U.S. Spec Ops Veteran: Modern Warfare 3 Commercial a "New Low"

[WhiteTigerShiro]

The sad part is that the commercial is actually a fairly accurate depiction of what the average MW battle would look like if it was done in live action. So in a way, Grady has said that MW3 in general is offensive towards the efforts of soldiers. That said though...

The glorification, trivialisation and commercialisation of war isn't a video game thing, it's an American thing.

Exactly. Has Grady seen Army recruitment commercials? At least the MW3 commercial can fall-back on the fact that it's meant to depict a game's deathmatch mode. Army recruitment commercials are just as over-glorified as the MW3 commercial, except that they ARE claiming to be a depiction of what it's like.

 

[Something Amyss]

Wasn't there a commercial that made it out like being in the army is just as awesome as playing a war video game?

Not only that, but it's a video game. For entertainment. For fun. OF COURSE it trivialises the subject matter.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Eh. The commercial knows it's target audience: grade a clowns who would like to think there's a soldier in them.

 

[Technicka]

Why just single out this one commercial? What about GI Joe? Or RED? Or Battlefield 3? Was he pissed at Battle L.A.? Mission Impossible? What about the live action Black Ops commercials?

CoD never claimed to be a honest depiction of war - it's always been a power fantasy for people to run around like they were on a Michael Bay set. While there is an argument to be made on how society has downplayed the real tragedy that is war, a commercial poking fun at the multiplayer aspect of a game isn't really the best starting point.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I agreed with half of his statement but thing is COD or Battlefield etc are not real simulation of war. (Do we experience fear, panic or loosing our breath when we sprint into safty?) Beside we all know what real war is like from the film portray of it.

 

[kurupt87]

Well, the bloke comes across as a bit of a twat. If it is ok before Sep 11th then it's ok after, nothing's changed except how aware people are. If that is a legitimate change then we're all fucked, the stupids are in charge.

Maybe everyone else is a complete moron, but I can tell the difference between a war game and actual war. One is fun, one is shit.

 

[Brawndo]

I feel like a lot of people are agreeing with Grady just because they don't like Call of Duty. I really don't care for MW3, but I don't buy his argument at all. MW3 is not simulating real war any more than Mario Kart is simulating real go-kart racing. The single-player campaign is trying to give the player an action movie experience, and the multiplayer is just a competitive version of that.

 

[Shakura Jolithion]

I feel like a lot of people are disagreeing just because they don't like criticism on video games or don't get how things can be offensive to people with different backgrounds than themselves...

I personally don't feel anything from the trailer, but I can see where the guy's coming from- it *is* trivializing war, even if it's "just a game". Heck, I clicked on an LRR video in the other tab and a "Marines" recruitment ad came up... It's nowhere near as long, has some catch phrases, but that's different because it's part of the moral and general feel of the marines. And they're footage showed people having to do real work/difficulty rather than the MW3 commercial which just turns lots of shooting/explosions/etc. into an arcade game... yeah, it is a game, it's based on a game, but you're showing live-action footage with army gear and how it's just walking around having fun... I think the issues isn't really people being too sensitive, it's people not being sensitive enough =/

 

[wooty]

I guess its alk down to personal oppinions on this, no its not a real portrayal of what war is like, but I do know and have encountered plenty of morons who do take it way to serioulsy.

Not saying this guys wrong with his views on it, but he is entitled to them and I guess hes seen the real side of war in order to make a full judgement on the issue.

 

[Dastardly]

U.S. Spec Ops Veteran: Modern Warfare 3 Commercial a "New Low"

I'll half-agree.

Let's start with what I don't agree with: I don't think the action in this commercial trivializes war... in any unique way, that is. It's no more than action films or TV shows, or other commercials, or even the games themselves do. They're all guilty of romanticizing the act of blowing things up -- but hey, at least this commercial doesn't show them blowing up people. There's just explosions and shooting, as though they're in a giant "shooting and grenade range."

Where I do agree: There's a soldier in everyone. The tagline is where I'm seeing the (unintentional) disrespect and trivialization. Yes, people often use these games to play out their fantasies of what they believe a soldier does. But that doesn't mean the ad has to focus on that aspect of the game. It'd be like Trauma Center having an ad that said, "Anyone can be a doctor!"

