply walk down the street to your favorite coffee shop you may pass any number of ads that try to appeal to your emotions or beliefs.
Advertising is a good thing….you don’t pay for each show on TV, you are forced to watch commercials every 10 mins. Its a trade off that is well worth it. However it is becoming insane the places you can find ads these days, it’s becoming annoying and mind boggling. In todays article from the New York Times, Toyota is showing a new kind of advertising nicknamed “Advergames.”
“Advergames are seen as a way to market to people who generally avoid advertising.” As an avid gamer myself I don’t want to be advertised to constantly and avoid being drawn in to buying new fads, and I Really don’t want to be concentrating on a game and be caught by an advertisement inside the game. I payed to play the game, not advertising. If I payed for HBO I wouldn’t find commercials.
However “advergames” goes beyond just simple messages in a game, the entire game is a advertisement in and of itself. This is just sick and disgusting. I can’t imagine any good games come from this that could be half enjoyable.
I once watched the movie “Super-size Me” for school, you know, the movie about fast food and advertising and its side effects on the body, society, and life as we know it. Did you know that there are more McDonald’s and McDonald’s billboards in New York City than there are in the entire world? Asking if advertisements clog our society is a no-brainer, because they do.
And I agree with “warezklass”. I don’t buy certain things, such as video games or movies, to be flooded with advertisements. It’s just getting to out of control!