Political Ads Invade EA Games

Why, oh why, can’t they just leave us the f**k alone? They harass us on network television, assail us in email, and call us incessantly on the phone.. and now they remind us in our video games that there is an election going on. sure, it’s a big election year with tons of big issues to deal with but can we just have one sacred place to get away from it all? Nope.

See, when money is to be made, companies like EA have space to sell in their games. EA has put up billboards featuring presidential candidate Barack Obama in several of its top sports games like Madden NFL 09 and popular games like Burnout Paradise. EA spokesperson Holly Rockwood would not say how much the ads cost, but said that they are running on the Xbox Live versions of the game through Nov. 3. They began earlier this month - according to an Associated Press report.

“It reaches an audience that is typically hard to reach—young males, roughly 18 to 34,” said Rockwood. “That’s very appealing to our advertisers.”

Rockwood declined to say how much revenue the company generates from selling ad space in its games, but chances are like network and Cable Television, the camp is paying a low cost rate that conforms to national election laws.

While some may see this development as “exciting,” “a breath of fresh air,” or very tech savvy on Obama’s part, I see it as just another way for game companies to monetize something we have already paid for. We paid for the game already and we pay a subscription fee to Xbox Live, so why should we be forced to see any ads - let alone political ads that some of us are trying to get away from in the first place?

Kudos to Obama for finding new ways to reach voters, but shame on EA for re-monetizing a product we’ve spent our dollars on. It’s this kind of behavior that caused the Boston Tea Party, folks.

Source: breitbart.com