In the category of advertising Gearbox doesn't hate, lies the kind that improves authenticity. Gearbox provides the example of a Philips factory in Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, a historical site which would detract from authenticity sans the appropriate (and accurate to 1944) branding. Pitchford also lists increased budgets and out-of-game promotion as potential benefits that "we hope come from Double Fusion helping to connect Gearbox with advertisers."
"If you see in-game ads for some stupid product that has nothing to do with the context in which it occurs and actually detracts from the experience, then you can feel justified in bashing the developer, publisher, or advertiser that made that decision," concludes Pitchford. Fair enough -- but we'd better not be stopping at a Burger King in our trek across Borderlands, mister.
