Who knew: Publishers don't like being called child killers [update]

by JC Fletcher { Mar 9th 2009 at 11:18AM }

Update: Sony is considering action against the ad agency for the unauthorized use of what looks like a PlayStation controller. In addition, Codemasters and Konami have both expressed their disagreement. Konami mentioned its Dance Dance Revolution series, which requires standing and moving, and Codemasters' CEO Rod Cousens said, "Governments have a unique ability to get it wrong."

Game publishers have begun speaking out against the "Change4Life" ad campaign, which draws a direct link between video games and early death. For whatever reason, Sega and Atari do not wish for their multimillion-dollar businesses to be associated with the death of children.

Sega Europe president and COO Mike Hayes told MCV that the company is "very disappointed" with the ad. "It remains a deep frustration that video gaming is selected to present a negative image of the UK's children, youth, consumer at large and the industry." He said that a "poorly informed advertising agency" must be responsible for an ad that singles out gaming instead of more passive media like television, music, and reading.

Atari has also spoken out against the ad, announcing its support for MCV's complaint, and saying that "At best, the campaign is misleading and at worst, damaging to the industry, its reputation and its potential." In addition, the developer organization TIGA also registered its displeasure with the ad, filing a formal complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority.

The Department of Health issued a statement in defense of "Change4Life," saying that it is "not saying that children shouldn't play computer games or eat treats, but parents and children need to be aware of the benefits of a balanced diet and an active lifestyle."

Source -- Sega
Source -- Atari
Source -- TIGA
Source -- UK government responds

Tags: ad, advertising, advertising-standards-authority, atari, change-4-life, sega, tiga

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

TheWatchmen09 @ Mar 9th 2009 11:23AM

O Really?

Levi (God Hand Defense Force) @ Mar 9th 2009 12:24PM

YA RLY

Ridgecity @ Mar 9th 2009 6:05PM

The economic depression? blame Super Mario.
Murder rates? blame GTA
illegal immigration? blame fukin Tetris and the racist sequel Tetris Plus.

If he wanted to risk dying early, he should join the army.

riv3r @ Mar 9th 2009 7:49PM

It is really amazing how people can be so dumb.
There are a million and one different factors in early child death, but of course video games has to be the scapegoat.
For example, an orphan with a drunk step-father, who has never played a violent video game in his life is much more likely to die early, than a kid from a middle class family with two supporting parents, even though the latter plays tons of violent video games.

IT IS THE PARENTS/GUARDIANS JOBS TO DECIDE WHAT THEIR CHILDREN SHOULD PLAY

the_game_master @ Mar 9th 2009 11:25AM

I agree with the game companies. That hypothesis sound completely far fetched.

offday @ Mar 9th 2009 11:25AM

"but parents and children need to be aware of the benefits of a balanced diet and an active lifestyle."

Exactly. So why don't you guys STFU and let the parents be parents. You're not helping anyone with your worthless ad.

Linkario @ Mar 9th 2009 11:55AM

That's not true, they helped me! I was in the middle of a Civ4 grind session... if it weren't for this ad, I'd probably be dead from holding my $hit too long. Luckily I read this ad, took a dump, and am ready for 12 more hours. Ooorah!

Tiptup300 @ Mar 9th 2009 1:08PM

I got the ad wrong so I decided to go murder children. =/

Jose @ Mar 9th 2009 5:36PM

Hey DoH, if that's what the ad was meant to say, why the fuck didn't it say that. Instead it reads something like "Playin gamez, ur gon die, LOL!!!1"

Sensationalist advertisements don't help anyone. I'm glad the UK taxpayer will be covering the bill for this one, and not us.

Markez @ Mar 9th 2009 11:26AM

Maybe if Sonic would put down the crispy cremes and the Game Gear he could get up off his ass and just stop lying around. Yeesh.

dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Mar 9th 2009 11:37AM

"He said that a 'poorly informed advertising agency' must be responsible for an ad that singles out gaming instead of more passive media like television, music, and reading."

Owned much?

No one ever complains about the physical laziness that is reading :P

WINterfang @ Mar 9th 2009 11:43AM

Sega's administrating fresh pwn yo.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Mar 9th 2009 12:11PM

Reading. Killing people since the Dawn of Man.

ronEbear @ Mar 9th 2009 11:38AM

Seems like it`s easy to be a douchbag parent these days, everyone can blame their child`s bad behavior on video games!

