Democracy 3 Ad Deemed "Inappropriate" Due To Political Content

[Andy Chalk]

Democracy 3 Ad Deemed "Inappropriate" Due To Political Content

A banner ad for Democracy 3 was deemed unsuitable to run on a major U.S. games site because politics is a sensitive topic.

Go to any big gaming site and you'll see ads for all kinds of games, many of which involve the infliction of horrific violence upon people who may or may not deserve it. What you won't see on at least one "major U.S. gaming site," however, is an ad for a game in which political mandarins make back-room deals to influence the mindset of the voting public. Because that, you see, would be inappropriate.

Cliff Harris, the founder of Positech Games, reported on his blog yesterday that an ad for the recently-released Democracy 3 was deemed by a "BIG game-advertising agency" to be inappropriate to run on a particular website. When Harris asked why, he was told, "We can not promote any politics as this is a sensitive topic."

It's kind of silly in and of itself, given that the agency presumably had no such qualms when it signed up to handle "the ultimate political strategy game," but Harris also made the rather obvious point that an awful lot of other games don't face the same restrictions.

"I bet ads for games like Hitman, or GTA, or games where you get slow-mo closeups of people's skulls being blasted apart by high-caliber bullets are just fine. But discuss income tax? OH NOES THE WORLD WILL END!" he wrote on his blog. "It's stuff like this that sometimes makes me ashamed to be in this industry. Half of the industry wants to be grown up and accepted as art, the other half have the mentality of seven year olds. I'm pretty cynical, but I never expected my ads for a game about government-simulation to be too controversial to be shown (for money no less...)."

There's not really very much to add to this, is there? And it's not just games like GTA and Hitman that pass muster while Democracy does not: I've never heard of a Civilization release getting hung up because of inappropriate content, yet politics is a core component of the gameplay. It's an obviously ridiculous scenario, and maybe someone with a whit of common sense will reverse it at some point, and yet for now, so it stands.

Source: Cliffski's Blog [http://positech.co.uk/cliffsblog/2013/12/09/the-games-industry-has-weird-taboos/]


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[Phrozenflame500]

That's... weird.

I suspect some other reason. There really isn't any political message in the ad, so I doubt it's entirely due to gaming's fear of politics.

 

[Somethingfake]

That's... weird.

I suspect some other reason. There really isn't any political message in the ad, so I doubt it's entirely due to gaming's fear of politics.

My friend, with the internet being as it is, simply posting "politics" is like lobbing a lit Molotov cocktail. As this is a *game* about politics however the response of the ad people is a bit much. I mean, how is the guy supposed to advertise his game?

 

[Eternal_Lament]

I could easily see the argument being this: with violence, no matter how extreme, most people could easily conceive of performing violent actions that conform to their personal politics, and as such are probably less likely to find violent content inappropriate because violence in that of itself doesn't always contradict their world view. Politics, or political actions, are harder to conceive, especially if the outcomes of certain decisions don't necessarily fall in line with how that person conceives that decision to usually amount to. As such, even if nothing extreme or challenging is mentioned, there is that fear that perhaps they (the audience) may be wrong, and if there's one thing we know about the internet, no one is EVER wrong.

Is it stupid? Quite possibly, but it's also a fear that has some basis to it. After all, unless you're running a fringe site or a well-known political site, direct or indirect support of a property with political ties usually don't run that well with mainstream audiences

 

[Angelous Wang]

I've never heard of a Civilization release getting hung up because of inappropriate content, yet politics is a core component of the gameplay.

I think this is simply because the game is called "Democracy" and calls itself "the ultimate political strategy game".

That kind of ad might get misunderstood, as though it was saying democracy is the only valid political system and others are not. Which would upset a great many non-democratic populations or those that don't like democracy.

Civilization on the other hand whilst in contains a great deal of politics doesn't single out any political system as "the best" so to speak, you can choose any political system and all have their own strengths and weaknesses.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Allegedly, this was Gamespot's doing [http://ggtriple.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/major-games-site-gamespot-allegedly-rejects-plain-democracy-3-ad-as-inappropriate/], but I'm not sure if it is fully confirmed. It would sort of be odd if it was given that Gamespot has shown to be more than willing to make political and cultural statements of their own in the past.

In any case, I think the developer does make a point. The advertisement hardly makes any political message itself, and even if the game delves into politics, that hardly seems like a reason to deny it advertising.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

That's... weird.

I suspect some other reason. There really isn't any political message in the ad, so I doubt it's entirely due to gaming's fear of politics.

I see CO2 connected to the GOP, this seems unlikely, I assume this is the reason.

 

[Crimsonmonkeywar]

You know what they say, "Never talk religion or politics with your friends", and Gamespot wants to to keep it's 'fri-(viewers)-ends'.

 

[RicoADF]

I think this is simply because the game is called "Democracy" and calls itself "the ultimate political strategy game".

That kind of ad might get misunderstood, as though it was saying democracy is the only valid political system and others are not. Which would upset a great many non-democratic populations or those that don't like democracy.

