Activision: Kobe Bryant Controversy was "Hypocritical"

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Activision: Kobe Bryant Controversy was "Hypocritical"

Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg says the controversy over Kobe Bryant's appearance in a Tom Clancy [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Xbox-360/dp/B003JVKHEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291926007&sr=8-1] movie.

Kobe Bryant's appearance in the Black Ops ad "1st and 10 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pblj3JHF-Jo] co-host Bomani Jones said, "If we're really talking about what's problematic and destructive, they put out six million copies of this videogame, as I understand it, thus far, and all we're doing is shooting and killing people."

It's been a couple of weeks since those comments were made, but Hirshberg isn't ready to let it go just yet. He acknowledged that just about any advertising for a game like Black Ops will have "some measure of controversy baked into it" but accused networks complaining about the ad of hypocrisy.

"Those same networks that are now questioning Kobe's inclusion in this had no problem accepting the ad and approving the ad, and accepting the dollars to run the ad on their networks," he told IndustryGamers [http://www.industrygamers.com/news/activision-kobe-bryant-call-of-duty-ad-controversy-is-very-hypocritical/]. "Are they being irresponsible to their fan base by running the ad on their networks? Because if it's good for the goose, it's good for the gander. I find that to be very hypocritical."

Hirshberg believes that some of that attitude stems directly from the fact that the ad was for a videogame and that it wouldn't be an issue for other media. "There's a little bit of a maturation process going on for videogames overall where certain people still don't see them as mainstream entertainment, but I wonder if Kobe or Jimmy Kimmel had been involved for the marketing of a new Tom Clancy movie if they would have gotten the same response," he continued. "I feel like this is still seen by some people as some sort of subculture or niche product, and the performance in the marketplace demonstrates that this is the epicenter of mainstream entertainment."

For the record, I still think the ad is awesome.


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Amnestic

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Aug 22, 2008
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Andy Chalk said:
"Those same networks that are now questioning Kobe's inclusion in this had no problem accepting the ad and approving the ad, and accepting the dollars to run the ad on their networks,"
Dude's got a point.

And yeah, I still like the advert.
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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Uh, there's nothing wrong with the ad.

From the music, to the "proud n00b" on Jimmy Kimmel's RPG,it's so tongue-in-cheek you're a fool to see it any other way. Obviously, Kobe Bryant (whoever he is) is intelligent enough to see that.
 

WolfLordAndy

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Sep 19, 2008
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Thats awesome ad. Though I don't recognise any of the people in it, are some of them celebs or something?

(English person here)
 

darthzew

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I'm trying my best to have some sympathy for the opposition here. I want to understand, but I can't help but want to blast these guys. It doesn't make sense to me. All I can figure is that Tim Keown and Bomani Jones have never actually played or seen a video game. It's like their image of a video game is simply, "Here's a gun, now go shoot EVERYONE!!!"

But that's not it. Not even close. We all know that games are much more than that.

And what's irresponsible about the message, Tim? I don't understand. "There's a soldier in all of us." What's wrong with that? That sounds positive to me. But the actual message behind the ad? Buy Call of Duty. That's all it is. Kobe's appearance in the ad just says, "I'm Kobe. I play Call of Duty. Come play with me." What's wrong with that?

I'll conclude with this quote from Bungie, "It's a fucking video game."
 

Atmos Duality

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Mar 3, 2010
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I knew the ad was going to receive flak from the first time I saw it.
It doesn't offend me (because I know the context), but it's painfully obvious that if you weren't the target audience, you were going to either be confused or outraged.

The fact that ESPN is commenting on it means precisely dick to me, because I knew what they were going to say before they said it.
 

PunkRex

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WolfLordAndy said:
Thats awesome ad. Though I don't recognise any of the people in it, are some of them celebs or something?

(English person here)
Same here (Londener), I cant tell whos famous, not that it matters this commercial rocks the shizzey!!! I dont even like CoD but this was a good commercial and the Activision guy is right on the money.
 

SomebodyNowhere

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I feel like the ad really didn't warrant the "controversy" it garnered and it was largly manufactured to create more free publicity.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Dude, you specifically played for that controversy. Now that you got it, you're trying to claim you're being victimised? Seriously...you're the sort of guy that gives evil a bad name.
 

Mr. Omega

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Jul 1, 2010
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It was a funny ad for a game. The fact that it had Kobe Bryant in it was the only grounds ESPN had to even waste their airtime with those stupid claims. If Kobe Bryant wasn't in the ad, they probably wouldn't have even cared. So yes, it's hypocritical.
 

Sparrow

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Feb 22, 2009
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"Hi, we're ESPN. We're important! No, really!"

In all seriousness, that guy is pretty much my new hero. There's destroying someones argument, and then there's just making them look like an dick. This man as achieved both. I salute you, Eric Hirshberg.
 

nub the samurai

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Jul 12, 2010
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WolfLordAndy said:
Thats awesome ad. Though I don't recognise any of the people in it, are some of them celebs or something?

(English person here)
Well Kobe Bryant is in there for a moment and so is Jimmy Kimmel. You can look them up on google to figure out who they are. I may have missed a few also.

OT: Seriously, we're talking about a network that gave Lebron James an hour just for him to piss off Cleveland fans. I lost interest in ESPN when they did that.
 

Lionsfan

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Jan 29, 2010
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WolfLordAndy said:
Thats awesome ad. Though I don't recognise any of the people in it, are some of them celebs or something?

(English person here)
The guy who shot the Grenade from a launcher with "Mamba" on the side is Kobe Bryant. Famous Basketball player. The "Proud Noob" guy was Jimmy Kimmel, he's a late-night TV host. Everyone else (as far as I can tell) are just Joe nobodies

And about the ad itself, it's just a bunch of overreacting by people who frankly have no business talking about this. It's a silly ad for a video game that in 6 months won't even be showing on TV anymore. Get over yourselves and take a chill pill, and if you don't have that take a chill strip