In the words of
Mr. Maxwell, there’s a lot of crap that we have to sift through everyday:
advertisements, mindless Twitter posts, celebrity gossip, et cetera. But it’s
those provocative ads and commercials on social media that are perhaps the
highest in magnitude and in peskiness. Take this lovely advertisement for the
game ‘Pirates: Tides of Fortune,’ for example:
Your attention is immediately drawn to the erotically dressed woman in the center of the ad. She is portrayed in a loose-fitting and rather exposing shirt as she intently gazes at you, mouth open. Underneath the woman you can see the words “Loot the Booty” in bold lettering. Underneath this, you can see a warning stating, “Once you’re inside, your friends won’t be seeing much of you.” Lastly, you can see ANOTHER warning in the top-right corner saying that this game has been banned in twelve countries.
The main appeal used in this ad is the appeal to satisfy curiosity. Immediately you wonder to yourself, “Wait, is this an ad for some erotic video game? Why is this game banned in twelve countries? If I play this game, will I be able to loot some booty?” Those are all good questions. Naturally, the easiest and most convenient way to answer these questions is to check the game out for yourself, and Ta-Da! The advertisers have won by getting you to look up the game and become sucked in.
So if you play this game, will you receive these things which have been advertised to you? Will you get a borderline game centered around sex and the Seven Seas? Maybe yes and maybe no. The only way to find out would be to check out the game itself. And if they can do that, then they’ve successfully done their job as advertisers.
Hey Jack. It's Bryan. I've played that game, although I was drawn to it by ads focusing on the gameplay. I can attest that there is no sexual content in the first five or so levels after the tutorial and that the game is quite a bit boring all around. Not the most imaginative game, but they certainly went out on a limb with the marketing. I saw that same ad on Kongregate (a flash game site), after having played the game myself, and had a laugh. Nice analysis.
ReplyDeleteSo, the smoking gun doesn't actually give usable info? This will be the last time I visit the smoking gun.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeletePlease understand that "The Smoking Gun" is a blog. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'usable info.' This site is based purely on opinion with some references back to factual evidence. Would I use this for a report? No. But if you're looking for a glance at everyday issues, then yeah, I encourage you to read this.
Yours,
JY