Barack Obama Campaign Buys Ad Space In Nine EA Video Games
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Obama Campaign Launches Ad Effort In EA
Video Games To Appeal To Male Audiences |
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has become the "first presidential candidate to buy ad space inside" a video game, according to Devlin Barrett of the AP. Nine video games from Electronic Arts (EA) including "Madden 09" and "Burnout Paradise" feature "in-game ads from the Obama campaign." The ads, which "appear on billboards and other signage -- remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site." Obama's ads are "aimed at gamers who like sports, including NASCAR, NBA, NHL and skateboarding." EA Corporate Communications Dir Holly Rockwood "would not say how much the ads cost," but she said that they are "running on Microsoft's Xbox Live versions of the game" through November 3. The ads began running earlier this month. Rockwood: "It reaches an audience that is typically hard to reach -- young males, roughly 18 to 34. That's very appealing to our advertisers" (AP, 10/14). An EA spokesperson said that the ads in "Burnout Paradise" would appear in "only 10 different states, most of them contested battleground states." GAMESPOT.com's Brendan Sinclair noted the Obama campaign is "running only on the Xbox 360 version of the game, given that it was handled by Microsoft-owned in-game ad firm Massive Incorporated." Meanwhile, an EA spokesperson said that Massive "had approached" Republican presidential candidate John McCain's campaign, "which 'passed' on a Burnout ad buy" (GAMESPOT.com, 10/14).
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