EA Sports "will showcase" female UFC fighters Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate "in digital ads" for its new UFC video game that hit stores yesterday, according to Michael McCarthy of AD AGE. EA Senior Marketing Product Manager Jeff Sharma said that this "will be the first time EA Sports has featured female fighters" in an MMA game. The female fighters' video likenesses "will appear in U.S. ads" along with UFC Light Heavyweight champion and cover athlete Jon 'Bones' Jones, former UFC fighter Chuck Liddell and the late Bruce Lee. Sharma said the strategy of adding female fighters to both the game and the campaign is a "differentiator between us and the other companies that had the license before." Ad agency Heat, S.F., is "creating the digital ads" starring Rousey, Tate and other fighters. Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, is "handling media planning and buying." However, the female fighters "will not be seen in the TV ad promoting the game." The spot features Lee, Liddell and other male fighters "going at" each other. Only male fighters "will appear in ads for overseas markets like Europe, where women's MMA hasn't taken off yet" (ADAGE.com, 6/18).