Civilization on the other hand whilst in contains a great deal of politics doesn't single out any political system as "the best" so to speak, you can choose any political system and all have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Hmm you make a very good point, I didn't even think of that. Also regarding the name they may be concerned that it'd annoy non American's since it looks like it's the US elections/politics that it recreates. For non American's it could be seen as saying the US and it's way is the only form of democracy, so even for those that believe in it may not approve of the games add.

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

POLITICAL CENSORSHIP? Oh my [REDACTED]. I don't think you can trust any [REDACTED] nowadays.

But let's be fair here. There are always two sides to an argument. If one considers the factor of [REDACTED], combined with the current media trend of always [REDACTED] their [REDACTED], then from that point of view this [REDACTED] does start to look fairly reasonable. Of course [REDACTED] would say that [REDACTED] might be construed in a more [REDACTED] light, in which case my whole [REDACTED] point is rendered largely moot. Which isn't to say that [REDACTED] isn't worth serious consideration.

But nobody's seriously thinking [REDACTED], are they? I think the majority of people would say that [REDACTED] is a pretty ridiculous position to take, especially considering [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]. In the end, common-sense should prevail over [REDACTED]. And isn't that what we're all striving for?

I think an acceptable compromise would have to be [REDACTED]. It seems to be something that both sides, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], could easily agree to without either having to sacrifice any major [REDACTED]. It's basically a win-win situation. And if all else fails, they can always [REDACTED] or - on a more humorous note - maybe [REDACTED] the [REDACTED].

With a cucumber, no less.

 

[BrownGaijin]

Times like this I want to walk down the streets of my American town and slap the next person I see screaming "Stop being so damn sensitive! Anyways, I went to Steam to watch (both) trailers. WHAT'CHA GONNA DO ABOUT IT HUH?!

 

[Gigano]

Well, the Russian guy on the poster is wearing a Che Guevara shirt under his coat, so I guess it's not all about peaceful democratic change.

Still a retarded decision, though.

 

[LetalisK]

Gamespot doesn't have a spine? What!? This is totally news to me. >.>

Well, the Russian guy on the poster is wearing a Che Guevara shirt under his coat, so I guess it's not all about peaceful democratic change.

Still a retarded decision, though.

Eh, it makes sense. Che Guevara has become the patron saint of hippies. Much to history's surprise.

 

[Scorpid]

OMG now I want to play the only game TOO HOT FOR THE INTERNET! Move out of the way Illusion games with your rape sims, there's a new dog in town! LET'S TRY IT!

EDIT:... It's a spread sheet game... WTF!?

 

[GonzoGamer]

I was just thinkin'
Those Fifa games would sell a lot better in the states if you could riot at the end.

 

[uchytjes]

I find this incredibly funny/sad, especially when around election time almost any ad you get will be for one party or another.

 

[Vie]

I see CO2 connected to the GOP, this seems unlikely, I assume this is the reason.

GDP, Gross Domestic Product, not GOP.

I'd love to see exactly which advert it was they objected to, I get the feeling if we could see it we'd be able to take a guess at which website objected to it.

 

[DrRockor]

We can't run this ad for a game about politics because its too political. Well..at least you can't say that it isn't logical. Following pure logic isn't always the best plan but still.

 

[Product Placement]

I think this is simply because the game is called "Democracy" and calls itself "the ultimate political strategy game".

That kind of ad might get misunderstood, as though it was saying democracy is the only valid political system and others are not. Which would upset a great many non-democratic populations or those that don't like democracy.

Civilization on the other hand whilst in contains a great deal of politics doesn't single out any political system as "the best" so to speak, you can choose any political system and all have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Hmm you make a very good point, I didn't even think of that. Also regarding the name they may be concerned that it'd annoy non American's since it looks like it's the US elections/politics that it recreates. For non American's it could be seen as saying the US and it's way is the only form of democracy, so even for those that believe in it may not approve of the games add.

The fact that the game is called "Democracy" has nothing to do with support for the Democratic party.

"Democracy" is a form of government structure, where people vote for someone to represent them. A "Republic" essentially means "Not a Monarchy", where the power is in the hands of the people. America is a Republic, that utilizes Democracy.

The game is based around the Democratic process, since you're playing a representative.

"Democrats" and "Republicans" are both democratic parties.

There's no political agenda behind the name of the game.

P.S.
You can pick a country in the game. You don't have to be America.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

That's... weird.

I don't think "weird" is the word I'd choose. "Ridiculous" is more what I'd aim for.

I think this is simply because the game is called "Democracy" and calls itself "the ultimate political strategy game".

That kind of ad might get misunderstood, as though it was saying democracy is the only valid political system and others are not. Which would upset a great many non-democratic populations or those that don't like democracy.

That's kind of reaching, in my opinion, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if that was part of what motivated the decision. Really, though, I think it was likely more consisting of the "BIG game-advertising agency" wanting to cover its collective butt from politicians criticizing it for "trivializing" the political process in such a heated political atmosphere.

Eh, it makes sense. Che Guevara has become the patron saint of hippies. Much to history's surprise.

One of these days I'm going to make a shirt that says "Che Guevara would put a bullet in your head for wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt".