Advocacy Group Angry That Moms Hate Dead Space 2

[CaptainKoala]

so, a parental advocacy group is complaining because a commercial is portraying what parents actually think about a game?


did........did we tear a rip in the space-time continuum?

They can't win for losing. Everything they do is demonized.
If parents' opinions aren't portrayed, they piss and moan.
Now they portray, full on, unadulterated parents' opinions. And they piss and moan. *sigh*

 

[ImprovizoR]

The more they talk a bout it the more popular it becomes. What a bunch of retards.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I'm 18 and I went to my local Gamestop and bought Dead Space 2 myself. And you know what, I liked the ads, and my mom would indeed hate it.

 

[icame]

So they are complaining because an advertisement is successful. God I hate people.

If an advertisement succesfully made people buy cigarettes would you be pleased?

Ah yes because dead space 2 is something that can literally harm your health.

That's besides the point.

Your argument is that EA is in the right simply because they accomplished what they set out to do.

I'm trying to show you that successful advertising doesn't equal good.

Some parents don't want their kids exposed to this stuff, nag power is something that's been employed by advertisers for a long time - because it works. (See McDonalds, also a majority of car purchases are effected by the kids thoughts - car ads are designed to appeal to children often). So, why should EA try to encourage children to pressure their parents and create rifts in family and principles to make money?

Translation: This advertisement and game will destroy your family.

Right...you sound like fox news right now

 

[Awexsome]

They are really just playing into the campaigns hands, they are adding fuel to the fire of "This game is edgy and old fusty people hate it ergo it is awesome" Did they really get the point behind the campaign? It was the generate outrage and therefore make the game look more cool and get free press to boot. Personally i hated this promotional campaign; it's immature, pandering and counter-productive to what many are doing to rehabiltate gaming's image but it seems to have worked.

Exactly my thoughts on this campaign.

I see the whole things as just a big publicity stunt that undermines the efforts gaming has been making to be a more mature and widely accepted medium. While I wouldn't say it's DIRECTLY targeting kids below the 17 age mark since any gamer that's been around for a while will probably get the joke it still doesn't make the joke in any better taste.

 

[Faladorian]

"Just because a product desires to be seen as 'cool' or 'edgy' does not in and of itself necessitate that it is directed at children."

Yeah, like flavored cigarettes... wait.

 

[Nouw]

I think it was hilarious and one of the best ads I've ever seen.

They have good points but to me it's just one big joke to make people buy the game.

Let me draw an analogy:

Tobacco companies have been prevented from using cartoon animals to promote cigarettes for a number of years now. This doesn't mean that adults don't like cartoon animals. It means that children find cartoon animals more appealing.

So, who's EA really targeting with this ad? The 17-34 age demographic who cares less about what their mothers think? Or the mid-teenager who's chafing under his parent's "restrictive" rules while "becoming an adult"?

That's a great analogy, and probably one of the reasons why I think EA and Visceral were being mean spirited with this.

Honestly, while I can chuckle a bit at the ridiculousness of the scenario, I just don't think it was dignified of EA or Visceral with the campaign. Fine, (most) everyone has a mother, but the advertisement gave off a distinct juvenile feel directed more to 14 year olds. So, to the majority extent, I have to side with Common Sense Media.

That and it doesn't really help our case with "Video Games are nothing but violent murder simulators for the immature man child!"

But wouldn't that be the problem of the people generalizing that if there's 1 case of it, every other game is the same? So we tolerate ignorance now >.>

I don't really get what you're saying, of course we wouldn't tolerate ignorance, where did I say we would?

Common Sense Media (I really don't like saying their name...) isn't attacking video games in general here, they understand that violent video games are a part of our culture and want parents to be educated about it. They're just specifying Dead Space 2's advertisement, not the game itself (hilariously enough, as more than enough people are rallying against them for the wrong reasons), was juvenile and came off as directed to the immature. One of the more common arguments here is "17 year olds don't care about what their moms think!", but if that's the case, who is this advertisement targeted for then? Think if CSM said that, instead of us.

Ah sorry I should have been more specific towards which comment of yours I was quoting. I meant the part where you said "Video Games are nothing but violent murder simulators for the immature man child!" If more people think that, they're basing their thought of a massive medium? on a single game and it's ad campaign which is obviously wrong.

Well, yeah, that's ignorance, though I don't think I was disputing that. I was saying, however, that this ad campaign doesn't really help our image to the under-informed and ignorant. We shouldn't give them more fuel for their bonfire, as as great (or bad) or a game Dead Space 2 may be, I just think this was pretty juvenile of them.

You have to think, these mothers (assuming they aren't actors, which we will assume) are from yester-year. They haven't been desensitized to this kind of thing like we have. While they could probably stomach an action game, showing them a survival/action-horror game that is designed to invoke that kind of sick feeling to one of it's main target demographics, and multiply that my maybe 5 or 10, and you've got a good idea how bad these women were probably scarred from the game (and subsequently, denied 200 people from getting the game, because, hey, I'm technically under aged for getting these kinds of games).

I dunno, I just found this to be juvenile. I'm all for a good joke and/or shock humor, but if this many people are divided over it, then I have to say that their attempt failed. You can at least understand where they're coming from, right?

So we should all be the bigger people and never do such again? I just feel that the people who are ignorant need to be fixed, not us.

 

[Denamic]

I liked that campaign.
It was wonderfully tasteless.
I found it funny.

 

[Jumplion]

So we should all be the bigger people and never do such again? I just feel that the people who are ignorant need to be fixed, not us.

Eh, in a sense, yes, we should be the better person here as we're not in any real position to do something like this just yet. Again, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a little titillation/immature humor here and there, I just think EA/Visceral went a bit too far in this instance.

Remember, CSM isn't trying to be ignorant here, they're not decrying the game for being a "bad influence" on anybody. They're just calling out EA on an advertisement campaign that doesn't seem to succeed for any demographic.

 

[spartan773]

i thought they were funny

 

[Jake the Snake]

I think the advocacy group is actually onto something here, I mean, look, the people that campaign would appeal to mostly is younger teenagers. I personally don't really get it. Like, why does this make me want to buy this game? My mom won't like it? Your point being, what exactly? If my parents don't like it, It must be good? I feel like my intelligence is being ***** slapped in the face.

My parents don't like black tar heroine, does that mean I should go shoot up as much as I possibly can?

 

[Senaro]

so, a parental advocacy group is complaining because a commercial is portraying what parents actually think about a game?


did........did we tear a rip in the space-time continuum?

No, a parental advocacy group is complaining because they believe the idea of rebelling against your mother and/or parents is more prevalent in the age group that is supposed to be prohibited from buying this game.

Point being if you're 18, and an adult, you may have moved out of the house or just don't care what your mom thinks of the game so why would the ad be appealing?

Because it's funny, even to orphans.

 

[Omgsarge]

Have you seen the Volkswagen commercial involving Darth Vader? That ad campaign involved a lot more money than this one we're arguing over. They actually spent just seconds showing the car itself. Hell, you could remove the car entirely and make it a Darth Vader costume ad. But why was it effective? It was quirky and unique. What's to say EA wasn't doing the same?

Car commercials are a entirely different animal though. It seems to me that they are trying to sell a brand more often then not. That is why you get these funny and/or crazy commercials because they want you to think positive about their brand. The last commercial I saw was from Toyota and they showed scenery so pretty that you could burst out into tears, with a car here and there. It's less about the exact car they are showing and more about image and what you associate with that particular brand.
Also, how what do you mean when you say "effective"? Because people liked it? Where you motivated to buy that car or do you now think more highly of the company? I think quirkiness and positive images go well with cars because they want to establish a link between you feeling good and their brand (i guess most companys want to do that...). Did that also happen with Dead Space with you? Are you more motivated to buy a horror game because you found the commercial funny?
Maybe I'm just projecting what I want a so called HORROR game commercial to be like. Highlighting atmosphere and story aspects instead of superficial shock and violence with shocked mothers who don't understand what's going on. But I guess that's what Dead Space is all about eh? That's what I get from the commercial. The add can be funny, edgy or relevant all it wants but I got the impression that they care more about flashy appearances than a horror experience. I was on the fence of buying right away but the add put me off. It reminded me that the first Dead Space was more about necromorphs with a fetish for string music than true Horror. I'll just wait till it gets cheaper.

 

[Killclaw Kilrathi]

This is the first time I've agreed with one of these groups. EA are clearly targeting minors with that ad campaign. I hope they're proud of themselves, we've been trying to convince people that the gaming industry is mature and can regulate itself for ages and now they come in and target children in an ad campaign for an adult rated game. Way to give our opponents ammunition, guys.

 

[Vivace-Vivian]

Common Sense is right. Even if you can't 'technically' prove it, we all know why they released that campaign.