Barack Obama presidential campaign comes to Xbox 360
The presidential race for the White House, between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain, is now entering the final straight. With just two weeks to go before election day, the campaigns have to go in to overdrive, especially in those all-important swing states that could decide the winner. Obama has a secret tool at his disposal – the Xbox 360.
Technology has played a huge part in this election campaign. Whether it be Obama’s social network and iPhone app, or both candidates using Internet search marketing to drive their policies in to people’s consciousnesses, technology has been a weapon wielded by both sides.
But Barack Obama’s campaign is not leaving a stone unturned in its desire to reach everyone who could possibly vote for him and secure his place in history as the first black president of the United States. The latest battleground is the Xbox 360, with virtual billboard ads appearing in a number of games.
Obama recently announced that his campaign had raised $150 million, just in September, and all that money is going to be used for a final push to persuade people to vote for him. According to Reuters, the Xbox 360 campaign, which will see 18 games plastered with Obama banner ads, is being targeted at 10 key states – Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida and Colorado.
The in-game ads, which will appear in the form of virtual billboards, are to be found in games including Guitar Hero 3, The Incredible Hulk, NASCAR 09, NBA Live 08, NFL Tour, and Burnout Paradise. The adverts are targeted at people able to vote early, and to that end, point potential supporters towards VoteForChange.com.
I have mixed feelings on this. I can certainly see why Obama’s campaign has targeted Xbox 360 gamers in this way, as the usual demographic, 18-34 males, is one that is likely to be adverse to more traditional forms of campaigning. But as a gamer, I play games to leave the real world behind and don’t really want to have political ads imposed on me while participating in a hobby.
This particular move could backfire on Obama, by either annoying gamers enough to persuade them not to vote, or just having no effect. Personally, I don’t know anyone who would change their vote for president based purely on an advert they saw in a video game, and anyone who does maybe shouldn’t have the right to vote in the first place.
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October 20th, 2008
This is the sort of thing you get from a candidate that opts out of public funding despite promising to abide by its limits. Kie about anything you can lie about and get away with long enough to get your sound bite in the news, and BUY every vote possible. This election is sure about change, Obama has changed Presidential politics forever into a pure contest to raise and spend the most money. We will see if it works.
October 21st, 2008
shouldn’t this be in the games section?
October 22nd, 2008
Your complaint is trying to target Obama, but your actual complaint is about real world ads in video games. If you don’t like in game ads (and it isn’t just Microsoft doing it) then don’t buy the games.
My complaint is that the games have ads and are still costing $60!
Now, personally, I want to see Obama vs. McCain and Biden vs. Palin in some xbox live action =P