Campaign Ads: Things Just Got (Un)Real

Look twice: this isn't a real billboard. This is a screen-grab from the XBox 360 game Burnout Paradise.

Courtesy of 360 Gamer "Jeffson"

It's common knowledge that Obama has outspent McCain on the advertising front -- in radio, tv, print and, it would seem, in video games, too. The folks over at GigaOm.com report on a conspicuous digital billboard in the game Burnout Paradise:

"I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout," Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts, the game's publisher, told me via email, noting that EA regularly allows ad placements in their online games. "Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates," she continued. "Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams."

So much for video game escapism. Ben Smith over at Politico points to even more examples.

Other bits of reality yet to be introduced to the video-game world: high gas prices, 700-billion dollar bailouts of the virtual world's biggest financial institutions, and increasing numbers of unemployed avatars.

(h/t TPM)

-- Thomas Pierce

UPDATE: This reminds me of John McCain's foray into the world of video games earlier this year. Remember his Space Invaders-inspired Pork Invaders? The game was created to reinforce McCain's fight against wasteful spending. For me, it was more of a time-machine to the mall arcade of my youth.

12:26 PM ET | 10-14-2008 | permalink

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