Is your kid a bully?: Blame video games!
Does you kid that swear a lot?: Blame video games!
Has your kid run away from home and froze to death: Blame video games!

Video games are the new pot and rock and roll!!

ronEbear @ Mar 9th 2009 11:43AM

Pardon my spelling, i meant to spell douchebag.

Linkario @ Mar 9th 2009 12:04PM

Video games, pot, and rock and roll.

Is that part of the balanced diet the article spoke about?

butaneko @ Mar 9th 2009 11:38AM

I blame video games for my early death

ronEbear @ Mar 9th 2009 11:44AM

i replied to the wrong post :P

AwesomeTown @ Mar 9th 2009 11:52AM

Dibs on your stereo.

Dan Rabot @ Mar 9th 2009 11:40AM

I think these ad's should have shown a kid telling their parents what they want to do rather than the other way around.

That is the cause of this child obesity problem, too many parents have only had kids to get a flat / bigger house here in the UK, now these kids are being essentially neglected by parents who are not capable of bringing up and supporting children. People who didn't decide to have children for the right reasons, and as a result, "can't be bothered" to argue with, encourage (as in sports) or discipline their kids.

I think short of parenting licenses (i would fully support) we can't do much about this problem, we are now set to have a future generation of selfish, spoiled, fat, young adults, who know nothing of discipline or respect other than getting their own way.

This advert completely misses the point and demonises a harmless, brain activating pass-time. It's been proven recently that playing games delays the set in of dementia, yet the main activity of under stimulated kids is sitting in front of the advert box staring at the same shit day in day out.

I've complained to the ASA, hopefully you'll do the same.

The other thing (excuse the fanboyishness) is that there are a huge amount more Xbox's than PS3's in the UK. Why the hell is that kid not holding an Xbox controller? Surely more parents associate the white controller with their kids than the black one??!?

My main point is that there are a hell of a lot of STUPID parents in this country, our government encourages stupid people to have kids and intelligent people don't have time! The ad company knows this, and takes advantage of their stupidity by scaremongering like this.

Appauling.

RedRaptor @ Mar 9th 2009 11:51AM

Of course, the irony in all this is that chavs are more likely to have kids and raise them to be bad parents themselves, while folks like us who know what a parent should act like (due in large part to our favorite hobbies being scapegoated all the damned time) end up never having any, either because we don't want to burden the world or just can't land a girlfriend to save our lives.

I hear where you're coming from on the "government handout" part, though. Octomom here in the US (who has had a total of 14 kids via in-vitro fertilization for the sole purpose of getting more money from Uncle Sam) makes me ashamed of our welfare system.

tl;dr: the government pays for people to be irresponsible, while responsible people end up shouldering the burden and never being able to improve things. Makes me lose a little bit more hope in humanity every day.

Nguyen @ Mar 9th 2009 1:46PM

You're describing the setup to Idiocracy, which is a movie that all governments should watch. At least the first few parts (the rest is negligible).

Dan Rabot @ Mar 10th 2009 8:02AM

I don't agree that gamers can't find girlfriends, my fiance and I are currently trying for a baby.

But both the UK and US we have the problem of the "undesirables," those who cannot even support themselves without the support of the rest of us firing out kids like they are going out of fashion. While those of us with careers who spend our lives trying to make ourselves suitable parents don't have time to have children, we get no support because we can afford it and as such having kids becomes way more difficult for those who are suitable to be parents then those who can't even support themselves.

The benefit system in the UK really does make me sick.

The Baron @ Mar 9th 2009 11:45AM

The Department of Health issued a statement in defense of "Change4Life," saying that it is "not saying that children shouldn't play computer games or eat treats, but parents and children need to be aware of the benefits of a balanced diet and an active lifestyle."

^Bullshit. If you're going to make a shock tactic poster, you can't just claim "actually, games are fine in moderation".

Lord of the Patapons (slycooper_rocker) @ Mar 9th 2009 6:12PM

i'm surprised no one sees the real reason behind it. kotaku is pulling the strings behind the government and now they're starting nationwide flame wars!

*goes off on a rorschach-esque hunt for the truth*

novex @ Mar 9th 2009 11:46AM

they just need to get a nice collection of photos of athleticly built people who played video games and put them side by side with the overweight morons from the pre-video game era, preferably photos of politicians that support this (gordon brown is asking for it).

"want to blame your kids poor health on someone other than yourself and your lazy parenting? just do nothing, we will blame video games for you!"

