The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that Change4Life's stereotypical and stupid ad campaign can stay. Despite infuriating the British game industry with its implication that videogames are part of the "doing nothing" that leads to premature death, the ASA sees no reason to step in.
"Whilst the ASA Council understood the concerns of Tiga and those complainants who worked in the video games industry, it noted that the ad did not claim that playing computer or console games alone would lead to illness or premature death," stated the ASA.
While I don't think the poster was all that offensive (just, as I say, stereotypical and stupid), I find it quite rich that the ASA will pull videogame adverts that generate about twelve complaints from idiots, yet won't step in when an entire industry is pissed off. It's not that I think Change4Life should be forced to stop. I simply think the ASA is being rather inconsistent in its ruling.
What confuses me is that the ASA will ban a poster for Burnout simply for implying violent behavior, yet it won't pull these adverts because implication is not enough. I'm just sick of double standards. After all, imagine the furor there would be if the kid in the poster was reading a book. Book reading is even more passive than game playing, but Change4Life would never dare portray books in such a light. If it won't have a kid reading a book, let's not pretend the campaign didn't know what it was doing when it put a game controller in the boy's hand.
Hypocrisy. Change4Life has it.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
12:40 PM on 03.19.2009
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Video games aren't bad for you! You can manage pain and improve your surgical skills with them! (Studies have proven so)
At least when you play a game your mind is engaged. I never hear about people falling asleep while playing a game. But you can bet people fall asleep while watching TV or reading.
I've seen the ad a few times and it doesn't particularly single out gaming, just points out that doing it too much without exercise is unhealthy, which, as much as many on here will disagree, is true. Doesn't make gaming any less great, and most people know when to step away from the controller.
Violence, sex, love and hatred are all apart of humanity and our nature yet these morons try to deny, and rather let you believe they dont exsist because they live in TVLand where everything marshmellow clouds, gumdrops and celebrity.
Unite the forces of all them pissed off gamers and gamemakers, make your fucking opinion public. Tell the same thing you told now and see how long it takes for there to be a reaction...
Double standars don't last for 2 seconds when you call out the people who have the power to shut down their carnival...
I'm actually kind of disappointed that I didn't find anything directly aimed at gaming (yet).