Bogost Chapter 5-7

Advertising Logic

Advertisers are “quick to colonize media” (148). This includes television, outdoor (billboards, posters),

A ‘trend’ advertisers are now having to deal with is known as “cynicism,” where consumers resist the simulation of freedom and the colonization of advertising in media. Also, with the popularity of technologies like TiVo (DVRs), Netflix & Hulu, and video games advertisers must ‘change tactics’ to reach the prime demographic (18-34 year old males).

Bogost spends a significant portion of Chapter 5 defining the three types of advertising, demonstrative, illustrative, and associative. Demonstrative is ‘the original,’ the type that provides direct information and is necessary to be effective within the realm of video games. Traditional demonstrative advertising features a lot of text and highlights functionality. Illustrative advertising focuses on indirect information. Associative advertising, the final kind, also focuses on indirect information, but in an intangible way. Bogost associates (pun intended) this type of advertising with “lifestyle marketing” (156).

It’s at this point that Bogost discusses the state of ‘advergames’ (advertising games). Associative games are the most common, the most prevalent, but demonstrative advertising most closely correlates with the “procedural properties” of video games (158). Two examples he gives of associative games are Mountain Dew Skateboarding and Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool. Games like Coca-Cola Kid and Coke’s Sportstron TV game don’t “perform procedural representation” but attempt to associate the brand with video games. The company hopes that by associating their brand (in this case, Coke) with a niche market, ie video games, then members of that group will fall prey to their advertising strategies. “Whew. That was a really hard level; I’m thirsty. I need a Coke.” Or “Coke spends money on video games because they think they’re cool. I think video games are cool. Coke and I have a lot in common.”

Licensing and Product Placement

In Chapter 6, the author addresses (not in a comprehensive sense, but enough to introduce and persuasively argue) the connection between licensed products (television, film, etc.) and video games. Unlike “branded lunch-boxes” or stickers or folders with images of the licensed products on them, video games must incorporate in some new way the operational rules, become a procedural representation of the product. An a propos example used in the text is the Harry Potter series (it will be interesting to see how this particular market transforms now that the books and films are complete). For the game Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (and many of the other games closely following the cinematic version) allows the player repetitive actions, or minor actions like collecting cards (simply the “accrual of virtual property” (177)) intermingled with rendered cinematics for “unplayable” sections.

One thing learned from this game is that although the player has the choice of playing as Harry, Ron or Hermione, Harry is the focal character. The game seems to be supporting the idea of teamwork, but in ‘reality,’ Harry is who the books and movies center around (the opposite of teamwork). A game that perhaps unintentionally reveals this discrepancy as well is Quidditch World Cup. Quidditch is a combination of the sports soccer and basketball, but in both these real life sports, the emphasis is truly on teamwork (sports stars like David Beckham must still be team players). The added component of the golden snitch and seeker (which can automatically win a game) highlights the value of one person over the group.

Advergames

One of the most notable advergames (a Bogostian term) from Chapter 7 was Johnson and Johnson’s Tooth Protectors. This ‘sophisticated’ game (given its constraints) prompts the player to think of tooth/dental care as a “logical system rather than a moral one” (203). (“I brush my teeth to keep them from decaying and protect them from plague and gingivitis” instead of “I brush my teeth because Mommy says it’s good for me”)

Bogost also discusses the games Stow ‘n Go Challenge and Xtreme Errands (a game designed and developed by Bogost’s studio). The two games focus on “the procedural configuration of abstract space” or operationalizing “limited time and resources” (213). The games developed by beer and soft drink companies also interestingly present the idea of procedural representation of a licensed product.

This section on advertising concludes with a short address of ‘anti-advergames.’ In The Sims Online, players that oppose corporations such as McDonalds are encouraged to actively work against it through the medium of the game. Games like Coke is It! reveal the absurdity of advertising and its invasion of all forms of media.

The final kind of anti-advergame Bogost is more subtle than the aforementioned (example: Book and Volume). His studio’s Disaffected! examines FedEx Kinko’s dysfunctionality and inefficiency. The game effectively ‘lives out’ the problems encountered at this business in a way that writing a letter of complaint is unable.

Discussion Questions

1. If advertising must move from a visual rhetoric to a procedural rhetoric in order to be effective in video games, how can this be realized? Instead of placing billboards in Need for Speed games, how can advertisers incorporate products in a ‘believable’ way?
2. How could a licensed product/company create a game with the ‘correct’ procedural rhetoric? Look at the comparison of the Stow ‘n Go Challenge with Xtreme Errands. The former fails to truly present the player/potential buyer with the features and functionality of the product; how could this game be changed to accurately portray the Stow ‘n Go Seating?
3. In what ways could video games be used to reveal and demonstrate idiosyncracies and ideologies of licensed products (for example, movies and books-in this section, the Harry Potter franchise)?