Duke @ Mar 9th 2009 11:46AM

Sugar coat it however you want folks, but the fact is that everyone who ever played a video game will eventually die. You just can't hide from those kinds of statistics.

The Baron @ Mar 9th 2009 11:50AM

Denial is the only thing that keeps my mind off my death-clock.

Rocketboy @ Mar 9th 2009 12:28PM

OH damn. I hope my life insurance company doesn't know I play games.

Serious Kano @ Mar 9th 2009 1:16PM

"...but parents and children need to be aware of the benefits of a balanced diet and an active lifestyle."
But what does this have to do with video games? The mentioned benefits can be achieved even if you're an excessive gamer. Not to mention that watching TV all day doesn't make you athletic, either.

Rhamsey @ Mar 9th 2009 11:55AM

Which one sounds like propaganda created by a crappy campaign?
a. Video games kill your children.
b. As a parent you should be sure to promote a healthy diet and active life style for your children.

Instead of allowing your children to do more sedimentary activities, try doing shit with your own children. you know, go outside, toss the football, kick a soccer ball around. god, parents today are terrible and if their child dies from "video games" its their fault for being a bad parent.
my mother (single parent) always let me buy and play games, but she also encouraged me to play soccer, and other sports at school, or outside of it. if i went outside after school, i could start my homework later, but if i wanted to play video games, i had to do my homework first.
im just so tired of seeing all of these things blaming video games, while i wonder what the fuck are the parents doing? whose buying them the games they shouldnt be playing? im 20 and i still get carded when buying gears of war.

fred @ Mar 9th 2009 9:51PM

"sedimentary activities"

Like archaeology?

Rhamsey @ Mar 9th 2009 11:49PM

crap... sorry, i was typing really fast in a rantish style as i hate when people blame stuff just because they dont want to admit its their fault.
i meant sedentary.

AwesomeTown @ Mar 9th 2009 11:55AM

If that kid in the ad was really sad and depressed playing video games, then there either has to be other things going on at home, or he's playing his brand new CD-i.

The Dark Wayne @ Mar 9th 2009 12:00PM

If you could die from doing nothing I don't think there would be anyone left to buy weed

Markez @ Mar 9th 2009 12:19PM

Michael Phelps?

DiggyStyle @ Mar 9th 2009 3:15PM

Woah Markez, Too Soon!

Jack Tretton @ Mar 9th 2009 12:09PM

Kid in the ad is saying, "So, this is all there is to Little Big Planet?"

Duke @ Mar 9th 2009 12:23PM

I don't know for sure, but looking at the photo, I don't think that kid is alive.

Zertoss @ Mar 9th 2009 1:42PM

The kid stumbled across a LBP level that takes place inside a giant goatse. The horror destroyed the soul of the unfortunate child leaving nothing but a hollow shell.

Video games don't kill children, 4chan does.

Lord of the Patapons (slycooper_rocker) @ Mar 9th 2009 6:14PM

disregard my disappearing and reappearing pedobear avatar...

NO, NO! NOT THE FACE!

Scooter @ Mar 9th 2009 12:12PM

Governments should stop getting themselves sued.

LaughingTarget @ Mar 9th 2009 2:10PM

Make a law against it, that always seems to work.

While they're at it, make sitting around and doing nothing illegal. They can arrest these sloths and put them in prison where...they'll sit around doing nothing.

XenMaster4 @ Mar 9th 2009 12:15PM

I notice the kid in the ad is not "eating treats".

F1 Gamertag: Cadablog @ Mar 9th 2009 12:23PM

VIDEO GAME DEVELOPERS STRIKE BACK!!

Collymilad @ Mar 9th 2009 12:56PM

Disgraceful.

Idiots - where are the attacks on eating, driving, sitting, reading, watching tv? In fact we should never stay still because we could DIE.

I hate the government.

Lord of the Patapons (slycooper_rocker) @ Mar 9th 2009 10:02PM

ANARCHY! LET'S BURN THIS HELLISH WORLD TO A CRISP!

reebo @ Mar 9th 2009 1:22PM

"Fuck the children." - RIP George Carlin

Aaron @ Mar 9th 2009 1:29PM

Replace that controller with a book and ready the uproar. Why is it that games are always the ill? Sedentary life whether studying math, the Bible, or reading a novel is equally bad for the body. I would LOVE to see that controller replaced with a holy book... the ad agency would be fire-bombed. Ha!