Advertisements in Video Games

Millions of kids and adults play video games online and with friends. I covered a lot of social aspects in previous blog postings but some of the advertisements lately in recent video games I have bought are starting to get out of hand. As a pc gamer I got a hold of Modern Warfare 3 the other day and noticed something out of the ordinary. It is no longer good enough to just be driving around in an army humvee anymore. We were sporting the new 2012 Jeep. This vehicle would never be a tactical one by any means but because Jeep put enough money on the table Infinity Ward (the makers of MW3) put the vehicle in the game.
This picture even has a gamer's editing put to good humor while playing this alien infested game.

When does advertising get out of hand? New games such as All Points Bulletin a similar MMO game to Grand Theft Auto was able to place billboards around the cities and people could post their own ads either from profanity or actual real life businesses.

In 2008 when Obama was running for office a few games had ads running asking for player's votes in the upcoming elections.

Have companies and advertisers gone too far today? I think so. You have to realize that some of these kids will play hours on end and will see that sign over and over and over and over every lap of the course and have it branded to them that they should vote for Obama and they won't even know why. If that same billboard was a McDonald's ad then they might turn to obesity as well. Can you blame advertisers fully? No, but some has to be there. As well as some falls onto the game developer, similar to the schools we talked about in class. They either accept the money or they don't and needing the money just might be the only option sometimes.
What do I accept as advertising in video games? The subtle stuff. For example,

It was hard to find a good picture but in game it is crystal clear that the cell phone used is a Nokia model. This is hardly noticed in the game and has a playful touch to it. In my opinion it goes too far when I am playing a shooter and I have to call to my teammates that the enemy just ran behind the coca-cola sign or jumped into the McDonald's branded dumpster etc. What is too far?

Protect Our Youth

One of the biggest concerns when talking about pornography (if we actually do talk about it) is how the youth of our nation view it. Many battles have been fought against the porn industry since the 60's and some can be seen here http://richardkmiller.com/133/legal-fight-against-pornography We used to be able to prosecute lewd acts and now those same "lewd" acts are showing up on mainstream magazines. Some of the basic problems are talked about in this article. Another blog I found online mentioned that 70% of the porn consumers were between the ages of 12 and 17.

There have been many political battles over the years against the porn industry about trying to prevent teenagers from viewing it. Whether it is firewalls at work or public schools blocking sites there are easy ways around this for the growing tech savvy students of tomorrow. It's quite easy to bypass these things if you know what you are doing with a computer, some systems are even beat by a common public proxy. All it takes for any of these teenagers once they hit the website is click yes to a mandated "Are you older than 18?" question and they are in. What teenager who is looking for porn is going to say no to that question? Plain stupid. Many of the kids these days can do a simple search for the porn on their smartphone and it'll bring it right up. The problem is that the websites that parents can block using parental controls on phones and home internet will block certain shows like family guy and other shows that might be blocked on the same level as pornography. So what this means is that the parent won't get the parental controls because what they might allow their kid to see like a lewd cartoon might also be allowing pornography without even knowing it.

What troubles me more about the industry is the common ideology of not using any protection. If millions of teenagers are viewing porn and none of the videos have the guys wearing condoms then I can just assume that some of these kids are going to think this is the norm. With the STD epidemic going around our country the future generations are going to be STD ridden. Here are some statistics supporting this theory http://www.cdc.gov/std/health-disparities/age.htm. Look at the age groups and how much of a difference there is in the younger population. What will happen in about 20 years if the current porn industry just keeps increasing? This moves into my next point of view about what parents can do to prevent this epidemic.

TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST SEX. This needs to be drilled into the parents today. It is very common for parents to talk to their children during puberty about sex and where babies come from etc etc. What isn't mentioned however is that parents need to also talk to their children about what is out there. All the pornography and all the sexual images that they are bound to come across on the internet. We are in a new age where teens are constantly connected online either through computers or smartphones they are bound to come across sexual images. When I was searching for the picture above for this class my filter wasn't on and it brought up a naked European model along with everything else. The point being the kids need to be warned about sex and about porn and it's effects whether positive or negative the information needs to be put out there so the teens when they turn 18 can make the decision properly. Otherwise curiosity will strike and they'll be watching the porn anyways without the info, they might as well be well informed if they are going to do it.

Our country is so hypocritical

"In God We Trust"

Those are the words on the back of any of our U.S. currency and yet we as a whole also allow deviations from religion. The porn industry is one major change we now embrace. It no longer seems to be something that needs to be hidden behind closed doors. We are a country founded on a bunch of religious principles and sayings such as "under god" in the pledge of allegiance etc. Our nation is being hypocritical. We embrace these religious beliefs and then also embrace porn? Sex is originally taught about an act between husband and wife and is against god's wishes before marriage. (now this is the catholic/christian view) So a nation raised on these beliefs also embraces pornography like its child. However, with the modern days I know a lot of teens are having sex before marriage it is actually quite common. It is still preached that teens should do so when they truly care for someone. With this much pornography going around I doubt that will last. So we preach one thing and do another. Behind closed doors many people are experimenting with pornography and that's all fine I guess however, what happens when the porn they are watching becomes violent and obscene and men are now treating women like objects because they saw it in a pornographic movie? Sex is a very big thing in a relationship and if it gets degrading to women they won't experience the full value of it. This is why I am proud to say I am a man and I don't watch porn. It shouldn't matter what other people are doing, if you and your partner are satisfying your needs then god speed. If we look at other countries they don't seem to do this. Porn and sex is a more open subject in Europe. They even have a love festival in Germany every year. I was there in 2007 and they were handing out condoms like it was no big deal. So at least in Europe they don't say one thing and then do another. Our country also has had all these women's movements in the past 50 years and porn doesn't seem to be following the same trend. Women in porn are once again treated like they were in the 50s, like objects to men and they do whatever the men want. We need to stop doing one thing and saying another in all aspects and that includes porn.