Promote Burger King with your Xbox Gamer Pic
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Nov 27th 2006 at 6:15PM }
A filthy marketing scheme is slivering its way onto the Xbox Live Marketplace today: Burger King Games Picture Pack. We shudder at the thought of Xbox Live users handing over their gamer picture spaces to Burger King. But it will happen -- because the picture pack is free.Some may view this as a win-win situation (users get free pics, BK gets free advertising), but the BK Picture Pack also highlights a growing disappointment: there aren't enough freebie gamer pics to download. If we had our way, playing a game would unlock at least a pair of pics (additional content could still be sold); plus, achievement images (already cropped to gamer pic size) could be inserted into one's gamer card. Instead, users are eagerly downloading Burger King ads because they deviate from the pay-for-content norm.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AJay17 @ Nov 27th 2006 9:14PM
I see no problem with this at all. Why complain about something that is free? Don't like it? Then simply don't use it. ts not like they are forcing you to download it. It really is win-win.
Petrie @ Nov 27th 2006 7:57PM
Would it make you more likely to buy a particular game if doing so unlocked a gamer pic?
If not, then for the companies, there is NO reason to not sell the pics later. Why deviate from the norm when it would do nothing to increase sales?
Imadogg @ Nov 27th 2006 6:22PM
I'm totally against buying gamerpics, waste of money in my eyes. But free ones like these I'll be sure to use just for comedic effect! Go BK!
Damn still haven't got any of the BK games, and those 7 or so Kings in the pic look mighty scary.
Salamanga @ Nov 27th 2006 7:41PM
Allaleuh ya Brother!
Seriously...whats with the big shift to microtransactions? Was it that long ago when Unreal Tournament just offered a map pack for FREE? I see no need to pay for gamertag pics but winning one..well that's just dandy. As far as BK...hmmmm...when are we going to get the Victoria Secret's Angel Hunt FPS? Now that's a gamertag a guy can look forward to!
jon @ Nov 27th 2006 6:31PM
Have you checked out those $4 BK Games? They are actually really fun. If I can get a gamerpic with The King, that would be awesome. Also, why is this a "filthy marketing scheme?" If people don't like Burger King, then they won't use the pics - no one is forcing them to use it. I find it refreshing that a company like Burger King recognizes gamers as a market, and is trying to reach us through initiatives like this. The fact that they are willing to invest money to make Xbox games and put gamerpics on XBL says a lot. It may not make you like the food any better, but at least its something.
RHP @ Nov 27th 2006 7:09PM
I really surprised more people don't offer free gamerpics as advertising. When Nacho Libre was coming out, they offered a free gamerpic of Jack Black, which it seemed like everyone adopted there for a while.
Too bad they don't allow you to create your own that everyone can see. I know, I know, they'll be problems, but still...
David @ Nov 27th 2006 6:42PM
Just like magazines, if you're going to advertise in it, they should be free. The people paying to stick their crap in the mag or game are paying the mag. Why do we need to double it up for them? Especially when most of them aren't very quality.
Now, TV is different with their product placement, because it's free to watch. Broadcasters like HBO who don't have advertisers charge because of that.
So why are we paying $50 (and now 60) for a game if it's going to have ads in it? I know the BK thing is in it's own, but I don't need to see ads for Axe Body Spray every lap if I paid money money for it.
Why are we pay $25 a year (or $8 an issue) for a magazine when 30%+ of it is filled with ads?
So we as consumers have to pay two times. Keep that in mind next time you see your next pay check (or allowance) and when you drop some money for one of these double dippers.
otakucode @ Nov 27th 2006 7:10PM
Much, much better than what you suggest would be a community driven blade that allows independent artists to create gamer pics and put them on XBL either for free or for a fee, of which the artist would receive at least 90% of the profit.
Whatever company embraces a "peer to peer economy" first and does it HONESTLY, taking no more than a 10% finders fee from the transaction, will be positively monumental profit-wise and have a terrific impact on society.
Mephistopheles @ Nov 27th 2006 7:18PM
It's free so what is there to complain about?
SymetriX @ Nov 27th 2006 7:49PM
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER ***
According to gamefaqs.com you can unlock a special gamer pic in Gears of War by beating the game on the insane difficulty level.
uglypimp @ Nov 27th 2006 7:50PM
"Much, much better than what you suggest would be a community driven blade that allows independent artists to create gamer pics and put them on XBL either for free or for a fee, of which the artist would receive at least 90% of the profit."
And how would a company possibly police that with any effeciency to ensure that:
1. The pics are not obscene
2. The pics do not violate copyright law
3. The service doesn't become flooded with a bunch of crappy gamerpics that no one would want?
The reality is, this will probably never happen. The internet is a different beast that is not an enclosed environment -- unlike Live.
Dam That River @ Nov 28th 2006 6:42PM
Any Brooke Burke? Now that's something I'd use.
LaughingMan @ Nov 28th 2006 4:58PM
"We shudder at the thought of Xbox Live users handing over their gamer picture spaces to Burger King."
Yeah right. Sorry not everything can live up to the "too cool for the room" standard of Joystiq and/or Penny Arcade. Plenty of shows and movies have free pics, so why not BK? I think "The King" is funny in a inentionaly funny, cheezy kind of way. Yes it advertising, duh. Get over yourself.
Graham @ Nov 28th 2006 1:47AM
Some games do give out pictures as rewards, so it's up to the developer. Outpost Kaloki X gives you a pic for playing the trial version :-)
pilsbury847 @ Nov 28th 2006 2:00AM
Just to let you know, you can and do get gamerpics for playing games.I got a ton from amped 3 and constantly get ones from live arcade games.
CheekyLee @ Nov 28th 2006 5:58AM
Acheivment pics as gamerpics FTW! Seriously, beating Call of Duty 2 on the hardest difficulty, surviving a million in Geometry Wars, and 7-day surviving Dead Rising are all bragworthy acheivments.
GG Burger King, though. Cheap games and free pics are very nice. Now release the damn games in Europe already!
ForbidenMaster @ Nov 28th 2006 6:18AM
"8. *** POSSIBLE SPOILER ***
According to gamefaqs.com you can unlock a special gamer pic in Gears of War by beating the game on the insane difficulty level."
Its true. You can check it out by going to my gamercard: http://live.xbox.com/member/ForbidenMaster
darkripper @ Nov 28th 2006 7:04AM
However the gamerpic will be massively downloaded not because is free, but because the King is a popular internet phenomenon.
Jeramy @ Nov 28th 2006 11:51PM
i completely agree with you on the whole buying gamer pics issue.
as for the marketing, i don't have a problem with it. i think burger king has a great marketing department and i absolutely love the king mascot and the commercials. hell, i would probably pay to get the king as a gamer pic. i know it sounds weird, but i just appreciate their commercials so much. plus their food's pretty good in my opinion.
now if it were someone like taco bell (regardless of the whole discrepancy over a mascot), i would not download it for free. taco bell has quite possibly the worst marketing department on the face of the planet. their commercials make me want to commit sepuku. burger king actually makes funny commercials. at least that's my opinion of them.