Barack Obama is going where no other presidential candidate has ever gone. No, not to space—better than space—he’s entered the virtual world of video games. The Obama campaign has purchased virtual ads that will appear in nine video games all from Electronic Arts: “Madden ’09,” “NFL on Tour,” “NHL ’09,” “Nascar ’09,” “Need For Speed Carbon,” “Burnout Paradise,” “Need For Speed Pro Street,” “Need For Speed Carbon,” and “Skate.”
The ads will run until November 3. They serve as reminders for gamers to get out early and vote, and it directs them to visit the website www.voteforchange.com. The ads will only appear in 10 states where early voting has already begun including some battleground states: Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, and Colorado.
Holly Rockwood, Director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts told Gigaom.com that “Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates […] Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.”
With the election only 21 days away, Barack Obama may have made a smart investment. A study conducted by Nielsen Games found that more than one-third (36%) “Bought, talked about, or sought information about a product after seeing it advertised in a video game.” While gamers can’t literally buy anything, they will probably be talking about the Obama ads generating more positive chatter about the campaign. Nielsen surveyed 534 active gamers and found that “19% talked about a brand after seeing an in-game ad, and 10% recommended the product to a friend.”
This may be a way for Obama to attract voters who spend more time in the virtual world than the real world causing them to miss all media reports and television ads. In July 2008, XBOX 360 was the second most popular video consul after Play Station 2. It’s also another way to get people talking about Obama and his campaign. The question is will the gamers transform the talk to action and get out and vote?
Courtesy of Gigaom.com