In contrast, there might be a commercial in which an older brother points out something to his younger brother on homework, and the tagline is, "Anyone can be a teacher." It doesn't trivialize what I do, it simply encourages people to be a constructive part of the process. It encourages an aspiration.

This commercial doesn't encourage any aspiration. It doesn't even say anything about activity in the game itself -- like 'Save the world - it's up to you!' or something. It just equates "soldier" to "FPS player." I know it doesn't do so in any overtly or intentionally disrespectful way, but there are many better taglines that could have been used. Even "There's a hero in all of us" would be better, because "hero" isn't an actual profession, just a description.

That said, I also think there's a tendency we have to overstate disrespect when we feel the relative weight of a profession is "higher." Being a soldier is sometimes life-and-death, so we can find offense very quickly... but what about media that trivializes other professions? Janitors don't defend our freedom, but they make nearly everyone's lives a whole lot better.

 

[josemlopes]

I dont see the problem, it is a commercial for what the game is (XPLOSIONS EVERYWHERE) not for what war is. And it does feel like a game since the "Noob" character isnt even scared when he dies, only disapointed.

If this was trying to imply that what we see in the video is what war looks like then I could understand but it is not the case here since it is just showing what the game looks like.

 

[samsonguy920]

Eh. The commercial knows it's target audience: grade a clowns who would like to think there's a soldier in them.

This describes the subject exactly. Yes, that commercial is tripe and Activision paid way too much money for it. No, D.B. Grady and his fellow soldiers are not its target demographic. Modern Warfare 3 is for nobody else but wanna-be's. It is not for the will-be's.
It makes me sick that cheap games like MW3 and BF3 are accepted by the Republican loudmouths, but games like 'Six Days in Fallujah' are tore down by those same people; "We love war games, but God forbid we should let it actually be portrayed as it really is."

 

[jimbob123432]

I definitely think they did could have handled this a little better (see: Black Ops commercials), but I actually like the general message behind the commercial: everyone can be a hero. That's all I think they're trying to say.

 

[Ariseishirou]

Lol, I love the "maybe it would have been okay before 9/11" part.

All of the soldiers and civilians killed in all prior conflicts? Pshaw. Those don't matter. Make light of those instead. But not his war, that's the one you're not allowed to treat disrespectfully. Bring on those Nazi Zombies, who cares what WWII vets think. That was pre-9/11, when war casualties were hilarious and trivial!

 

[BonsaiK]

If adverts for computer war games showing live actors aren't okay because it trivialises war, then by the same token neither is Rambo, Top Gun and thousands of other action movies. You also might want to take a second look at many fictional novels about WWII and Vietnam, a large amount of comic books made since the same era, quite a few TV series, many war toys marketed at children, and the list goes on. And on. I think we're just a little bit late on the fucking cultural boat if we're going to raise serious objections about something like this.

Kids have wanted to play "toy soldiers" and dream about being in the Army since forever. It doesn't mean that many of them will actually end up following that path. The toys may look a little more realistic now, and so does the advertising, but other than that, nothing has changed.

The premise of this whole article is not very well thought-out, especially for a gaming magazine. The article is actually what I find offensive, on the other hand the advert is just a little juvenile (which is okay, because it's aimed at a juvenile audience).

The Escapist and it's horribly biased news articles, sheesh! If you're going to be cringingly biased in every article you publish here, at least pick the right side.

 

[triggrhappy94]

"If this were September 10, 2001, maybe it wouldn't be quite so bad... "

Maybe if this was September 12, 2001, then he'd have some ground to stand on. In all honesty, "after ten years of constant war, of thousands of amputees and flag-draped coffins, of hundreds of grief-stricken communities, did nobody involved in this commercial raise a hand and say, 'You know, this is probably a little crass. Maybe we could just show footage from the game'" can be said about almost every game. Let's not forget Halo 3 did the exact samething, but what they did wasn't painfull to watch.
Don't complain about that commercial for because it's "crass"; complain because it's just annoying.

 

[thelustyargoniandude]

The problem I see here is that this man is arguing against this commercial because it sanitizes and advertises war. Unfortunately, that's wrong. The commercial really shouldn't be interpreted as to have any connection to actual war at all. What is depicted in the commercial is a goofy, stylized depiction of a popular video game that just happens to be about war (though fictional).